Knee Twinges And Weakness
 

In the last week, my right knee has had some issues. When I am pushing fairly hard on the pedals, there will be a twinge of discomfort and a moment of weakness.

The discomfort is a quick, small "ouch" sensation that, if I can describe it this way, feels like it comes from deep inside the knee. It lasts for a fraction of the pedal stroke, like 1/4 second. The weakness is my leg suddenly not pushing for just an instant, almost like a momentary "stagger"; it comes at about 3 o'clock in the pedal revolution. The result is to interrupt the power of the pedal stroke, I complete the stroke but without the peak force that I intended. I'm not sure if I would have the same issue on the next pedal stroke, as when this happens I always back off and stop pushing hard. I think it is usually the right knee, actually I can't recall noticing it ever happen to the left knee.

It happens only when I'm pedaling seated. I'll typically be in 53/17 or 53/21, something like that, about 70 rpm, trying to accelerate (like through an intersection, etc). There is no discomfort or stiffness otherwise, on or off the bike. I have no history of knee issues, other than maybe once or twice a year my knees will get mildly sore for one or two days, which always goes away with a rest, meaning I take it easy on the next few days' rides, spinning a lower gear. That soreness is a different sensation than the momentary twinges I'm noticing now.

I usually ride every day (bike commuter) but didn't hardly ride for about two weeks (snow and ice storm in Portland, then I went to NYC and was stuck there by another snowstorm). Last week was my first back on the bike. I'm just doing my usual quite short commute, but I guess I am re-acclimating to daily riding and maybe that is related to these twinges.

What I am doing about it is, I've changed to riding in lower gears (about two cogs higher) and slowing down a bit - basically, taking it a bit easy. I'm going to be mostly off the bike for most of the next two weeks (business travel - although I guess there are stationary bikes in the hotel gyms). When I get back to daily riding, I will also take it easy for the first week. Then I plan to gradually go back to my usual gearing and pedaling ways.

Make sense? Do you ever get this? What is my knee telling me? When I get the twinge/weakness, should I keep pushing and see if it recurs or stops on the next pedal strokes?

50 y/o. Reasonably fit. No knee injuries. Ride about 2500 miles/yr. Daily short commute plus some weekend rides plus a couple centuries. Typical cadence 70-90 rpm.

Good luck jyl. I can't give you any advice but easing up for a while sounds like a good plan.

Charlie

The weakness is most likely a reaction to the "twinge". Check bikefit, use lower gears and best yet, lay off it a little bit.

It's nice to find others with similar experiences, even though pretty much everyone will tell you 1. Rest and slow down 2. Ice it 3. Judicious use of antiinflammatories 4. See a doc 5. If all else fails, get an MRI.

It could be worse. We could be runners. I found this quote in yesterday's paper:

Fleet Feet running coach Erin Sheehy, who is 22 and has been running for seven years, said she knows too well the consequences of training too hard, too quickly. She has endured knee injuries that derailed her from the sport for up to eight months.

Use the time when you are out of town for business to give the knee a total rest and let things settle down. I went through this last week and the time off did my knee a world of good. I am using the 2 weeks following (just ending week 1) to spin lightly while riding an easy route. I'm keeping the knees warm while riding, also. When it started I stopped riding and got a doctor's appointment to have things checked before riding, when the pain and swelling stopped. I did use the time off to go over my bicycle fit and where everything in the cockpit was set, little adjustments or reassembly after maintenance changed a few things that I hadn't realized were slightly different. I guess the little things caught up with me, I had no warning about the sudden pain and swelling at all.

Bill

When I was in high school, back at the dawn of time, we had a football coach who had a trick knee. He would have the team doing wind sprints and he would join in with the kids. Every few weeks or so, his trick knee would give out and he would fall headlong to the grass. He was fine in a short time. I never did learn what a trick knee is. Hang on - I just googled 'trick knee'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxating_patella

Try knee exercises,knee brace form drug store,,glucosamine pills,Advil (it works for the ups guy. )when these fail go to an orthopedic doctor.if lucky he can scope it and just suck out some junk from under the knee cap.many of my friends had tiny pieces of their knee floating under the knee cap causing pain.another friend had a silicone injection into his knee for quick relief.But this is not a permanent fix.
My knee acts up more in the cold weather.All winter I'm in pain ,summer comes and it's gone.

