Knee problems and spinning bike

[Jono Waddell]

Im currently training for Ironman, and i am having problems with me knees while running.

 

The problems relate to my feet and my hips which im busy working on with a bio and ortho.

 

Could training on a spin bike be adding to my problem???

 

Advice please!!

[geecee]

i battle sometimes with knee pain on a spinning bike. but i am using public bikes and never get the setup exact

[Eldron]

Im currently training for Ironman, and i am having problems with me knees while running.

 

The problems relate to my feet and my hips which im busy working on with a bio and ortho.

 

Could training on a spin bike be adding to my problem???

 

Advice please!!

 

It's possible - I've heard of more than a few people that struggle with "spinning knees". My instinct is that it's caused by "laziness" - people tend to push hard in their spinning intervals and as soon as the interval ends they relax and the fixed wheel "pushes" up on the knee causing unatural stresses.

 

Try to ramp down after intervals instead of just letting your legs spin.

 

Just my opinion...

[gadget]

I had issues with knees on the spinning bike until someone advised me to take measurements from my road/TT bike and apply it to the spinning bike. So early one morning before anyone is at the gym I pulled in tape measure in hand and quickly checked all the settings and made a mental note of them. Never had any issues again! Felt like a dork though - but don't care!

 

Edit : Typo

Edited March 9, 2012 by gadget

[covie]

every niggle i get seems to get compounded on spinning bikes, i hate the things, knee's hurt, get spasms in muscles etc, on my bike which i went for a professional fitting i dont have any of that.

 

But its a neccesary evil so i live with it. Theres just something about the positioning on a spinning bike which doesnt gel with my body.

[walkerr]

Also agree - all my problems get magnified on a spinning bike. Pretty sure it's a combination of not as thorough a setup, and also going from 0 to flat-out to 0 again in a 45 or 90 min period. On other rides the build-up/down is more gradual.

 

Come winter weather, I'll also be back to it too - so maybe I'll do the measurement thing, no issues looking like a dork (as anyone who has seen me on a bike will know!)

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Interesting as I also get sore knee joints on a spin bike, however I have worked out, for me, its not a set up issue but the actual class. Pretty much like walkerr the flat out / slow down / flat out / stand / sit / stand / sit / type class hurts my knees and my lower back.

 

Unfortunately spinning is a bit of a group excersise so its not really suited to everyone and, if I can, I prefer to ride the stationary bike at the gym and I can adjust it to suit me, but I also find it a bit lonely, and I like the social aspect of spinning, but I usually have to try and adjust my cadence and resistance as close as possible to a standard road ride, sadly those "popcorn" (up/down/up/down/flat out) type classes dont suit my old bones anymore.

Edited March 12, 2012 by GrumpyOldGuy

[Bronabee]

I definitely think the ‘’class’’ has a lot to do with sore knees. Some spinning instructors have no clue at all. I did a spin this morning and we did a 20min climb of just standing, which is fine but I get bored FAST and then he made us do 5 seconds sprint sitting down, then we had to stand for 5 seconds and sprint, that went on for the next 10min. Sprinting and then going into a sudden standing position can’t be good for your body at all, the sudden jerkiness I’m still waiting for the day I go flying over the handle bars with the spin bike right behind me.

[Iron]

Knees and spinning bikes dont go !!!! period !!!

 

learnt this the hard way many years back.

[Jagermeister]

Here's my 10c worth guys:

In my view there are a few problems with spin bikes:

Saddle is only adjusted in inches, not millimeters so although you will never be able to replicate your bike setup, you might get within the nearest 2cm.

Regarding the knees, I NEVER let the flywheel 'pull' my leg around. This can only cause damage - your knee was not engineered to be pulled, ever.

To guard against this, I ALWAYS make sure I have resistance on the flywheel so that I always have to pedal the cranks around. The top-speed spinning does absolutely nothing for you as a cyclist i.e. In reality, you will NEVER pedal that fast when riding your proper bike so it cannot help you, it only risks damaging your knees on a spin bike.

 

The class never caters for the serious cyclst - the 'popcorn' up-down-up-down mentioned in the thread above is more of a nuisance than anything else.

Also I have never see a spin instructor who even owns (yet alone trains) with a HR monitor. I usually sit at the back of the class and train in my target HR zone.

 

Just my opinion, but think hard before you strap your knees to a spinning wheel...

