Bike and Backpack-to-School
I don’t know about the kids in your life and community, but the kids in mine went back to school yesterday, and the hours between 9am and 3pm had to be the quietist most spacious hours I spent in the last 3 months. Aaand . . . all together now: Collective. Exhale.
Back-to-school can be a challenge with the end of Summer and “vacation season” here in the United States, but with that is also a real blessing: we’re back to consistency, to structure. As a fortune cookie once told me, “A schedule defends against chaos and whim”, and while it is so fun to live life with whim at the helm, it can also exhaust energy and feel unsustainable. I’m personally currently quite happy to relinquish whim in the name of being guarded against chaos. The predictability of morning traffic patterns, the release of school drop off, the consistency of patient appointments, and the timed break of my mid-day yoga class are all helping me show up well in my life on the daily; perhaps better than I have been in my “I need a vacation from this vacation” Summer state of the last couple weeks. (Ok - definitely better; my kids could even readily tell you my decibel and tone reduction.)
And yet, our work as the adults is not done. Back-to-school comes with all kinds of new things. New school supplies, sure. But it also comes with new clothes and shoes, a new backpack, and maybe even a new bike . . . because, “Wait - you grew that much over Summer?!”. With any luck, parents and kids alike can tell what clothes and shoes fit them. But a backpack or a bike? That can be trickier. Here’s some tips from a professional eye about what to look for in how your kid’s gear fits them, so that they stay mobile, efficient, and looking oh-so-dope. (Forgive me: I’m an elder millennial - the 90’s are still my jam.)
Backpack Ergonomics
In PT school at CU, we were challenged to take on a societal health issue and make a campaign about it. Our group chose backpack fit . . . probably because most of us had hunched, aching backs from the insane amount of very thick books grad school considered required reading. And while the number of books on kids’ backs has changed since we were kids, fit still matters (after all, those Chromebooks aren’t exactly light either). For our campaign, we made an educational video that schools could show students and parents alike, perhaps at Back-to-School Night, to teach them how a backpack could optimally fit. It was entertaining and ridiculous as all Back-to-School informational videos should be, but unfortunately is no longer posted for your viewing pleasure. But here are the key points:
The backpack should span from just below your kid’s shoulders to just above their butt. It is TOO BIG if the top arch of the pack rises above their shoulders and behind their neck. A too large backpack will cause then to shift their head forward, putting increased strain on the back of their neck. You can blame these kids for tech neck, but not for backpack neck. That one’s on you.
The bottom of the backpack should rest centered at the low back, right above the buttocks. If the backpack is touching your kids’ butt, it’s too low and will pull on their shoulders and block their hip movement in walking, increasing the strain on their low back. Here’s your new mantra: On the butt? Move it up!
#1 additional feature recommendation: a Chest Strap. If you have the option of getting a backpack with a chest trap, get it and use it. A chest strap keeps the shoulder straps from going too wide, placing undue strain on the neck and shoulder muscles, while also securing the backpack front-to-back on the torso so that the torso carries the load rather than the neck, shoulders, and low back.
#2 additional feature recommendation: a Hip Belt. You’ve seen them on backpacking packs and baby carriers, sure. But on a school backpack? That’s overkill, right? Wrong. A hip belt (even a hip strap - it doesn’t need to be padded and fancy) helps any and all backpacks to transfer weight from the upper back to the pelvis, aka the core of the body. The pelvis is our true center of gravity, and when we can hold the load closer to our center, it’s much easier to carry and decreases the forces through our joints. Thanks, physics!
A Note about Messenger and Roller bags: I’m sorry, but as a PT, I’m just not going to recommend these.
Messengers: While they definitely look cool (I admit I had one for a long time), the design inherently makes you choose a side. That’s a huge no thank you in physical therapy. We want muscle length and strength balanced, stressors forces dispersed evenly throughout the body. Choosing a side will mean, over time, choosing a side to hurt. So don’t make that choice, and stick with two straps.
Rollers: These in theory are better, but I’m still not a fan. The good thing is the weight is not on your kid’s body at all, instead being carried by the roller, like a piece of luggage. But there are some additional considerations. How packed are the halls, and is this thing a trip hazard? Does your kid need to go up and down a stairwell at all, and if so, what’s their plan to carry it (harken back to the one-sided lop-sided problem from the messenger)? And if the pack still does feature two straps which they can carry it evenly on their back, there’s still the concern of those rails and wheels being up against, and potentially digging into, their skin. And, lastly, probably only a “how you move matters” PT snob might thing of this but, how are they loading it? Are they bending forward to place all those books in with the bag on the floor, compromising their back? Or are they squatting or kneeling, saving their back but possibly increasing the force in their knees? Maybe they’re loading it with the bag on their desk at waist height (gold star!), but they still have to pick it up from the floor to the desk - how are they doing that? The ergonomic pros seem insufficient when encountering this list of potential cons.
In Summary: PT Tracy recommends a traditional two-strapped backpack, more or less the size of the kiddo’s rib cage, adjusted to sit just above their butt, and ideally with a chest and hip strap. SOLD!
