Muscular discomfort due to Handle orientation of bicycle Ergometer

These days exercise is a routine requirement of body to keep fit. As it is noticed that Bicycle Ergometer is being used very much. However the awkward posture during cycling may create musculoskeletal disorder especially lower back pain. Therefore in the present study postural stresses were evaluated using psychophysical methods for the users of Bicycle Ergometers. Experimental investigations were conducted in which gender and handle orientation (−60° (downward), -30° (downward), 0° (horizontal), 30° (upward), 60° (upward)) were considered as independent variables. The effect on exercise and muscular discomfort were evaluated in terms of heart rate, and perceived discomfort in back, thigh and hand arm system as dependent variables respectively. A total of 8 participants (4 female and 4 male) volunteered in the experiment. Participants performed cycling for 5 minutes on Ergoline Make Ergometer with constant speed of 60 rpm. Results showed that male had more back discomfort than female. It was also observed that male had minimum back discomfort at 0° handle orientation while female at 60° upward handle orientation. More thigh discomfort was found in female than male and it was least at −60° for female while -30° for male. In case of hand-arm system, it was revealed that male had more discomfort than female and both (gender) had least discomfort at 0° handle orientation. That was further investigated using the anthropometry of male and female participants with respect to sitting height, distance between seat and handle, and handle orientation. It was also found that heart rate was more for female than male and both (gender) had minimum discomfort at 30° (upward) orientation.