Case Study - Proprioception & Balance
Body Awareness​
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All the bike fit adjustments and interventions, from traditional philosophy, may not reduce pain and improve performance.
There are a few things that I want to reference about the brain2body relationship:
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The brain has one job to keep you alive and moving.
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The control center for pedaling needs return messaging from the body regarding the accuracy of planned movement.
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Poor body messaging and integration of other systems lead to poor pedaling mechanics and posture.
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Off-the-bike assessments for vision, vestibular, and proprioception will uncover issues and help design programs to improve athletic movement.
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One recent session uncovered opportunities to correct postural issues in a bike fit before adjusting the bike. Upper body tension, due to balance and excessive toe pointing, created compensation paterns and strain on the rider.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8d2ea0_799acc46ce584f95af31ca752f344513f000.jpg/v1/fill/w_543,h_305,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/8d2ea0_799acc46ce584f95af31ca752f344513f000.jpg)
Postural Queuing - (Pre-fit no queueing, Pre-fit postural queuing and Final Fit)
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8d2ea0_b42ba99900f244d4b626274140d1c136~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_286,h_328,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/8d2ea0_b42ba99900f244d4b626274140d1c136~mv2.jpg)
'Side Sitting'
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8d2ea0_eecf772643a64a908c73c7a1ac9c9036~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_448,h_336,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/8d2ea0_eecf772643a64a908c73c7a1ac9c9036~mv2.jpg)
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8d2ea0_544cc0709de049308522ead0ca582b6e~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_252,h_336,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/8d2ea0_544cc0709de049308522ead0ca582b6e~mv2.jpg)
Upper body asymmetry
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8d2ea0_77f08a3e0c794fb5847689bb69c237cc~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_0,y_981,w_3024,h_2117/fill/w_450,h_315,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/8d2ea0_77f08a3e0c794fb5847689bb69c237cc~mv2.jpg)
Head tilt.
For this rider, we looked at his walking gate, along with his balance and proprioceptive awareness. As an avid runner, he uses mimimalist running shoes. During the assessment, I noticed excessive toe point, big toe lift during his walk analysis,
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