[hinkley]

They are linked. Tai chi and yoga both work on hip flexibility, and without that flexibility I don’t think my hams would be as strong as they are. I was always unbalanced to quads, even before I got into cycling which made that worse. And that’s a quick route to chronic knee pain, which makes everything else harder.

[aristophenes]

Could you expound? Are you saying strong quads + weak hamstrings == knee pain? I recently started using an exercise bike in addition to squats and climbs in order to get in shape and found that I started having chronic knee pain for the first time in my life, which persisted for months even after I stopped using the bike. I don't use clip on shoes, which I would imagine would allow hamstrings to be utilized more.

Very few datapoints right now, but my knees seem to feel better, not worse, after sprinting exercises. I've been very athletic my whole life and never had knee problems before.

[hinkley]

Slow down (less interval training), spin more, adjust the bike.

Once upon a time I helped fit people for bicycles. The rule for Chen and bicycles is that there is a little bump of bone below the knee cap, it’s where the tibia flares out and I think a tendon attachment. That should always stay behind the ball of your foot. And your knee should be 95% straight at the bottom of the stroke. Not quite straight, but if you flex your ankle you can just hit fully locked. This engages the lowest bulb of the quad which also helps avoid injury.

The problem with cyclists is the tendency to lean foreword when they walk, which exacerbates the knee over ball problem. You need to lean back a bit, relax the hips. As an experiment, try walking without locking your knees. Also keep your feet farther apart, like there’s a board on the ground, though that help more with fallen arches, and will make some hip muscles sore while they become less atrophied.

And if your knees are sore after a workout, that is cartilage inflammation and you need ice and ibuprofen and think hard about how not to do that next time, because you are doing damage. For me where the tai chi helped here is that by shifting my weight back I’m using cartilage around the injury more, which is still fairly healthy.

[nradov]

You've got to do at least some high intensity interval training with your heart rate near maximum in order achieve any significant performance improvements.

Ice and cold therapy has been largely debunked for the conditions you mentioned. Your advice is generally outdated and not aligned with evidence based medicine or successful endurance sports coaching.

[hinkley]

If it wasn't clear from my wording, I'll say it again:

If you're getting sore joints you fucked up, please stop doing that. Take some anti-inflammatories for today and sort your shit out.

Also I'm pretty sure you're wrong about the ice. If anything they're using more of it (but for different reasons).

[nradov]

Nope, I'm not wrong about the ice.

https://wwnorton.com/books/Good-to-Go/

Acute inflammation isn't something to be prevented. It's a helpful part of the healing process. Ice might feel good, but it doesn't produce improved medical outcomes.

[gkop]

so what's the new RICE?

[MrMan]

Flexibility isn't something to chase. I warm up by doing a light version of the activity I am doing. My PT disabused me of the primacy of stretching after I got a herniated disc. I stopped stretching and started lifting and doing body weight exercises and stopped doing cross fit and I healed up and never stretch anymore.

[hinkley]

The word "flexibility" is not owned by contortionists. Range of motion is still very important, and while yoga can and does tend to the contortionist end of the spectrum, tai chi does not, and yet it still cares quite a bit about flexibility, as an antonym to tightness/stiffness.