wrldtraveller

Hey folks,

I've noticed that a lot of people do century rides. Plus I'm interested in possible touring sometimes in the future. My question is that when I ride in excess of 50 miles, my knee starts giving me twinges and aches. I've noticed that it is recommended to have my bike tailor fit to my stance when riding. Thats one suggestion, another one is to do work on leg exercises to ensure that there isn't muscular imbalance in your leg that may cause knee pain.

question for you all... what do you do to improve your knee strength to be able to do a century ride or more?
Please make suggestions for both gym exercises and on the road exercises.

thanks.
Paul

Machka 

Both of these.

It also helps to simply build up the muscles through cycling and other activities.
And to do less mashing ... more spinning.


Where does the knee hurt?

StephenH

People are different, problems are different.
I know with me, if I had knee pain after 100 miles, it would mean my saddle was too low.
That doesn't mean that's your problem, though.

wrldtraveller

mashing? if you can clear that up for me.

knee usually aches on the inside (left of right knee).

Machka 

Mashing = cadence less than about 80 rpm


Question: how tight are your cycling shorts around your thighs? Where the elastic around your thighs is?

zonatandem

Possible joint issues?
Been taking Glucosomine/Chondroitin/MSM for over 20 years and have cycled 300,000+ miles since the early 1970s. No knee or joint issues (so far!).
Now 83 years old, still taking the supplement and pedaled 4,500 miles in 2015.

Tourist in MSN

Is your crank arm too long? I usually use a 175mm, but I notice when I use one of my bikes with 170mm for a long ride that my knees feel a little better after the ride. When the pedal is at the top of the stroke, my knee is flexed slightly less on that bike.

Same knee, or do both get sore?

Is there any chance that one leg is longer than the other?

rhm

+1. In my opinion, shorter crank arms are better for many reasons, including less knee pain.

wrldtraveller

Zondatandem. thats my goal in life. to be able to keep riding well into my 80's high 5 to you!.

I don't often mash my cadence, with the exception of pedalling up hills on the hardest gear possible.
as to if both knee ache, well only my right knee ache. I believe it was due to an old injury I had when i was 12 or 13. It was on my right leg.
My shorts aren't that tight, its well worn and I have enough room to ride comfortably in it.
I do not think my leg are longer than the other, except my feet might be slightly bigger than the other.
shorter crank arms? I am 6 foot 4 inches, I don't need shorter crank arms, they are plenty short for me.

I am not sure what is my cadence, as I've never had it counted. Currently its winter and I am exercising using the indoors stationary bikes. and it do count cadence. i average 110 to 120 rpm. but thats different than being outside with my bike so I might be going a bit slower but still relatively high as I usually average 20 mph on my bike, sometimes higher.

P

work4bike

Cycling is a highly repetitive sport. And on top of that fact is that cycling only uses certain muscles, which build them up very well; however, there are muscles that are not used so much, so they are not built up, thereby leading to muscle imbalances. And if you're 30 or older, you are starting to lose muscle, so those muscles not being used are creating more of an imbalance than when you were a young stud, hence why most old people (who are otherwise healthy) start feeling pains in the musculoskeletal system, such as the knees.

The answer is cross training, and in my case I do running and hiking, but even those activities don't get every muscle, so my foundation for musculoskeletal health is weightlifting.

Bike fit will only help so much, at some point you gotta address your foundation, the engine, or prime mover of the bike.

Just make sure you're not mindlessly throwing around weights, you can hurt yourself more that way. This guy really knows what he's talking about when it comes to strength training. There are only a few core workouts you really need to do and as a beginner you don't even need weights you can do it all with body weight; however, if you really want to become strong (which means being healthy) you need to stress the body with some weight. Check him out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs_Ej32IYgo

Drew Eckhardt 

An excessively toes-out / duck-footed position can cause that.

Moving your cleats outboard shifting your foot closer to your frame can fix it.

Depending on how much float your cleats allow, you may need to rotate them to allow your feet to pivot towards a more neural position.

What's needed can change with injury - my right knee has been more sensitive to cleat position and saddle height since I broke that tibia/fibula in 2007, had an IM nail put in, and had the nail removed in 2011.

Carbonfiberboy 

Hello crazies! Attached to this post are the workouts I've been using, in no particular order. They're PDFs, so they show as black boxes on my computer. If you click on them, they will download and display. The ones labeled "Gethin" are broadly taken from his book Body by Design. The Gethin ones labeled "Foundation" are to be done for a few weeks before the ones labeled "Momentum." "30° Leg Extensions" means only the last 30° before straight leg is achieved. That's easier on the knee caps.

The ones labeled "Norwegian" are broadly taken from the training programs of Norwegian cyclists. The idea is that the "Gethin" workouts prepare the body for the heavier weights which are to follow in the "Norwegian" workouts. I do two workouts/week until April 1, when I switch to only 1 weight workout/week for the rest of the season, and not necessarily every week, depending on events.

I should point out that the "Norwegian" squats and one-legged leg presses are to be done only to the point of getting a 90° knee angle. This is known as a "half-squat." Cyclists don't produce power on a pedal stroke except between 90° and almost straight leg, so you're better off using more weight, avoiding knee injury, and not putting your ass in the grass when you squat.

Anyway, you do these workouts and you'll be riding strong when you're Rudy's age.

Bandera

Cycling, not surprisingly is a Pedaling Sport.
Developing efficient pedaling dynamics while riding a properly fitted machine with the lowest gearing necessary to ride up your most challenging terrain without undue strain and the highest gear one is willing to descend in it is fundamental.

For longer distances spend more time in the saddle doing the above: it will improve endurance, build important Base miles and adaptation to the machine. There is high specificity to cycling at pace over long distances without injury: No substitute for a good fit, lots of seat time and proper technique.

-Bandera

tariquesani

How would this matter? I at times get an angry red welt at this point on long hot rides...

Machka 

Shorts that are too tight just above the knee can put pressure on muscle and tendons and nerves.

I had a pair of shorts which felt a bit tight when I first put them on, but at the end of a race they were really tight and caused a lot of pain on the inside of the knees. I was thinking my bicycle fit might be off or something, but a few minutes after I took the shorts off, my knees felt so much better. And then the pain was back on the next race. Didn't take me long to work out ... it was the shorts.