exercises.

Ciaran789

Hello, i have recently got back in to cycling after a few years as a means of losing weight. my problem is that im noticing my knees are not as up to the challenge as they were back in my secondary school years.

i was wondering is anyone could recommend some exercises that can be done with little to no equipment (all i own are a set of 5kg dumbells) to improve the strength in my knees.

Zen0

Ask a physio. Seriously, you need somebody who can figure out what's going on with your knees. Until recently I had the knees of a 70 year old. Got an MRI and a but of physio and am keeping up the exercises. But what I (or anyone here) do, will not necessarily work for you.

TheBlaaMan

Ciaran789 wrote: »

Hello, i have recently got back in to cycling after a few years as a means of losing weight. my problem is that im noticing my knees are not as up to the challenge as they were back in my secondary school years.

i was wondering is anyone could recommend some exercises that can be done with little to no equipment (all i own are a set of 5kg dumbells) to improve the strength in my knees.

You may be turning too big a gear. When starting back, there's a temptation to grind as big (tough) a gear as possible, ie staying in the smaller sprockets on the rear cassette. Try 'spinning' rather than 'grinding' - stay in the small chainring and in the bigger sprockets for long spells and only use the tougher gears for pedaling on gentle flat sections or even reserve just for declines (avoid the temptation to freewheel - it wont help in the long run).

It may seem excessive, but you need to be keeping up cadences (r/p/m) of around 80-90 per minute; below 50 or so and you are probably putting excessive workload on those knees. To assist, its worth spending a few quid on a cycle computer that will show cadence: typically €50 or so, perhaps less, will get one - not many(any?) cheapo ones wil do cadence, so check carefully if you are buying.

Its also worth considering a proper bike fitting - this will also kick in around €50, but you may have to spend a bit more - even minor tweaks in the set-up of your bike (saddle height esp) can assist in relieving knee pain.

Lucifer-0

Sometimes the pain in the knees is coming from the quads. So maybe you just need to stretch a bit, squats, etc.

wile1000

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Its also worth considering a proper bike fitting - this will also kick in around €50, but you may have to spend a bit more - even minor tweaks in the set-up of your bike (saddle height esp) can assist in relieving knee pain.

Where can I get one of these / who offers them? My lower back gives me grief from time to time and I am concerned I may not have the right setup (despite minor tweaks of my own). Cheers.

Lumen

There are two approaches to staying injury free if you are fragile.

The cheap, slow approach is to build up very gradually and listen to your body, read a bit about bike fit and try to self-diagnose and correct any problems as they arise.

The expensive, faster approach is to regularly visit a good physio and get yourself assessed, then spend hours a week doing boring and difficult structural fitness work.

TheBlaaMan

wile1000 wrote: »

Where can I get one of these / who offers them? My lower back gives me grief from time to time and I am concerned I may not have the right setup (despite minor tweaks of my own). Cheers.

Your local bike shop is a good starting point. Also search on here........there are plenty of mentions, and one may be near to you

Ciaran789

thanks for all the replys guys. ill do a bit of searching online for a cycle computer and try switching to lower gears as i do usually cycle in the higher range. im not really keen on going to a physio as they can work out fairly expensive in the long run.

cdaly_

I'm using a Cateye Strada Cadence computer. Costs £38.

Before you have the computer, just pick a gear that feels like you're pedalling too fast. Something around the pace of a fast run to sprint is where you should be aiming.

el Bastardo

Ciaran789 wrote: »

thanks for all the replys guys. ill do a bit of searching online for a cycle computer and try switching to lower gears as i do usually cycle in the higher range. im not really keen on going to a physio as they can work out fairly expensive in the long run.

Physios can be expensive, but if your knees are mechanically deficient (as mine are), you'll need it. You'll need to figure put which part of the knee the pain is coming from; e.g. l/r upper cap, l/r behind cap, l/r lower cap, l/r back of knee etc. You can probably figure out what you need (see Lumen's earlier post) once you do that.

jameverywhere

I'm currently going to a physio for my knees. I have a muscle imbalance that causes me to walk duck-footed. This translated into pedalling duck-footed... after cycling pretty hard for two months or so, I started having knee pain on the inside of my knees.

