Effect of cycling exercise on lumbopelvic control performance in elite female cyclists

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study is to assess the effects of an intense cycling training session on the stability of the lumbopelvic-hip complex through two dynamic exercise tests - the single-leg-deadlift (SLD) and a variation of the bird-modified dog (BD), via the OCTOcore application. METHODS: Thirty-one elite female road cyclists were self-evaluated with their own smartphones, before and immediately after finishing their training sessions. Right, left and composite were measured for each exercise test. RESULTS: There was a significant time effect on performance for both the SLB and BD tests (p<0.05; η(2)=0.137), and the SLD and BD tests were increased with respect to the pre-test at 15% and 17%, respectively. CONCLUSION: An intense cycling training session produced significant alterations in lumbopelvic behavior in the elite female cyclists. The OCTOcore application demonstrated that it was a sensitive tool in detecting these changes and it could easily be used by the cyclists themselves.