ridecamp@endurance.net: sore knees

sore knees

Suzanne J. Griffin (FIT-TO-RUB@worldnet.att.net)
Wed, 6 Aug 1997 20:55:55 -0700

Hi. Just a warning that the following contains bits of medical term =
jargon. You still have a chance to get out! :)

This is to share my experience and maybe enlighten anyone out there who =
has experienced sore/achey knees during a ride. I tend to experience =
this "pain" only in one knee and only after an EXTENDED period of time =
riding or biking. =20
Since I work at a physical therapy clinic, I decided to use my resources =
and have our physical therapist assess my knee. Being a massage =
therapist and a person who has worked in the fitness field for years, I =
was surprised (but relieved) to find something wrong (fixable) that I =
had not noticed myself.=20
First of all, like MANY of the riders out there, my adductors (inner =
thigh gripper muscles) were WAY too tight (knew that...do as I say, not =
as I do :)), AND my right VMO (innermost muscle "bump" around knee) was =
significantly not as developed as my left. (This muscle is the last of =
the quadricep muscle groups (front of thigh muscles) to get developed, =
so when you see really BIG inner muscle "bumps" in cyclists and soccer =
players, you know those babies are STRONG!) AND my deep external =
rotators (muscles under the butt muscle that turns the leg from the hip =
outward) were way too tight on my right side AND my right foot over =
pronated (arch was being pushed down). WHEW!

So, who knows what came first, the chicken or the egg, but my guess is =
the tight adductors since I didn't have knee problems until after I =
started riding. So in summary and the moral of the long story is: if =
you are having problems: back, knee, hip, ankle, see someone who =
specializes in biomechanics and can assess your stance, posture, and =
structural alignment.

Oh and by the way, what am I doing to remedy this problem?....STRETCHING =
my adductors, hamstrings, and deep external rotators; strengthening my =
VMO (squats, near terminal leg extensions, and squats), and getting my =
knees taped (helps align the patella and assist the VMO).

Happy and healthy riding,

Susie & James, my little "go" boy=20

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