Back pain is common among elite cyclists. Experiences of athletes and observations of coaches show that it may influence training quality and sometimes even limit performance during competition. ...Therefore the following study questions were investigated: 1) How many athletes of the Swiss cycling national teams suffer back pain during training or competition? 2) How good is athletes’ core strength? 3) What correlation exists between back pain and core strength? 4) Does an intensified core strength training reduce back pain?
A total of 111 elite cyclists, 45 athletes (38 m, 7f; 19.6 ± 3.5y) of technical disciplines (BMX, Trial, Downhill, 4X) and 66 athletes (39 m, 27f; 19.5 ± 5.8y) of endurance disciplines (road, MTB, Cyclo-cross) all members of Swiss cycling national teams, took part in in the study. They performed a core strength test, got an instruction session on core strength training, and filled out a standardized questionnaire on back pain at time of testing and after four months of training.
1) In Swiss elite cyclists back pain is frequent: In training every third suffers slight and every tenth rider moderate to heavy back pain. In competition roughly half of all riders are affected by back pain episodes, and 22.5% of all have moderate to heavy back pain impairing performance. 2) About one third of all elite cyclists has an insufficient core strength. 3) Having a good core strength of the dorsal muscle chain proved to be positively related to a lesser frequency of back pain. Whereas there was no such correlation between back pain and core strength of the ventral and lateral chain. 4) The 47.9% of athletes intensifying their core strength training during the four months period could significantly reduce their back pain in cycling, in competition, and in daily life.
Triathlons, such as the famously arduous Ironman Triathlon, and "extreme" mountain biking-hair-raising events held over exceedingly dangerous terrain-are prime examples of the new "lifestyle sports" ...that have grown in recent years from oddball pursuits, practiced by a handful of characters, into multi-million-dollar industries. InWhy Would Anyone Do That?sociologist Stephen C. Poulson offers a fascinating exploration of these new and physically demanding sports, shedding light on why some people find them so compelling.
Drawing on interviews with lifestyle sport competitors, on his own experience as a participant, on advertising for lifestyle sport equipment, and on editorial content of adventure sport magazines, Poulson addresses a wide range of issues. He notes that these sports are often described as "authentic" challenges which help keep athletes sane given the demands they confront in their day-to-day lives. But is it really beneficial to "work" so hard at "play?" Is the discipline required to do these sports really an expression of freedom, or do these sports actually impose extraordinary degrees of conformity upon these athletes?Why Would Anyone Do That?grapples with these questions, and more generally with whether lifestyle sport should always be considered "good" for people.
Poulson also looks at what happens when a sport becomes a commodity-even a sport that may have begun as a reaction against corporate and professional sport-arguing that commodification inevitably plays a role in determining who plays, and also how and why the sport is played. It can even help provide the meaning that athletes assign to their participation in the sport. Finally, the book explores the intersections of race, class, and gender with respect to participation in lifestyle and endurance sports, noting in particular that there is a near complete absence of people of color in most of these contests. In addition, Poulson examines how concepts of masculinity in triathlons have changed as women's roles in this sport increase.
Mountainbikerʼs hematuria: a case report Albersen, Maarten; Mortelmans, Luc J.M; Baert, Joost A
European journal of emergency medicine,
2006-August, 2006-Aug, 20060801, Volume:
13, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Although exercise-induced hematuria is a well known finding in long distance running, it is extremely rare in cycling. We describe a case of gross atraumatic hematuria after mountainbiking. The only ...pathologic finding in our patient was a small hyperemic zone in the bladder mucosa suggesting a local traumatic origin due to repeated contact of the flaccid bladder wall against the bladder base. This in contrast with the renal origin commonly seen in marathon runners. It is a benign hematuria that usually resolves within a day without specific treatment. The best treatment is prevention by means of good bladder filling. Neoplasm of the urothelium should be ruled out in differential diagnosis.
From June to October 1993 we investigated the responses of male alpine chamois
Rupicapra r. rupicapra to hiking, jogging and mountainbiking in the Augstmatthorn game reserve (Bernese Oberland, ...Switzerland). Thirty-two experiments were carried out by single persons hiking, jogging or riding a mountainbike on a trail crossing a pasture preferred by the animals for browsing. Median alert and escape distances were 180 and 103 m, respectively and did not differ between types of experiment. Distance fled was influenced both by time of day and by type of experiment. Thus, late in the morning the responses of chamois to joggers and mountainbikers were slightly stronger than responses to hikers. After all types of experiment, fewer chamois stayed in the pastures of the study area than before. Habitat use of the animals was affected by all three activities: male chamois left areas near the hiking trail.
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