I dunno - it sounds like it could be many different things. The knee can be pretty mysterious and complicated. In my case I've been through more than a year trying to diagnose and rehabilitate a problem in the back of my knee. In my case, time off the bike doesn't help - nothing does, actually - but probably you have something else, and the best plan of action may be RICE and if that doesn't help in a week or two, then maybe it's time to see the orthopedist.

At this point I just plan to take a week off the bike and then ease back into it. I may do some short exercise bike time in the hotels at high cadence, low resistance, just to keep in the groove. The knee feels completely normal when just walking around.

Perhaps I will try to spin a higher gear. I used to do all my riding seated at 90-100 rpm in the small chainring but switched to 70-90 rpm and more standing climbing and usually in the 53 ring, to make my legs stronger. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to balance things out.

Never had twinges quite as bad as the OP describes. I did have soreness when I first started riding with cleats because they weren't adjusted to my quite radical toeout. So I'm very cognizant of that issue with myself.

I've always ridden with a relatively high cadence and doing some load bearing squats with 2x4 under the heels and 40+ lb. dumbbells parked on each shoulder during the winter in hopes of preparing for whenever it stops snowing. So I do worry about knees more than I used to.

Good luck to the OP and take care your walking as well as riding posture. Make sure your shoes and any arch supports you might use are good. Some of my minor twinges are the result of my toeout (and a related callus) causing me to twist when walking when my feet aren't well protected. I go through lots of "Molefoam" on that callus just so I can walk normally as well as "Molefoam" and ace bandage padding around my brand new spur-heel on my other foot.....So glad to be able to add to an aches and pains thread nowadays :notamused:.

I find that my knees hurt after not riding for a few days. One doctor came up with a theory, and she admitted she was thinking as she was talking. She said perhaps the exercise helps move the lubricant in my knee but getting off the bike makes it dry up.

I say get back on the bike and keep pedaling gently. I've finally faced the fact that I've been mashing too much and am making an effort to spin faster. It's not easy with my track bike, since it has a 76-inch ratio, but at least it's light, so I'm not mashing all that hard. I do plan to gear it down this winter and then back up later in the spring.

Good Advice. I'll add, based on my dark past (I came to cycling as a recovering basketball addict with horrific knee issues-short people shouldn't dunk.):

6. Raise your rpm. Two things here: higher rpm lowers the peak stress on the joints and also forces you to clean up your pedal stroke. If you are bouncing all over the place, then you aren't pedaling circles. Target a cadence of at least 95 rpm and force yourself to do lots of miles with it over 110. It's uncomfortable at first, but the payoff in terms of better pedaling technique is worth it.

7. When the knees are healthy, consider adding leg extensions and leg curls to your regular workout regimen. I'm not sure why, but the strength gained through these exercises seems to help keep the knee stable and healthy. Do one leg at a time, fifteen reps per leg per set, no rest between sets, five to ten sets of extensions before changing out to curls. Repeat, adding weight as desired (start too low).

8. Keep you legs warm while riding. There isn't much insulation around the knee, so you need to cover it to keep it warm while riding.

I'm firmly in the "raise your rpm" camp. I stayed with my original early '80s gear ratio (too high) for far too long. Not everyone can continue to do the "big chainring" thing as their body ages.
You may end up feeling odd spinning at a rate you would think appropriate only for low gear climbing, but your knees will benefit - it's almost guaranteed. You'll develop smoothness with power in good time.
I also advocate regular hamstring and quad stretching as well as weighted leg raises for your core strength. Knees suffer more when your internal core weakens as so often happens.
Good luck!