Listen to Your Body

How to prevent injuries and increase performance

This lecture explores how physiotherapy principles can support cyclists in staying healthy, improving performance, and preventing injuries. You’ll learn how movement assessment, strength training, and personalized adjustments to riding posture can help the body better adapt to the demands of cycling. The session also covers warm-up and recovery strategies, common problem areas like the lower back and knees, and practical mobility tests. Whether you're an elite athlete or a passionate hobby rider, this is your guide to riding longer, stronger, and pain-free.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why physiotherapy and bike fitting go hand in hand – and how they work together to solve back pain, knee issues, and overuse injuries from riding.
• What kind of injury prevention actually works – including strength training, proper warm-up and recovery routines (and why sleep and nutrition beat all the massage gadgets).
• A real-life case of a pro cyclist with a disc herniation – and how her problems were solved through a combination of physio care and crank length adjustment.
• Exercises and tests for mobility, stability, and strength – that you can use to improve performance or as part of your off-the-bike routine.
• How to know when it’s time to see a physiotherapist – and what to expect during your first visit to a modern sports clinic.

Václav Šňupárek is a physiotherapist and bike fitter with an exceptionally diverse background in both sports and healthcare. He studied physiotherapy at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport at Charles University in Prague, and gained experience working with pediatric patients in Belgium as well as professional athletes, including the Czech national track cycling team and top-level ice hockey players. As a cyclist, he raced for three years with the international Team Novo Nordisk Development and later for Dukla Praha. Today, he works at the Body Solution Clinic in Prague and as a bike fitter at Ski a Bike Centrum Radotín. In his practice, he combines his physiotherapy expertise with hands-on cycling experience to help athletes return to peak performance without pain. He specializes in movement patterns, back pain, and personalized bike fitting.