Orthotics for Cycling: Improving Power Transfer & Tissue Load

Cycling is often considered a healthy exercise choice because it is low impact, this typically means less pounding on your joints and often less injuries compared to other higher impact sports, which is a good thing! But cycling comes with its own plague; repetition. Unfortunately the repetitive nature of cycling can overload tissues; with the repetition of a slightly incorrect movement pattern you can be predisposed to injury.

If you wear orthotics in your everyday life, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are needed in your cycling shoes. Pedal strokes are different to running and walking gait and cycling shoes are completely different in shape and stiffness. Since your foot never touches the ground when cycling there is a significant reduction in load sustained by the foot and lower limb compared to running or even walking. Often if orthotics are required, it is most effective to have a pair of dedicated cycling orthoses to ensure correct fit and function. Because of volume limitations with cycling shoes – narrow toe box & shallow shoe depth – size, weight and materials used to make the orthotics need to be considered as well as biomechanics considerations.

If you are injured or experiencing pain a great first step is having a bike fit done from a reputable local bike shop. Also consider how quickly you increased you mileage, are the shoes themselves causing the issue? Or potentially cleat position? And question if your injury is being exasperated by other activities off the bike.

Read the rest of the article at Angela Quick’s – aqorthotics.com