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Why Should Cyclists Do Pilates

Cycling is a great exercise and here in Southern California it is a year around sport. It is generally believed that cycling is one of the best exercises to improve your overall fitness. Unfortunately, riding for long periods of time with the spine bent forward easily causes back pain and leads many types of muscle imbalances. Pilates can help many cyclists to get rid of their back pain and restore their muscular imbalances by preventing typical overuse injuries.

It’s easy for an cyclist to develop muscle imbalances due to the nature of their sport. Cycling is lower body dominant and cyclists usually develop strong leg muscles but don’t always have the core strength to support spine and proper riding position. The core muscles are also responsible for producing power to your legs and maintain control with your pedal work. Having a weak back and abdominal muscles with decreased flexibility with your leg muscles can quickly cause muscle strain, fatigue and pain on your lower back.

The pelvis has a very important role in affecting cyclist’s posture and movement in the spine and extremities. Many cyclists who experience chronic back, hip and/or knee pain suffer from pelvic asymmetry due to muscle imbalance. Tight hip flexors (quadriceps and psoas muscles) and weak core muscles (transverse abdominus and multifidus muscles) tend to tilt the pelvis too much forward thus increasing the curvature (lordosis) of the lower back. This excess curvature of the back can create many problems for cyclists, including muscle spasms, pinched nerves (sciatica) and possible damage to the lumbar disc. Tight hamstring muscles tilt the pelvic backwards and will round the back by putting extra stress to your spine thus causing lower back pain too.

Pilates is a good cross-training exercise for cyclist by preventing overuse, muscle and back pain, and typical injuries. Pilates corrects your muscle imbalances due to your cycling training. Pilates exercises help cyclists to decrease their muscle tightness and improve core strength and stability. Transverse abdominus (TA) is the most important muscle to stabilize your pelvic and spine (called lumbar-pelvic stability). It is your deepest abdominal muscle and acts like a corset around your trunk. TA is also the most important muscle in Pilates and it is present in all Pilates movements. This muscle, with deep back muscles (multifidus), gives an optimal spinal support to your lower back. Pilates improves your overall body awareness, too. Good body awareness helps you to find a proper riding position without putting extra stress to your spine and extremities. With strong core muscles and balanced leg muscles you are pedaling more efficiently without unnecessary fatigue and pain. Pilates improves your overall sports performance.

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