Cycling hip pain
June 27, 2020
Hi
I have been getting glute discomfort while cycling and a few hours after the bike ride I then get pain on outside of right hip.
Just recently started riding a new mountain bike.
Wondering if it could be to do with Piriformis muscle although current physio doesn’t seem to want to even consider this as an option.
When I try stretching of any form for my right leg all the symptoms flare up so stopped all stretches.
Thanks
Alister
June 27, 2020
Hi Alister
Yeah – absolutely could be and does sound like your piriformis.
So what?
You’ve tried stretching it but makes your symptoms worse. So what…maybe it’s not the issue?
Unless you know WHY, it’s pretty frustrating trying to address the what….your piriformis pain.
The muscles around your hip are stiff and protective of either something that’s moving too much, like your lower back due to bike position (saddle/handle bar distance is too short, saddle too high or frame too small) or when you’re cranking and pushing down your knee rolls in (or your foot points out on the pedal) which causes repetitive compression right at the top of your hip.
Either of these scenarios kind of have the same output. You need to improve the control of your lowers limb when bending and straightening, so it tracks with control and decent alignment. You do this by having adequate control of your lower back when on your bike. That’s not too arched and not too flat – and this is achieved by making sure you can sit on your bike in a decent posture.
So you might well have issues with piriformis but deal with the cause and not just the symptom.
https://www.sixphysio.com/videos/cycling
The Guru
