What exactly hurts in your knee?
1. patellar tendinopathy: Excessive and permanent contact pressure between parts of the kneecap and its support irritates the knee. When cycling, this is caused by a shortening of the quadriceps, the knee flexors and the hamstrings. The outer part of the thigh is stronger than the inner part and the hip flexor muscles are weak.
2. meniscus body: uneven load distribution on the menisci. The outer meniscus is heavily compressed, while the other is less loaded. Weak hip flexor muscles are also responsible here, but possibly also the foot.
What to do on the body?
Stretch and strengthen the knee flexors and extensors. To do this, you should do a workout at least twice a week that focusses on unilateral exercises (exercises that are performed with one active limb). Suitable exercises include: lunges, one-legged get-ups, step-ups on a box. In addition to a stretching programme, rolling out with a Blackroll is suitable (preferably daily if the problems are acute). Here you can find the right Exercises for fascia training with the foam roller.
What to do on the bike?
Knee problems when cycling can cause very complex causal chains. For this reason, it is worth going to a bike fitter. Often there is a completely different problem behind the knee pain. However, there are a few things you can check beforehand: Saddle height (you usually benefit from higher positions if you have pain). The cleat position (alignment of the pedal plates) should prevent an X-leg kick. Special insoles can stabilise the arch of the foot and prevent the knee from buckling when pedalling.
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