Does Riding an Exercise Bike Make You Feel Pain?

A phrase we've all heard many times is that regular exercise can bring multiple benefits. It can not only help you achieve the goal of losing weight and gaining muscle, but also be very beneficial to your health. But if you're like many Brits, you're busy and you have a sedentary job, then it's time to change your habits and incorporate physical exercise into your life. Among many exercises, riding the indoor exercise bike is a good choice for you. Compared with other types of aerobic exercise equipment, it exerts less pressure on joints, but still provides excellent aerobic exercise. I'm sure you will benefit from it.

Generally speaking, there are many benefits of exercising correctly on an exercise bike. And riding it is an efficient and effective way to burn calories and body fat while strengthening your heart, lungs, and muscles. Whether it's for the injured exerciser or anyone who wants to exercise in a gentle way, riding fitness bicycle is a good choice. However, when you are riding fitness bicycle, you may also feel pain in some parts of your body for some reasons. Feeling pain may be unavoidable when riding fitness bicycle, but it doesn't mean you have to stop your indoor riding. In the following article, I will tell you several body parts that may feel pain when you ride fitness bicycle and the corresponding ways to avoid pain. Please keep reading.

Pain point: knees
The most common pain point when riding an indoor bike are knees. This is usually related to its settings. When riding fitness bicycle, either your knees are bent too much, or you are too far forward or backward. This may lead to your over-reliance on quads, and over time, it may overload your knees and cause your knees pain. To a large extent, this problem can be solved by technique. When you are riding fitness bicycle, please consider pulling up every time you pedal, not just pushing down. What's more, if your knees are injured, please sit further away to see if it can help to avoid or relieve knees pain.

Pain point: lower back
The lumbar spine, or lower back, is another common source of pain associated with riding fitness bicycle. It may also be caused by the seat position of your fitness bicycle (usually too high). So how do you know that the seat of your exercise bike is too high? You can check whether your hips will drop to either side when you pedal. When you push down with your right leg, your right hip moves with it and the same thing will happen on the left, which may mean that you have to overstretch and your knees are not bent enough. This movement of the pelvis can also occur in the lumbar spine or lower back, which will put pressure on the lumbar spine or lower back and may cause pain in your lower back. The best solution is to adjust the seat of your fitness bicycle to an appropriate height.

Pain point: hips
As riding fitness bicycle has little impact on the hips, the hips are usually not greatly negatively affected. But if the front of your hip is tight (i.e. hip flexors), it may mean that you need to do some extra stretching or foam rolling to avoid hips pain.

Pain point: upper back, neck and shoulders
I classify the pain of upper back, neck and shoulder as one, because they are all caused by the same problem, that is, you overload your upper back, neck or shoulders. Here are some ways to avoid pain problems in these areas. First of all, when you ride the indoor exercise bike, in order to avoid upper back pain, please don't put too much weight on the handlebars. You should support you with your core and keep you upright. Secondly, when you ride fitness bicycle, you will probably unconsciously shrug or bend over, which will lock your shoulders and may cause shoulders pain. The best solution is to keep a correct riding posture, and don't shrug or bend over. Finally, if you feel uncomfortable in your back neck when riding, try to turn up the handlebars of your fitness bicycle a little.

Pain point: elbows and wrists
Pain in the elbows and wrists are usually caused by the position of your hands on the handlebars of fitness bicycle. It is simple to avoid or relieve the pain of elbows and wrists. When holding the handlebars of fitness bicycle, you only need to put most of your weight on the thick muscle pad in your hands and extend along your thumb. If you have already done this but still feel pain in your elbows or wrists, try a pair of gloves.

I'm sure you will know whether an exercise bike will make you feel pain after reading this article. As long as you set it correctly and ride it in the correct posture, you can avoid these physical pains to a great extent!