Patellar Tendonitis and ITBFS

[christian]

Been there. Foam roller for sure. But moreover, yoga to stretch the hammies and hip flexors.

There's a good series called "Do Yoga with Me" on youtube, but if you just want the perfect cycling hits all in one series, meet your new friend Abi from Pinkbike. This series rocks:

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/how-to-...yoga-2016.html

[benb]

Originally Posted by topflightpro

Benb - I also have a very short torso and long legs. I can, however, fit on stock bikes. But whenever I tuck in my shirt, I look like an old person who pulled his pants up to his arm pits.

Zap - At one point, my saddle setback was close to 11 cm behind the BB. I'm now down to 9. And I run an Arione, which is a very long saddle. I also agree with the knee warmers.

Your personal configuration probably doesn't have much to do with tendonitis as long as your bike fits. I just mentioned my own proportions as an explanation for how low seat/not enough setback were recommended to me when I started riding.

[maxcolumbus]

I did a short trial with Look zero float cleats.
I experienced no issues until a really hard ride last Saturday.
Race pace effort, sprints, and 70 fast miles.
My knees were cooked for most of the week.
Lots of rest worked well. Also did a few short recovery rides consisting of small ring spinning. I made sure not to put any resistance on my knees. Just got the blood flowing through the tendons, allowing them to warm up a little.
This expedited the healing process.
I'm back to grey Look cleats with medium float.

Feel better!!

[hellvetica]

I developed PT during a 400 mile MTB race. About 200 miles in on my single speed 29er. It was like yours, very sudden (coming off a trail, I stopped to put on some arm warmers and almost collapsed in pain).

I couldn't walk up/down stairs without putting almost all my weight on the other leg. Doctor confirmed it was patella tendonitis. I think it took almost 5 months to be able to ride for more than an hour up a hill. Was terrible.

My issues were discovered after I got a fitting. My seat was about 1.5 inches too low. I also had a set back post, when it should have been a straight post. My riding was more mashing than using other muscles (like the glutes).

I now stretch before every ride, and foam roll the ITB band (which is the culprit) after really hard/long rides (another over 6+ hours).

Ibuprofen also helps. Icing didn't do anything for me.

Good luck.

[Splash]

Thanks Guys.

Hellvetica - What was the trigger that let you know that you should not have been using a setback seat post?

TopflightPro - How do you determine the optimal amount of saddle setback you need to really force the glutes to work?

Benb - Why have you decided to reduce your crank arm length?






Splash

[alyosha_s]

For patellar tendonitis, I found that self-massaging around the patella felt nice and helped reduce the inflammation a bit. Also hyper-flexing the knee and holding your foot behind the back was a good stretch for me.
For ITB, crossing your feet and bending down to touch your toes will cause you're ITB to stretch, make sure you do both sides. Also self hand massage and using a massage stick helped in that instance too.

[slidey]

Originally Posted by Splash

Thanks Guys.

The PT mentioned using a foam roller on my side.

He also said I should review related youtube videos.

I should look at bike fit now.


Splash

Are you per chance paying for the advice this PT gave you?

If so, switch PT's - it helps greatly to have a more keen, hands-on PT, and there are plenty of them around.

And, once you are ready to ride (after pain completely subsides, which I'd estimate would be in a month or so), I'd very strongly recommend seeing a professional bike fitter to sort out your bike fit.

Good luck!