(And just so you know: Mother Tracy admits neither of her kids has a chest or hip strap on their backpacks. So, you know . . . the advice is there, but you go ahead and do your best with what you’ve got. It’s all anyone can ask. And you’re killin it.)
Bike-to-School Fit
Back-to-school for our family also means back-to-bike-commuting. We are lucky enough to live a very reasonable bike distance from our school, and now that the consistent schedules and locations everyone is headed to and from is back in our lives, it allows us the freedom to hop back on our bikes and save the gas money. So after we did our supply and clothes shopping, we did our bike commute test run, and I’m so glad we did. My son immediately reported back pain, and my daughter was struggling to get up the hill with her knees in her chin. We needed to improve how our bikes fit us, pronto.
Our daughter, now a first grader, had clearly outgrown her 20in bike over Summer and now needed to upgrade to a 24in. We headed to the shop and got her one, but here’s an important thing to know: what fits seat to pedal doesn’t always fit seat to handlebars. Her legs looked great, but her arms were stretched like Armstrong. So I brought her into the clinic to adjust her fit. Here’s what I looked for, and what I did about it:
I adjusted the seat height so the ball of her foot could touch the ground while her butt was on the seat. Now let me be clear: this is not my professional PT recommendation for bike fitting as a whole. Typically to be at an ideal seat height for efficiency, no part of your foot should touch the ground at all when you’re on the saddle. But right now we’re talking growing kids who are expanding skills and developing confidence. Their independence and success outweighs any muscular efficiency advantage.
I (very nontraditionally, I might add, so don’t tell the bike shop mechanics . . . they don’t like it) rotated her handlebar stem backward, so the bars came toward rather than away from her body relative to the fork. This massively decreases the reach from seat to handlebars, actually allowing the child to remain seated more upright, looking forward for what’s ahead on the road or trail, and keeping a soft bend in her elbows rather than being totally stretched out. And while very non-traditional, it doesn’t change or compromise the mechanics or function of the bike at all. The center of steering is shifted slightly backward, but truthfully even that is advantageous to a smaller child, and when they grow, you turn the stem back around and that center moves and grows with them. It’s fine - really; 100% safe. The mechanics don’t even argue otherwise - they just look at me with a bit of a raised brow . . . which is fair.
I then of course decked it out with all the accoutrement: a bell, front and rear reflectors and lights, a bike lock, a handlebar basket, and a water bottle cage. In my humble opinion, non-negotiables are the front and rear reflectors, water bottle cage, and lock. A bell is great but you always have the option of verbally signaling “Passing!” or “On your left!” when coming up on pedestrian traffic or a slower bike. Lights I generally would not put on for someone in first grade as she should not be riding at night at all, but I chose to because we had an extra set, and honestly when it’s overcast or rainy out, having a blinking light only increases the child’s visibility to cars and their awareness of her. More signals for “hey - don’t hit this kid!” never hurt. The basket of course, is purely aesthetic and personal preference. It’s functional in that she can throw her lock in there when riding, but honestly her backpack works just as well for that.
One caution I will give: Do.Not.Make.Your.Bike.Look.Too.Fancy. The spiffier your bike is, the more money it looks like it’s worth, and therefore the more likely it is to be stolen. Do not over-accessorize. It’s simply not worth it. I actually know folks who, when they get a new commuter bike, intentionally whack the steel to dent it a little, or place random pieces of duct tape on it to make it look more worn, used, and run-down. If you rely on that bike as a resource for your transportation or wellness, do everything you can to keep it.
Lastly, I set her up with a fix-a-flat kit. Essential on any bike (no, it does not matter what kind of bike or how far you’re riding) are the materials you need to fix a flat tire in case you get a flat on the ride and can’t get home. A fix-a-flat kit includes: a saddle or frame bag to hold kit contents, the correct size spare tube, two tire levers, and a portable hand pump. (Sidenote: the portable hand pumps I get are the ones that have the ability to attach to the frame underneath the bottle cage, so it’s all nicely tucked together and integrated.)
With our daughter completely adjusted and decked out with her new ride, I turned to my son. He had already grown past the handlebar-stem-backwards step, as he was now sitting high enough we flipped his stem back to its standard position last year. But watching him ride, I could see his back curling forward. I knew with the stem back his reach was too short, but it seemed to me that maybe his legs outgrew his torso this Summer, and now he was leaning forward to make up the difference. He needed that seat to handlebar reach shortened ever so slightly - to either bring his handlebars higher, or closer to him. I took a closer look, and noticed his stem had a bit of an angle to it and, as it was, that angle was pointed down toward the ground. So, easy fix there - I flipped the stem to still face forward, but now angle up toward the sky. That placed his handlebars about 1-inch higher up in the world, decreasing his reach by that same amount. It wasn’t a huge difference, but it was enough to take the edge off, and on a 10-minute ride between home and school, his back no longer bothered him.
Hopefully some of that either offloads you as you move through this back-to-school season, or if you don’t have a dependent you care for, taught you a nugget or two about how to fit your own bag or bike to increase your comfort and reduce your risk for repetitive injury and strain. And if that advice wasn’t quite enough? Reach out and get a PT evaluation or Bike Fit scheduled so we can get you and yours moving well and ready for the work ahead.
See you soon in the bike and hug-and-drop lanes!
