I've experienced achilles cramps several times this month on the same leg. There have been a lot of chages on the bike b/c I changed the saddle and have been toying with it a lot. But I did notice that it's the foot I always unclip at redlights.

The pain is really light, like getting a shot right in the tendon. I'm 34, have been biking a little over a year, I bike for recreational and weight control and I rarely push myself too hard.


My questions are:

What stretches should I do to try and keep this from happening?

Do I need to see a physician?

What are some possible causes of achilles cramping besides hydration and overuse?

Should I pull off my clipless pedals for a while?

Thanks

Achilles cramps? Do you mean calf cramps? Where exactly is the pain?

If it is your achilles tendon, you might want to consider lowering your saddle a bit.

Thanks for responding Machka, your posts are always useful. I mean the little strip of tendon right above the heel;
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...5/5d/Ankle.PNG

It feels like a sharp burning sensation kind of like a cramp but not nearly as painful as say a calf cramp. Like a precramp haha. Actually my saddle is higher than it's ever been. raised it several times and the new Brooks B17 is a bit higher than the previous saddle. I guess a saddle too high could cause a bit of over extension of the tendon or maybe just more unconscious use of the achilles?

Try strengthening the achilles tendon while sat at your computer.

Perform seated calve raises, isometrically. (Tendons grow when muscles meet resistance but don’t move, i.e., isometric training). You will feel the stretch in calves & achilles.




Also working the achilles, calves will benefit your cycle performance.

Saddle height: seated normally on the saddle, unclip one foot. With crank aligned with downtube and heel centered on pedal, your heel should barely touch the pedal at full leg lock. Saddle could be up to 4mm higher or lower than that, but no more. Try it with both legs. Go with the saddle height for the shorter leg.

This is most probably a mild case of tendonitis. A simple test for that is to take ibuprofen before you ride. If it doesn't hurt, it's tendonitis. But that doesn't mean you should take ibuprofen. Fix the problem instead.

Yep it sounds like you probably need to lower the saddle.

Use carbonfiberboy's method where you unclip one foot and put your heel on the pedal. Because I have had fairly serious achilles tendonitis, for that test, I need to have my heel firmly planted on the pedal with a slight bend in my knee ... not with my leg fully locked. And if you live in a hilly area, you should also go with a slight bend in the knee because the saddle needs to be lower if you're doing a lot of climbing. Slightly lower, that is. Sometimes it comes down to millimetres.

Does it hurt more in the morning, especially if you try to balance on tip toes? That's more of a test than taking ibuprofen. I could take handfuls of ibuprofen when mine was at its worst and they would have made no difference.

At this point I would not do any sort of stretching or strengthening. Rest is the key.

In addition to lowering your saddle you should google ankle mobility to see if yo have issues there as well.

Whether the saddle is too low, too high or just perfect, your still going to overload the tendon when you ride. Saddle height might be the overwhelming factor but when its perfected, muscles & tendons will still receive an overload there not use too. It could be a flexibility issue in the calves or hamstrings.

Thanks for all the replies. I got some knee pain right after I posted last so I'm going to make sure my saddle correct to the mm and take a few days off the bike. Never had any problems before in my legs from biking. Taking it easy for a while. I'll report back if I can manage to go a month without issues.

I remember hearing one case about calcium deposits being a problem on achilles tendons due to damage/stress... fairly painful.

I'm 99% sure what caused this was in fact saddle height. Using the test prescribed I found the saddle to be 1.5 cm too high. I lowered it and rested up for a few days. It felt more solid while riding but unfortunately my knee got sore the next day. The knee is actually a lot more painful than achilles was. It feels fine in the morning but starts to ache if I walk around or ride the bike; I guess the saddle height caused that as well. how should I stay off the bike? I'm missing the best riding days of the year in Korea :|

Where is the knee pain, specifically? If it is in front (over the kneecap) that means generally too low. Behind the knee, too high. In other places, it can mean tightness of your tendons and muscles, which is addressed with regular stretching. If it is in front, start raising it 1mm at a time, and see what happens. Fit is what is actually comfortable, and doesn't always conform to a formula.

