Tendonitis advice

[Coggy]

If you are building up miles in your legs you WILL need to take care of them. Get yourself a large spray can of anti-freeze and roll back and sides of your legs back and forth in small sections over it. Start off gently as you will be very tender, work from your heal Achilles, up your leg, calf both sides, tendons and back of knee. Then go above your knee if you want to massage your upper leg. Do your IBT if you need to as well if it is sore, although go carefully as it may be tender. You will need to support your body weight with your arms. Do not stretch your muscles but do this instead. You are massaging the muscles and tendons stimulating blood flow, old out and new in. Do before and after you ride or in the morning and evenings when you get up or go to bed. Only need take 5 minutes when you are good at it. When out on a ride legs will feel a lot more supple and stronger. You will look forward to this massage. It is simple and cheap the only cost being that of a can of anti freeze spray. Why anti freeze? It's cold that's why.

Also as others have said you need the right frame size and correct saddle height. When stationary sitting evenly and square on your bike put your heal on the pedal at the bottom of it's stroke - your leg should be relaxed straight to very very very slightly unlocked. If your heal cannot reach the pedal or you have to slide your hip down to the side to allow your heal to reach it then your saddle is too high. Loosen and lower a few mm at a time. go for a test ride and re-assess. Also don't push heavy gears, spin easily and comfortably, obviously not like a kid's windmill spiny thing but so you are comfortable. Keep your knees in toward the top tube as you ride. Relax your upper body and power smoothly around the whole pedal stroke. Don't over do it at this early stage. If you can get a cycling computer/Garmin with cadence function this would be a great aid for you. Try to routinely ride at 85-90 or slightly higher 95 as you get fitter and stronger.

HTH.

Thanks, for your help and advice

 

[Crankarm]

To be clear, he just uses the can to roll out all the knots and not the contents as some sort of anti environment, but cheap deep heat remedy! The other option is a foam roller from amazon, physio room, Argos!

It's ITB rather than IBT if the OP wants to know what it is

Errr ……. I don't think my post suggests anything but rolling your legs over a spray can of antifreeze?????? Certainly not spraying the contents over one's legs which would be stupid and frankly mental. A foam roller is an alternative, but it will cost many times more and not be half as effective imho. Also you won't have the cooling effect that you get from a can of anti-freeze and it will compress. A Carplan large can of anti freeze is ideal and cost me £1.99.

Yes ITB / IBT I'm dyslexic so have to double triple check everything but this must have slipped through.

 

[Crankarm]

Thanks, for your help and advice

You are welcome.

 

[vickster]

However, I would say it needs clarification if you have never come across the concept of foam rolling. It wasn't immediately clear to the OP either. Personally, I'd invest a tenner in a foam roller, noting that they are not all the same. Any more than I would use a bungee cord or normal bit of elastic instead of a theraband

 

[Coggy]

However, I would say it needs clarification if you have never come across the concept of foam rolling. It wasn't immediately clear to the OP either. Personally, I'd invest in a foam roller, noting that they are not all the same. Any more than I would use a bungee cord or normal bit of elastic instead of a theraband

I had no idea what "rolling" was/is. Thankfully you have saved me from using Anti Freeze as a massage oil.

Actually, when you say Anti Freeze I assume you actually mean De-Icer ?

 

[vickster]

To be honest I wouldn't embark on any sort of programme like this without the advice of a physiotherapist, it's relatively easy to do this sort of stuff incorrectly and cause more problems. Squats are a case in point, knackered knees due to poor form

Coggy, if rest doesn't help, invest £50 in a physio session. Explain the issues and your goals. Once you've checked the bike is set up right as above

 

[Coggy]

To be honest I wouldn't embark on any sort of programme like this without the advice of a physiotherapist, it's relatively easy to do this sort of stuff incorrectly and cause more problems. Squats are a case in point, knackered knees due to poor form

Coggy, if rest doesn't help, invest £50 in a physio session. Explain the issues and your goals. Once you've checked the bike is set up right as above

By the way, meant to say, by last night, totally pain free. All ok now. Think I just over did it a bit and didn't warm and/or warm down properly.

 

[Crankarm]

I had no idea what "rolling" was/is. Thankfully you have saved me from using Anti Freeze as a massage oil.

Actually, when you say Anti Freeze I assume you actually mean De-Icer ?

Err …… I think you mean to be directing your questions at me .

