Within the last few months I’ve started cycling to work (total 10-12 miles per day, mostly flat and at a steady pace).
I started experiencing some pretty bad knee pain, to the point where putting pressure on my knee (e.g. even walking up stairs) was painful. Believe this was a result of my saddle being too low, so I increased the height and the pain disappeared within a few days.
However, I now have a lingering ache in my right knee (same knee as the previous knee pain). I’ve tried adjusting saddle height, cycling in correct the correct gear etc but it doesn’t seem to shift it - I think I may need a bigger bike, but can’t afford one at the minute.
I can still lift, but it does make my squats quite painful - not to the extent where I have to bail on them, but halfway down the descent to the bottom of the squat the pain does cause me to grimace a little and takes my focus away from the lift itself. I’ve also noticed some mild hip pain which I’ve never had before.
I’m attributing the knee and hip pain to my cycling as it’s only come on recently - has anybody else experienced this, and how did you get around it? I’m confident that the pain would go away if I stopped cycling, but that isn’t an option.
If you can’t afford a proper sized bicycle, at least have the one you’ve got fitted to you by a pro. There are all sorts of minor tweeks like the saddle placement and angle, handlebar angle and stem height that could be affecting your riding. Also be sure your seat isn’t drooping down as your ride. You could try experimenting with different riding cadences too; try spinning faster if you normally crank slow, or the other way around.
Sounds like this may be the effects of adding in some novel loading with the cycling, perhaps at a higher “dose” than you were prepared for. You may have developed a tendinopathy in the area.
Eg. using 3-0-3 tempo squats for sets of 10-12 reps to start out with. You could also consider using pin squats cut off at the part of the ROM where discomfort starts, and gradually progress the ROM back to normal.
Thanks Austin - FWIW, I have since adjusted my riding stance more (change position of feet on the pedals, increased saddle height again) and stuck to lower gears. I’ve also started doing body weight squats regularly throughout the day which seems to have done the trick as the knee pain is subsiding daily.