How to get weight off arms

ajoten

Thought my shouldery tendony mither was over, but after a short ride last week it's worse. This is with a way shorter stem and stem raiser on the cyclocrosser to try not to put so weight on my arms.

First thought is get a recumbent then wondered about Pashley roadster. Or a beach cruiser. Or penny farthing.

Has anyone had success with such experiments? Do sit up and beg types relieve arms completely? I keep looking at bikes where the bars are distinctly higher than saddle, but I don't know if that's the point or need a shorter top tube or really relaxed geom etc.

Dawnrider

Would exercises relevant to the arms help? I have a marika stretchy band that I use to exercise my arms-they work the muscles in a way similar to using weights but without the need to have bulky items about the place.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjpDL_GHOju ... vu6gjdxguu

sungod

unless you have poor core strength you should be able to ride a road bike without leaning on the bars

that requires you to be balanced, which is a matter of saddle position, if it's wrong and causing you to 'fall' forwards you end up having to lean on the bars, it won't matter how long/short the stem is, you'll still have to lean on the bars

leaning can also be a habit, but you can only break the habit if the bike is set up right

try...
https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bi ... oad-bikes/

btw i'm recovering from severe tendonitis in elbows (probably resulting from arm weaknesss following months on crutches, locked-out elbows don't actually do much other get weaker), physio to rebuild strength has not only helped the elbows but also fixed an old shoulder problem, that's a longwinded way of suggesting you see a good sports physio

ajoten

Yeah, done the physio with little benefit. Part of the thing is it doesn't hurt during the ride, but when I stop and move arm in non bike riding ways

Ben6899

Hi mate. Sound advice above from Sungod: on both the bike fit/core strength; and seeing a good sports physiotherapist.

Interestingly, my dad has just had the second operation on his right shoulder (the first was on his left) to repair tendon damage at the joint. He's obviously still sore on the right, but his left is like new as far as I'm aware (the last time we were out on the bike, he never mentioned his repaired shoulder; just his gooch!).

I'm not saying you need surgery, but he spent a couple of years with cortisone, strengthening exercises before a surgeon said "actually, we just need to fix this and it's quite straight forward to do".

Have you spoken with your GP, a Consultant or a good physiotherapist?

laurentian

ajoten wrote:

Do sit up and beg types relieve arms completely?

Mrs Laurentian swapped from a flat bar hybrid to drops a few years ago as she found that the ability to ride in the drops, on the hoods and on the flats meant that she could vary her posture during a ride and alleviate issues she was having with arms/shoulders on the hybrid

webboo

I’m 3 months post shoulder surgery. I had prattled about with various things to try and resolve it but with little success. Any long ride my left tricep would ache like hell. I went to see a physio who straight away thought the damage was wanting an op, a scan confirmed this. When the surgeon went in to fix one tendon he found I didn’t have a tendon that didn’t have a tear in it.
70 mile ride to today and no shoulder/ tricep discomfort. Every thing else hurt mind.

ajoten

Saw an acup*nct*rist today, who suggested stopping every 10 mins on a ride to do shoulder loosening/stretching exercises. Just as well I'm not planning a 200+km randonnez any time soon.

darkhairedlord

Bend your elbows and relax.

mamil314

darkhairedlord wrote:

Bend your elbows and relax.

Is correct answer. Does not work without core strength, though.

First.Aspect

ajoten wrote:

Saw an acup*nct*rist today, who suggested stopping every 10 mins on a ride to do shoulder loosening/stretching exercises. Just as well I'm not planning a 200+km randonnez any time soon.

Have you considered homeopathy? It also will not help.

l0n3rider

this is my first posting to this forum .. sorry if overlooked any rules :-)

i too used to believe we need to have a strong core to hold our position on the bike, so our hands can relax .. now i have changed my mind. strong core it's more towards providing stable platform for our legs power when we pedal ..

the core should be relax when we pedal. we are not planking while pedaling .. otherwise our upperbody will be cramped and we use unnecessary energy to hold our upper body

what i found .. not my original idea .. we need to teach our body to put some if not all, the upper body weight on the pedal. when we ride a bike, we have 3 contacts point .. saddle, pedal, handlebar

both saddle and handlebar are fixed .. hence our body trust them. the problem is the pedal .. it's moving !! so our body do not trust it .. to put our upperbody weight on it

but if we can teach our body to put the upperbody weight on the pedals .. our hands can relax .. our core can relax .. and we can use the gravity to help us pedal the bike

i started riding 7 years ago .. and bikefitting always fascinates me .. what i learned from internet for the past 2 years really changed my understanding about bikefitting .. the keys are 1) balancing our body on the bike, 2) pedaling mechanics

most of bikefit schools talks about balancing the upperbody weight between saddle and handlebars .. maybe they forgot about the pedals. actually if noticed, when we riding uphill .. when the resistance at the pedal is high .. we naturally will bend our arms more and put our upperbody weight on the pedals .. our hands will relax more .. look at mikel landa when climb ..

again .. this what works for me .. doesn't me it will works for everybody else .. just sharing