Cheers,

[Iron]

Here's my 10c worth guys:

In my view there are a few problems with spin bikes:

Saddle is only adjusted in inches, not millimeters so although you will never be able to replicate your bike setup, you might get within the nearest 2cm.

Regarding the knees, I NEVER let the flywheel 'pull' my leg around. This can only cause damage - your knee was not engineered to be pulled, ever.

To guard against this, I ALWAYS make sure I have resistance on the flywheel so that I always have to pedal the cranks around. The top-speed spinning does absolutely nothing for you as a cyclist i.e. In reality, you will NEVER pedal that fast when riding your proper bike so it cannot help you, it only risks damaging your knees on a spin bike.

 

The class never caters for the serious cyclst - the 'popcorn' up-down-up-down mentioned in the thread above is more of a nuisance than anything else.

Also I have never see a spin instructor who even owns (yet alone trains) with a HR monitor. I usually sit at the back of the class and train in my target HR zone.

 

Just my opinion, but think hard before you strap your knees to a spinning wheel...

Cheers,

 

+1

 

also , i have yet to meet a spinning instructor who even owns a bike .

[teddygerda]

Here's my 10c worth guys: In my view there are a few problems with spin bikes: Saddle is only adjusted in inches, not millimeters so although you will never be able to replicate your bike setup, you might get within the nearest 2cm. Regarding the knees, I NEVER let the flywheel 'pull' my leg around. This can only cause damage - your knee was not engineered to be pulled, ever. To guard against this, I ALWAYS make sure I have resistance on the flywheel so that I always have to pedal the cranks around. The top-speed spinning does absolutely nothing for you as a cyclist i.e. In reality, you will NEVER pedal that fast when riding your proper bike so it cannot help you, it only risks damaging your knees on a spin bike. The class never caters for the serious cyclst - the 'popcorn' up-down-up-down mentioned in the thread above is more of a nuisance than anything else. Also I have never see a spin instructor who even owns (yet alone trains) with a HR monitor. I usually sit at the back of the class and train in my target HR zone. Just my opinion, but think hard before you strap your knees to a spinning wheel... Cheers,

+1 also , i have yet to meet a spinning instructor who even owns a bike .

+1 also , i have yet to meet a spinning instructor who even owns a bike .

Got a MTB tandem, a MTB hard tail and entered for my second Freedom Challenge and have Carbon road bike....I agree with resistance on the spinning bike and the knee is not a "puller" but a "pusher"....sure you understand what I mean

www.spinningatbulla.blogspot.com

Edited March 13, 2012 by teddygerda

[seven]

I agree with top-end spinning with minimal resistance being BAD for knees.

 

I am a Bio with a bit of a cycling background and do biomechanical troubleshooting in persistent overuse-type of cycling injuries to assist in final bike setup.

 

Some of the issues we have identified after tracking a lerge group through several years are:

- There tends to be an increase in Anterior/Posterior (Forward/Backward) instability in the knee of cyclists who do a lot of spinning

- These changes seem to be linked to increased laxity in the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee

- It seems to be more linked to the type of class (i.e. full out spinning, high speed stand/sit, low resistance work), rather than volume of spinning

 

Solution: Choose your instructor/class better...

Edited March 17, 2012 by seven

[Josh...]

im 16 years old, i have runners knees shin splints and a collapsed arch. i cycle 4 times a week plus two spinning classes. i constantly suffer from knees pain. any advice ? ( stop cycling isn't a option )

['Dale]

@seven

 

Cool post!

 

I generally avoid spinning bikes, other than the odd bit of active recovery spin.

[biokinetics.co]

Josh...

 

For a start...

 

- make sure your knees do not fall inwards on the power stroke. The general approach is that it make you more aerodynamic if you have your knees close to the frame, but it will place huge loads on your knee. Make sure your knee "follows" the foot - i.e. you should be able to "see" the space between the 2nd and middle toe on the inside of your knee as you cycle. This will sort out the load at the knees.

- spin slow

- stretch your ITBs. This may sound strange, but the ITB has attachments to the knee cap that pulls it out of alignment which aggrevates the runner's knees.

- strengthen you bum

 

Try these, it should help. Let me know if you want more specifics

 

For the collapsed arch, it could have many causes, so not so easy to give advise

 

Good luck