Bike Fit tip: Make sure you are doing this with your shoulders! (VIDEO)

This simple bike fit tip might change completely the way you ride:https://youtu.be/uBtpymfE1NA

• bike fit is complex
• there are a lot of systems working together and things can get complicated very quickly
  • one muscle or joint 's action or position depends heavily on another
• this leads to thousands of compensations that can occur
  • these compensations can be little or quite large
  • generally bike fit issues will have very small compensations at their root
    • the rider may look okay on the bike -- visually their fit doesn't look off
    • this shoulder posture is one such compensation that hides and creates many problems
• the scapula is the keystone to the upper body on the bike
  • • what are the motions of the scapulae?
      • protraction/retraction ; elevation/depression ; rotation
    • compensation: especially when the reach  is too long or too low they will protract and elevate to make up some of the distance to the bars
  • what happens when they protract/elevate/upwardly rotate?
    • the upper extremity gets less supple -- more likely to extend the elbow
      • poorer bike handling
      • more jarring and vibration felt through the upper body
      • poorer neck motion
      • locked out spine
      • abnormal pelvic motion
• I can often judge partially the effectiveness of someone's fit just by looking at where their scapulae are
• they don't need to be fully retracted and resting against the spine; we don't need them to be in the same position as when we're standing upright-- that's unrealistic and not a very powerful position when we're weight-bearing on our hands
  • but making sure that they are positioned somewhere in the middle of their range is critical
• Test yourself -- see how far they can protract/elevate and upwardly rotate and then how far they can retract/depress/downwardly rotate
  • move back and forth through these extremes ; familiarize yourself with your zones of movement
  • find your "middle" -- then find just a little out and a little in from this "middle"
  • now get on the bike and do the same; focus on the sensations of your "middle" again -- a little out from there and a little in from there too
    • does your bike position allow for this? or do you have to compensate elsewhere to make this happen (like sliding forward on the saddle, or grabbing further back on the bars or going up on your fingertips?)
  • some people really struggle with just being able to move them -- they can get stuck on some and then these people struggle to make any of this happen
    • when they get into a position where the scapulae would normally compensate then the movement has to come from somewhere else -- the spine esp.