Bike Riding Neck Shoulder Pain

Even an experienced rider who has taken a short hiatus and is returning to a regular regime can suffer from these aches.

Bike riding neck shoulder pain. Neck and shoulder pain. One of things that takes getting used to when you first start cycling is the neck and shoulder discomfort. Road cycling involves extended periods where the neck is hyperextended tilted backwards particularly when the bike is set up with a large handlebar drop when riding a time trial for example. Typically the discomfort is localized in your anterior deltoids upper trap muscles and neck.

Some of these issues can be fixed with a good bike fit. Neck pain from cycling is probably one of the most common overuse injuries that stems from poor posture and weak muscles. Shoulder and upper back pain for cyclists riding a road bike can cause you to roll your shoulders forwards creating stiffness in the upper back and the effects can be even more. There are two principle hypothesis for neck and shoulder discomfort excessive weight on the hands and over reaching.

Despite the lack of trauma the injuries associated with neck pain can be debilitating to the point where it is almost impossible to get on the bike. A study of non traumatic injuries in long distance bicyclists published in the american journal of sports medicine states that neck and shoulder pain occurred in 20 4 percent of the riders 1 despite its prevalence neck and shoulder pain is not inevitable and it can be avoided by taking. The good news is that a few adjustments to your bike and. The video above shows some exercises that can help treat and prevent neck pain off the bike.

If you are used to cycling for 60 90 minutes and find you have a lot of neck and shoulder pain at the 3 hour mark this may simply be because you ramped up your mileage way to quickly. But it s fairly clear cut that your riding position directly affects the alignment of your neck and. Hand and wrist pain shares many of the root causes of neck shoulder discomfort with some unique reasons as well. Let s begin with an overview of your spinal anatomy and posture.

Neck pain from riding your bike is a warning sign that your position on your bike or the bike itself is creating undue stress on your neck. Unfortunately this is fairly common. So you re experiencing some neck pain on the mountain bike. Learning better riding form and to relax your position is free.

In both cases the shoulders tend to hunch up and the arms straighten or lock out.