Many cyclists, from amateurs to professionals, will experience Spring Knee or some knee pain when starting up cycling again. Cycling is excellent exercise and a fun way to explore local areas and bike trails after being stuck inside for the winter. Once spring comes, people are excited to bring out their bikes again. You’re eager to hop on, ride 30+ km and break free from the winter blues. However, too much too soon without proper care can lead to a soft tissue injury known as ‘Spring Knee.’ A sudden increase in activity, whether in load, distance or intensity, can shock your body if it hasn’t seen that kind of stress in a while.
How To Combat Spring Knee
Like any other exercise or a new activity, you want to ease into it. Olympic athletes aren’t achieving record-breaking numbers after returning from their off-season. Give your body time to get used to the movement patterns. Start with a few kilometres, and over time your body will adapt. Starting with a high cadence and low resistance is key to a healthy knee. This will decrease the stress on the joint as you get back into the sport. After a few weeks, once your body has adapted to the activity, increase the load, intensity or distance but not all three simultaneously.
Listen to your body because you don’t want to injure yourself early on that you miss the entire season. Maybe one week, you increase the pedal cadence, the next week, you increase the distance. Another week you ride a ton of hills, or maybe increase riding frequency to every other day.
How Ebikes Help With Knee Pain
There are many benefits to using an ebike. Exercising can become challenging, especially if you have chronic pain. The great thing about ebikes is that they are frequently used because of their accessibility. Unlike conventional bikes, ebikes allow the opportunity for those who can’t ride a traditional bicycle. Many ebikes on the market include either pedal-assist, throttle or both. The pedal-assist will generally have different levels of assistance ranging from least assistance to the most. It will feel like a gentle push guiding your pedalling. The throttle boosts speed if you need an extra push on the hill or are too tired to pedal.
The increased adoption of ebikes means the industry can produce various designs that can accommodate your needs as they change. Ebikes enable people of all different fitness levels and abilities to cycle together, whether rehabilitation or leisure. It assists in recovering from injuries such as Spring Knee and opens many possibilities to improve your overall quality of life. There are many reasons to choose an ebike over a traditional bike, such as not being as fit, recovering from an injury, being older, or a lifestyle change. Ebikes are known to help in rehabilitation, but before using this method for rehab, always consult a medical professional for the best plan of action.
How To Minimize Knee Pain On And Off The Ebike
Outside of cycling, it’s crucial to regularly perform strength and endurance training while you return to cycling. If you’re dormant during the winter, include strength training exercises that target the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus medius, hip flexors, low back and core. Exercises such as dead bugs, single-leg touchdowns, glute bridges, lunges, and swiss ball rolls are just some examples. Always consult a health professional before engaging in strengthening exercises. Many don’t realize that weakness in the glutes is a common cause of knee pain resulting in the quads or hamstrings overworking to compensate. If your knee collapses inwards, that’s a sign that the glutes aren’t working to stabilize the knee, causing the knee to become sore.
Strengthening exercises are essential to improving overall lower body strength. Before any physical activity, generalized stretching and a proper dynamic warm-up are a must. As eager as you are to hop on the bike, taking a day to rest after sufficient training is essential. The body can adapt to training stress very quickly, but without proper rest, it won’t be able to recover and perform at its best fully. Ideally, take at least one day of complete rest after 5-7 days of training to stretch and foam roll. You will be sore, don’t take rest days for granted.
If you’re looking for an ebike this spring we’re fully stocked up! Contact us for more information so we can get you riding!
