VIDEO ANALYSIS AND TREATMENT OF OVERUSE KNEE INJURY IN CYCLING: A LIMITED CLINICAL STUDY

Abstract

Though cycling is not considered an "impact" sport, forces of three times body weight are applied to the pedals during intermittent bursts of effort such as during take off and hill climbing (13, 25). Forces equal to body weight occur during steady cycling (3, 10, 20, 25). It is known that good cyclists "spin" at an optimum pedalling frequency of from 80 to 100 revolutions per minute (5, 20, 22). This causes an exceptionally rapid flexion-extension at the knee when compared to running sports. For example, a 4:00 minute per mile pace in running causes an angular velocity at the knee that equates to no more than a 40 rpm spin rate (16).