Influence of different body position and bicycle setup on muscles activity and joint kinematics during cycling

The current study investigated how saddle setup and body positions may influence muscle activity and joint kinematics. All 16 recreationally active participants have been tested in an upright and drop body positions. In each body positions tested, participants went through four different saddle setup for determination of which saddle setup influence the most of the muscle activity and cycling kinematics. The results showed that the changes during cycling from an upright position to drop position significantly influenced two out of eight muscles tested. The results also showed that five out of eight muscles tested were significantly different when compared to saddle setup position. As a conclusion, saddle setup is the most important factor that influence muscle activity. Results indicated that 10-degree saddle inclination setup influence more muscle activity than other saddle setup. This result was important to those who participated actively in this cycling sport to understand the behaviour of the muscle during cycling. Understanding the activity of the muscle during cycling will give advantages to coaches in designing a training programme. As a coach, finding a perfect saddle setup for the cyclist according to the need of the cycling will differentiate winning and losing in the competition.