The pain is kind of hard to locate but I'd say around the kneecap and maybe somewhat under some of the kneecap. I've had it distinctly above the kneecap last year and it doesn't feel like that did.

That would generally indicate too low a saddle. I've had pain right above the kneecap, and that was muscular tightness.
I would recommend trying to raise your seat in small increments (1mm) and give it a ride or two to test how it feels. A change of 15mm is huge, and makes a big difference in how your body feels. I was doing a 100k, and about 40 ish miles in, my seat post collar failed, and then the bolt seized trying to fix it. My saddle was at least 2cm below where it should be. Inside 2 miles, my knees were painful, and my hip flexors were in agony. It makes a difference that much, at least to me.
However, wait until your knee has rested up and doesn't hurt before you start testing raising the saddle. If it still hurts now, then try some ice and/or aleve to help reduce the irritation and inflammation.

I've had occasional Achilles flare-ups. Rest (i.e. no biking) is unfortunately one of the big things mentioned for this. Though it's good to see the stretching video above. I didn't know that one. Also verify seat position...fore/aft in addition to height. Also cleat position if you use clipless. And yes, 15cm is a huge.

Check to see if you have an arrow in there. If so, pull it out.

For calf: try moving cleats back.

Thanks. I found out the problem was a musket ball from the 1800's. Your advice was helpful. But seriously they did find some glass in my ankle last year. It had been there for almost like 16 years, foot went through a window when I was a kid and the doctor failed to get it all out. Was a trip.

I've just come off of a little riding break and I'm riding shorter rides at low intensity until I sort out the fit. legs feel pretty good. Going to see a fit specialist when I have the time. When I saw my general physician he said that sometimes tendon problems can take 4 to 5 weeks to heal completely but that doesn't mean you have to stop working out, if you can tolerate a workout and the tendon doesn't feel progressive worse but ,in opposition feels a little better then it's ok to do low friction workouts. If you are swelling and hurting badly then it's a good sign to stop activity.

I've been doing the stretches at the computer but I've doing a stretch kind of like a ballet stretch on the road

Try raising the saddle a little bit ... maybe to halfway between where it was, and where you lowered it to. This sort of thing gets down to millimetres and can be very frustrating.

I think you have to stay off it. I injured mine running and used light biking as part of the recuperation, but if you injured it by biking then I would say - you should rest it. when running you strain the Achilles if you increase your stride and or speed too much too quickly. not sure if that helps. if not - just ignore.

If you are truly experiencing Achilles pain then the best advice given is to stay off of it and rest. If it is injured and you continue to stress it you are only going to cause further injury which is going to lead to an extended period of time away from cycling. I injured my Achilles and thought I could bear the pain and ran anyways and I ended up having to take a full 2 weeks off with no running or biking. For someone who is very active that is VERY hard to do.

Listen to your body and if you are experiencing pain then give it some rest.

Update

This ended up being a mess. It's a month since me initial post. I ended up having more knee pain and had to see a doctor. I'm doing a little light PT right now and I'm supposed to stay off the bike for another week. The doc says the knee was muscle related not tendon related. I'm getting a fit next weekend. The guy I set up the appointment with said just from looking at me he thinks I'm riding a bit bow legged.

As far as the achilles goes the stretches helped and it's healed I think. It may have been from a high saddle but I found some other things that may have caused it. I adjusted the tension on my SPD clipless pedals, I think they were too tight and unclipping over and over could have pulled on that achilles. In fact the one that hurt is the one I unclip the most. I also found my cleats to be a little far back, I think that cleat position could maybe affect how you move your foot during pedaling and that could cause achilles tension.

After getting a pro fit today I am fairly sure the achilles pain was caused from a poor pedal stroke from having my cleats to far up and from having the pedals set too tight which made my 'red light foot' tender from unclipping over and over.... Then when I lowered the seat thinking it was the problem I developed the knee pain. Who'd thunk it huh?

I was really close on my fit actually before this started. The saddle ended up like 2mm from where I had it to begin with before the injury about 5mm aft.