Your hip has started aching during or after rides, maybe at the front near your groin or on the outside of your hip. Cycling is often comfortable with hip pain, but your bike set-up and how you ride can make a real difference. A few changes can help you keep pedalling while your hip settles.

Why cycling can affect your hip

When you pedal, your hip bends and straightens thousands of times on a ride. At the top of each pedal stroke, your hip is bent quite a long way, especially if your saddle is low or you lean far forward. This can squeeze the front of the hip. Pushing hard in big gears and climbing steep hills add more load.

Where you feel the pain can give a clue:

• Front of the hip or groin. Often linked with how far the hip bends at the top of the stroke.
• Outside of the hip. Often linked with the tendons that attach your buttock muscles, or a saddle that is too high, making your hips rock.

In most cases, the hip is irritated rather than damaged.

Saddle height

Saddle height is one of the most useful things to check:

• Too low means your hip bends more at the top of the stroke, which can bother the front of the hip.
• Too high can make your hips rock from side to side, which can bother the outside of the hip.
• A rough guide is a slight bend in your knee when the pedal is at the bottom.

Saddle position and handlebars

Some other changes that may help:

• Move your saddle back a little if the front of your hip feels squeezed.
• Raise your handlebars, so you sit more upright and your hip does not bend as far.
• Make sure your saddle is level and wide enough to support your sit bones.

Small changes, a few millimetres at a time, can make a noticeable difference. A bike shop or bike fitter can help if you are unsure.

Cleats and pedals

If you use clip-in pedals, cleats that hold your foot at an awkward angle can twist your leg and load your hip. Setting them so your feet sit in their natural position, or using cleats that allow some float, can help.

Ride length and how you ride

Some changes that can help while your hip settles:

• Ride shorter distances, and build up gradually.
• Use lower gears and a faster pedalling rhythm, rather than pushing hard in high gears.
• Choose flatter routes, or stay seated on climbs if standing bothers your hip.
• Get off and walk for a few minutes on longer rides.

Reading how your hip responds

A mild ache during or after a ride that settles within an hour or so is usually fine. If your hip is sorer the next morning, make the next ride shorter or easier.

Movement off the bike

Long spells sitting on the bike, then sitting at a desk, can leave your hip stiff. Some ideas:

• Get up and move every 30 minutes or so during the day.
• If the side of your hip is sore, avoid crossing your legs and sleep with a pillow between your knees.
• Walk for a few minutes after a ride, rather than sitting straight down.

VIDA’s Pomodoro stretches, in the top right corner, can remind you to get up during focused work.

Building hip strength

Strong hip and buttock muscles help steady your pelvis on the bike. Something to try two or three times a week:

• Bridges. Lie on your back with your knees bent, lift your hips, then lower slowly.
• Side-lying leg lifts. Lie on your side and slowly lift your top leg a little way, then lower.
• Sit to stand. Rise from a chair without using your hands, then lower slowly.
• Lunges. Step back into a lunge, going as deep as feels comfortable.

If you would like to follow along, VIDA has short videos of bridges, sit to stands and lunges you can use at your own pace.

When to get it checked

You should get it checked by a GP or physiotherapist if your hip locks or catches, if it keeps you awake most nights, if you cannot put weight on your leg, or if pain spreads down your leg with numbness or tingling.

Building back up

As your hip settles, you can gradually bring back longer rides, hills and higher gears, one at a time. If your hip pain has been around for a while, this usually happens over months rather than weeks. Your VIDA pain check-in is a good way to keep track of how your hip responds.

What to take away

• Saddle height and position can make a real difference to a sore hip.
• A low saddle can squeeze the front of the hip, and a high one can make your hips rock.
• Raise your handlebars to sit more upright if the front of your hip is sore.
• Use lower gears and build ride length gradually.
• Build hip strength and keep moving off the bike.

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