Yes De-Icer / Anti-Freeze Spray what you spray on a car windscreen when it is frozen.

Re enlisting the help of physios and paying £50 etc. Fine if you want to do that but what I tell you works. You will need to look after your body if you are serious about upping your cycling mileage on a regular basis and staying in good shape i.e. avoiding injury. I have used general physios the sort of which Vickster may be suggesting in the past and frankly they were a waste of time and money as they weren't proper experienced sports physios and their cost soon adds up. However the one that sorted out my shoulder when I was knocked down over 3 years ago said this was a good exercise. Such exercises are featured quite often in running, tri and some of the better cycling mags. Maybe look at some of these in case they feature more articles on restorative exercises and gentle stretching. It's a good tip it works, certainly has for me as I ride about 300 miles a week and run and I am injury free. My advice is free and I don't have a hand in your wallet or a product to sell.

 

[Coggy]

Err …… I think you mean to be directing your questions at me .

Yes De-Icer / Anti-Freeze Spray what you spray on a car windscreen when it is frozen.

Re enlisting the help of physios and paying £50 etc. Fine if you want to do that but what I tell you works. You will need to look after your body if you are serious about upping your cycling mileage on a regular basis and staying in good shape i.e. avoiding injury. I have used general physios the sort of which Vickster may be suggesting in the past and frankly they were a waste of time and money as they weren't proper experienced sports physios and their cost soon adds up. However the one that sorted out my shoulder when I was knocked down over 3 years ago said this was a good exercise. Such exercises are featured quite often in running, tri and some of the better cycling mags. Maybe look at some of these in case they feature more articles on restorative exercises and gentle stretching. It's a good tip it works, certainly has for me as I ride about 300 miles a week and run and I am injury free. My advice is free and I don't have a hand in your wallet or a product to sell.

Sorry yes meant to direct my post to yourself.

De-Icer and Anti Freeze are cery different.

Spray anti freeze on your car paint work and then spray De-Icer on it and tell me which one you like best.

 

[vickster]

I meant a sports physio . The ones I have seen charge around £50. Yes it adds up for chronic injuries of course especially if there is a specific issue. However, for a diagnosis and exercise / stretching programme to prevent said injuries one or two sessions should suffice

 

[S.Giles]

I have suffered on and off with a very sharp pain in the tendons behind the knees. On one particular 40 mile ride this became really bad so I sat down and thought it through and decided that my saddle was a little too high (I was in the habit of having it adjusted higher than recommended). As mentioned in an above post, a (too) high saddle over extends the knee on every rotation of the pedals. At this end of the saddle height range, a small change (reduction, say) in saddle height results in a big change (reduction) in the angle that the knee has to flex through.

I worked it out mathematically (we have to make our own entertainment around here!), and (IIRC) an approx. 3% change in saddle height makes a 20% difference in the range of angles through which the knee has to bend. This is because close to 180 degrees (ie, straight leg), a large angular change will result from only a small change in the cos ratio (distance between the pedal and saddle heights). It's basic GCSE trigonometry, but explained my problem perfectly.

To cut a long story short, I lowered the saddle by about 20mm, and (touch wood), the problem disappeared.

Steve

 

[Coggy]

So, before yesterday's ride:

Lowered seat by about 5-10mm
Adjusted cleats on MTB shoes

Did a 27 mile ride. Today no tendon or leg pain.

However, found ride MUCH tougher than last weeks 50 miler.

Yes a bit of a head wind and also wet at times. Could the difficulty level be due to changes made to riding position/ what I am user to.

Lot less tired today.

 

[vickster]

I guess it depends whether the previous set up was more efficient. My bike fit made the position more akin to the most efficient one, this isn't proving the most comfortable for my legs however! That said, the left one is not in a great state!

 

[rualexander]

So far:

6.7
14
24
34
17
50

Mileages ramped up far too quickly, classic route to tendon injury.
Cut back the distance and repeat a lower mileage a few times before gradually increasing distances by around 10% per week.

 

[Coggy]

Did a 17 mile route today that I have done before.

No problems with strains or pain and felt like I could have gone again.

Interestingly enough, just a five second difference between last time I did this toute although it felt much slower and I had quite a head wind on 50% of ride.

Shall use this route as my regular midweek ride and it will be a good indicator to how I am improving.

Still getting used to new set up. Feels quite different and not as efficient as before but as I say no pain or strains.