knee health

[seandrichard]

I race mountain bikes all year about 300 miles a week or more training on it and it is really hard on the knees.What I would like to know what are the best things I could do to fix or save my knees(giving up racing is not a option)Thanks in advance for any help you can give me seandrichard


P.s I do leg part of warrior wellness before and after I ride but don't see much help from it.

[James Boelter]

I'll give you the 'Clinical Massage Therapist Just Starting Out' perspective to supplement the nutritional and Movement Health answers that other forum members can supply. And yes, I strongly believe that WW can assist joint health, but to be most effective it needs to be practiced as a whole body program - every body part affects and influences every other part and the body needs to be trained as a UNIT. Practicing WW as a whole body program will help you 'recruit' more of your upper and mid body into your racing efforts, making you more efficient and putting less stress on your knees in the process. This is in addition to the way the leg circles, etc, lubricate the knee joints and pump fresh blood and nutrients into the area.

Having said that, I will now seemingly reverse myself and talk about myofascial/trigger point therapy for the knees. But I'm not really being inconsistent - this has to do with the ways that seemingly unrelated areas of strain and tension can be indirectly causing aches and pains in your knees.

I would strongly recommend picking up either or both Bonnie Prudden's 'Myotherapy' or Clair Davies' 'Trigger Point Therapy Workbook' to learn how to off set the hidden problems that trigger points in your muscles and fascia might be causing you. (I think Davies' book is the better written and more accessible of the two, but Prudden was first and is a great inspiration). If you are doing serious riding and racing, I would bet large sums of money that you have overstressed many of the muscles in your legs, hips, and back to the point where they now have many active and latent knots in the tissue called 'trigger points'. These point may now or soon will cause you both 'referred' and direct pain in your knees. This might happen even if the cartilage and joint capsules are in relatively good shape.

The good news is that Davies' book (and Pruddens' slightly less so) has very straightforward and helpful procedures and diagrams for applying self massage techniques to seek out and 'extinguish' these knots (which are different from charley horses or muscle spasms). These procedures can also be applied as part of a pre-race/workout ritual to release any strictures and adhesions that might slow you down or hinder your performance and help prevent future pain and injury.

There are other ways to approach this concept of 'myofascial maintenance and first aid', including Neuromuscular Therapy, Rolfing, deep tissue massage, etc., but this is a very empowering approach for a layman (and believe me, as a newbie to the field, I know how laymen feel when confronted with this kind of thing.)

Clair Davies' book is available through Amazon, as is Bonnie Prudden's.

If Bob or Arthur or Jarlo are reading this, please jump in here!

[bob_stra]

I race mountain bikes all year about 300 miles a week or more training on it and it is really hard on the knees.What I would like to know what are the best things I could do to fix or save my knees(giving up racing is not a option)Thanks in advance for any help you can give me seandrichard

P.s I do leg part of Warrior Wellness™ before and after I ride but don't see much help from it.

So let me get this straight.

You put your knees through hell - 300 MILES PER WEEK MINIMUM - and then you wonder why your legs hurt?

Gee, maybe it's the colour of the shorts you're wearing? ;-)

Honestly Sean, if you're going to train like a professional athlete, recover like a professional athlete. Nutrition, body work, recuperative practices, cycling biomechanics, S&C routine - you will need to access all of this knowledge or access professionals that can help you.

Other wise, you're on a deep downward slide.

Here is a primer. After you've gotten an overview of this, you can begin to make informed decisions. "What kind of training is best for me? How can I use ergogenic aids? Will this type of supplement reduce fatigue? Would that type of exercise reduce post exercise DOMS? Do I have muscular imbalances in my body that increase my risk of injury - how do I find out?" etc etc etc etc etc

http://www.regenerationlab.com/archives/000117.php
http://www.regenerationlab.com/archives/000124.php
http://www.regenerationlab.com/archives/000132.php

[bob_stra]

Having said that, I will now seemingly reverse myself and talk about myofascial/trigger point therapy for the knees. But I'm not really being inconsistent - this has to do with the ways that seemingly unrelated areas of strain and tension can be indirectly causing aches and pains in your knees.

(SNIP)

All solid advice, as part of a whole plan including nutrition, recuperation, correct biomechanics, MES and conditioning routines. Each as vitally important as the rest, each needing pin point timing.

Think of it this way -

For every athlete you see at the 2004 Olympics, there will be at least
10-15 people who worked just as hard to get 'em there, but will never see the podium.

I think I might have been a little harsh in my last post. My point is this - you can do one thing well, correctly, till the cows come home but if the rest of your gameplan isn't together, then it won't count for much.

I really don't have any knowledge of mountain biking, but if it were me, I'd wanna find out the following as a bare minimum

(1) What are the prime movers and ancillary muscles used in cycling (for simplicity, lets focus on the legs)

(2) Statistically, what are the most common injuries to the legs in cycling - sprains, falls, overuse syndromes etc? Located where?

(3) Of the main injury types, what is the standard medical treatment? What are the alternatives? What is the rationale for each - does it hold up?

(4) Can I replicate these treatments myself, or do I need professional assistance?

(5) Given the structures involved, is there any "pre-habilitation" I can undertake? Will a "better muscle" withstand more abuse? If so, specifically what about the muscles will make them withstand more abuse - strength, endurance, flexibility, pattern of activation, rate of force output, lactate threshold etc?

(6) How strong / flexible / skilled / co-ordinated am I compared to the norm? Where am I now and where do I need to be.

And that's just for *muscles*, in the *legs*. Never mind all of the other musculoskeletal components. And when you're done with that, repeat the process focusing on nutrition, recuperation etc etc ....

I'm not trying to be snooty, but you can imagine why this sort of thing gets complicated.

I'm sorry - I don't know what the answer is. But perhaps the above will help form some of the questions?

[seandrichard]

Thanks guys great info .

p.s I'am trying to turn pro that's why I ride so much.

[Shaf]

I'm glad to see someone else enjoys the Regeneration Lab stuff.