Now I'm off the bike except the 5 km each way to work and back, and walking is annoying and sometimes painful. I'm doing my best to strengthen the appropriate muscles as per the physio's instructions so that I can walk straight with nearly parallel feet like I'm s'posed to. And I've got me clips adjusted so my knees are pedalling straight up and down as much as possible.

I don't think my muscle imbalance is caused my cycling because I used to have hip and inner leg pain after walking for two hours or more, which is related according to the physio. Cycling just made all this worse.

Anyway. Where I'm going one visit to the physio is €55. You can always go once, see what he has to say, then when he (or she I guess) tries to reschedule you, say you'll follow the initial instructions and just come back if you still have problems.

Don't let it go for too long 'cause then you may have to give up cycling for a month or more.

(I'm DYING to get out and cycle hills and cycle for hours and do Howth on the weekends like I used to... this is really frustrating me...)

dedede

hi there, ive started doing rip60 it very good but for 3 clases a week it 21 euro,i think it very dear.ive been looking on line to see does any gym have this, as it would be cheaper. i cant find one. if any one knows of a gym that is doing rip 60 or a fitness studio that is cheaper then 21 euro for 3 classes, could you let me knoe. thanks

AaronB

foam roller everyone should have one. I use mine every 2nd day and cadence use your gears and dont grind or your knee's, hams & calves, IT band are going to cause problems.

For me the after hard climbs is the hip flex-er, foam roller is a great thing to have and will help you keep on top of any problems that aren't serious.

fixie fox

AaronB wrote: »

foam roller everyone should have one. I use mine every 2nd day and cadence use your gears and dont grind or your knee's, hams & calves, IT band are going to cause problems.

For me the after hard climbs is the hip flex-er, foam roller is a great thing to have and will help you keep on top of any problems that aren't serious.

How do u work the hip flexor - is it just a matter of lying on your front and working it.

AaronB

Yes lay on your front slight to the side and move yourself left to right slowly til you fine a bad spot and hold and put pressure and keep holding til it goes away. Once you get to you side it gets abit harder put your fore hand on the ground as if you were planking to support yourself. You then use that support to hold and push down on the knots.

Then i just work my way around til im on my back almost, which helps that lower back pain too.
Also a good one is to sit your ass down on the roller and slowly roll/slide back on your lower back.

The main thing to remember with the roller, your not rolling doe take your time.
Find them and hold, put as much weight on it that you can handle, once it the pain is gone or almost gone, go searching again

The foam roller is not fun, no pain no gain!

the p-90x-2 has a great recovery / foam roller dvd - well worth watching if you get your hands on it.

j@utis

just watched video on youtube with lad showing exercises with foam roller, looks like fun. where to get one?

dingdong1234567

AaronB wrote: »

foam roller everyone should have one. I use mine every 2nd day and cadence use your gears and dont grind or your knee's, hams & calves, IT band are going to cause problems.

For me the after hard climbs is the hip flex-er, foam roller is a great thing to have and will help you keep on top of any problems that aren't serious.

Interesting. Any links to where i could get one.of these foam rollers?

AaronB

any good sports shop will have one they are 30 euro or get one on amazon

Surinam

j@utis wrote: »

just watched video on youtube with lad showing exercises with foam roller, looks like fun. where to get one?

+1 where would people recommend for a decent (but reasonably priced!) roller?

I found this one but not sure if that's value for money?

Jarren

Nope

Those are the much better

http://www.physioneeds.biz/ProductDetail.aspx?ref=GRIDa

http://www.irishfit.eu/shop/physio-injury/massage-therapy/rumble-roller-firmness-black-extra-firm

They are worth every single cent tbh, I have the grid roller myself and can't speak highly enough about the product.

Foam rollers tend to sag in the middle after heavy usage so my advice is to get something that will last a few years.

AaronB

Get the rumble roller, thats what i have just for that extra pain
its one of the best rollers i have used

petethedrummer

j@utis wrote: »

just watched video on youtube with lad showing exercises with foam roller, looks like fun. where to get one?

It's horrribly painful. You can get the Jessica Ennis Signature model from Argos.