Our body adapts to the conditions we offer it. If we are active in everyday life and move a lot, we train our muscles, and they become stronger. This stabilizes our musculoskeletal system and keeps bones, tendons, and ligaments in physiological positions. With prolonged inactivity, this muscle performance decreases, we become less efficient, and our body finds it more difficult to maintain all anatomical structures in healthy positions.
Such physical adaptations include both a neurological and a muscular component. Our muscles and nervous system adapt their activity according to the demands of everyday life and training. If our body is moved into positions that place unfavorable strain on muscles, tendons, and joints, a similar adaptation of bodily functions also occurs. Our musculoskeletal system then seeks compensatory strategies to prevent damage to key body structures and to perform a movement as physiologically and painlessly as possible.
This is exactly what often happens when cycling. If the bike isn't optimally adjusted to the rider's individual physical requirements, the musculoskeletal system seeks such compensatory strategies. These can include evasive movements of the knees, rotations of the pelvis, or shifting of body weight. While such mechanisms can avoid pain, pedaling efficiency and thus performance usually suffer. However, if the unphysiological sitting position can only be compensated for with great effort for our body, pain and, in the worst case, injury result.
The pain doesn't always manifest itself in the body region where it originates. Blockages and misalignments often spread across joints and cause pain in entirely different areas. A precise and individualized sports science assessment of joint mobility and body function forms the basis of bike fitting to precisely identify problem areas.
