Calling all personal trainers

I will ask my trainer this question, but I'm wondering...when I first started riding my quads used to burn, burn, burn. I guess they're stronger now, but I find my IT band is more apt to be tire and be tender after the ride than any other part of my leg. Normal progression?

Also, after switching from a hybrid to a road bike I'm finding the muscles down my neck into my shoulders incredibly sore and tight. I'm sure this is from the new body position - leaning over and looking up -something else I'll develop a tolerance for?

Actually these might be fit issues. When I put a shorter stem on my bike, my neck and shoulder pains went away. Re: the IT band, if you use clipless pedals, you might want to have you cleat position checked.

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Originally Posted by ny biker

Actually these might be fit issues. When I put a shorter stem on my bike, my neck and shoulder pains went away. Re: the IT band, if you use clipless pedals, you might want to have you cleat position checked.

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Thanks, NY, I'll look into the stem issue. I'm not in clipless yet...just regular athletic shoes (and, no, I don't get sore arches).

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Originally Posted by nikkoblu2

...just regular athletic shoes (and, no, I don't get sore arches).

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If you can imagine your IT band flicking back and forth over the lateral condyle of your femur....getting more irritated with EVERY pedal stoke. You can understand the problem.

Stabilizing the foot on the pedal is important.
First by getting rid of flexy (unstable while cycling) running shoes.
Second by providing support to the forefoot. Many of us have a varus forefoot which can "collapse" as we push down on the pedals. This sends the knee inward with each stroke.
It's really not supposed to do that.
However, so many cyclists do it that it is considered "correct form"....It is not.

Since none of us can actually see you on your bike and assess you, we are really just throwing out ideas.

Don't take anything we say as written in stone and correct or accurate.

If you can do it, I'd love to see you get a bike fitting (at a shop) or a bike fit assessment (through a physical therapist, which insurance will cover).

A fitter or therapist will also be able to tell if you have poor posture habits that would require stiffer shoes or medial wedging or targeted strengthening like Seajay mentions; or if you have some other posture or habit issues.

They would both be able to assess your body and the bike, and make sure the bike matches your body's needs. If you don't have poor posture control, and the problem is the bike, the fitter would be able to work on that the best. PTs' licenses do NOT cover changing out parts on bicycles, and anyone who does work like that on the bike will have the separate liability insurance to cover bike modifications. (it doesn't hurt to ask...) More likely a PT would send you to a shop with a list of changes they recommend for your bike.

Either PT or fitter would be a good place to start. Either could send you to the other if they feel you need work outside of their scope.

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Originally Posted by nikkoblu2

I will ask my trainer this question, but I'm wondering...when I first started riding my quads used to burn, burn, burn. I guess they're stronger now, but I find my IT band is more apt to be tire and be tender after the ride than any other part of my leg. Normal progression?

Also, after switching from a hybrid to a road bike I'm finding the muscles down my neck into my shoulders incredibly sore and tight. I'm sure this is from the new body position - leaning over and looking up -something else I'll develop a tolerance for?

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I have had my share of IT band problems. This is not something that you want to ignore. I recommend rolling out your IT band with a foam roller after EVERY ride. This will hurt like heck, but is very effective at breaking up the adhesions that are causing pain.

Also, make sure you aren't turning too big a gear, build your mileage up slowly, and don't do too much intensity without a solid enough fitness base. I think my IT band problems were caused in part by not heeding this advice well enough. It is easy to go out too hard one day, realize you body wasn't ready for it, realize you have some muscle strength imbalances and maybe some biomechanical issues you have been ignoring, or weren't aware of, and then a chronic problem starts to set in.

I was lucky. I ended last season with an IT band problem, trained all winter on it, but was super careful. Still had some pain on my long early season rides, talked to my fitter regularly, started listening more and more to my body, started an intensive periodized training plan, and as I built strength/fitness, the pain was GONE! I raced and trained most of the spring/summer pain-free.

Good luck.

Thank you all for your thorough responses. I'm going to print this out and discuss it with my bike shop for starters. I just got this bike recently - only have about 200 miles on it -and expected I would have some fit issues.

I never heard of a bike fit assessment from a physical therapist...something else to consider.