Training & Nutrition - Sore tendon behind knee

I have had some soreness in the tendon behind my left knee. It is the outside tendon. Should I lower my saddle slightly? My right leg is fine. It is the outside tendon moving up from the knee.

Thanks,

*Might* be biceps femoris tendinitis (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Biceps_femoris_muscle_long_head.PNG/250px-Biceps_femoris_muscle_long_head.PNG). Is the pain right where the hamstring tendon connects with the femoral head?

Relief may come from adjustments in seat height, saddle fore-aft, &/or cleat position. Possibly a different pedal system (oddly enough, for me, a free-floating system like Speedplay would cause more pain than a pedal that had spring-centering & less float). I know we're entering the warmer months (in the Northern Hemisphere), but you may need to just shut it down for a while.

Having said that ... bottom line, get it checked out by a medical professional (i.e., don't rely on the diagnosis of an anonymous poster on the internet ;)), preferably one who understands the mechanics of cycling.

I would say saddle height.Its possible that your leg is going out to far because the seat is to height. Almost like hyper extending ur leg.

+1 to getting it checked out, but also, stretch (http://www.amazon.com/Whartons-Stretch-Book-Jim-Wharton/dp/0812926234).

I agree with bravo and slynkie.

Thanks guys, I'll make some adjustments and see how it goes. The pain/soreness is not bad yet. I''m hoping some adjustments will make it go away. If not, I will certainly go see a doctor. I want to get this corrected before it turns into a more serious condition and ruins my cycling season.

Farleybob, if you solve this or find out anything, please let me know. I rode a century yesterday and the only thing that bothered me was that same tendon--left knee outside. It didn't cause me a great deal of pain, it just let me know that it was bothered. So I will be very curious to hear anything you learn.

Lovely, same thing here, right knee...

The tendon on the outside of your knee is the MCL - Medial Collateral Ligament. 3 things that jump to mind can cause soreness in it:
1. Saddle too high.
2. Overtraining - too many miles, not enough rest.
3. Cleat positioning on your shoe - a lot of people don't have feet aligned naturally straight forward, so if you mount your cleats in a way that forces your leg into an unnatural position you'll put stress on the joints. Solution: free floating pedal system such as Speedplay, fitting at a (professional) bike shop, manual adjustment of cleat (but experience helps a lot here).

I suffered the same symptoms about three weeks ago behind my left knee after a fairly hard interval sesh. I kept riding for two days after I first noticed the pain, and it got much worse to the point that I couldn't apply any force whatsoever with my left downstroke. Riding was the only thing that caused the pain - running, backpacking, etc presented no problem. I spent about two weeks out of town and off the bike and my problem seems to have disappeared, but I'm suffering the consequences of two weeks of pizza training and gotta get back into form. I also lowered my saddle a little. See a doc if it's still an issue after a few days off.

I have had some soreness in the tendon behind my left knee. It is the outside tendon. Should I lower my saddle slightly? My right leg is fine. It is the outside tendon moving up from the knee.

Thanks,


Farleybob,

I have the exact same problem, same knee and tendon. Were you able to figure it out?

Thanks,

Jody