New to spinning, knee pain

[nodtugud]

I train instructors for indoor cycling classes on the West Coast, from Washington, Oregon, Montana, California and Hawaii. I have been training tri-athletes and teaching cycling classes for about 15 years. I should also say that although I have been trained in "Spinning" I do not teach it. What I teach is a method which is based on real life cycling like you would find outdoors. It is an accredited American Council of Exercise course which I designed. A lot of people who teach my course and who take my classes are people who cycle outside in nice weather but during the cold wet fall and winter come indoors to train. There are also a lot of strickly indoor cyclers and people who just want to get back into shape in a controlled atmosphere.

To put it bluntly my class is not for just the "elite" fit athlete who only wears spandex and clips.

The two main concerns in a stationary bike setup for the knee are the seat stem and seat fore and aft position.

Your seat stem when your feet are located at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock should have your lower knee slightly bent at about 5 to 7 degreee from the floor with your foot parallel to the floor- you do not want to hyper extend the joint during a run or a sprint.

Your seat itself should be positioned so that when your pedals are at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock your forward knee (closest to the handlebars) is bent at a 90 degree angle with the ball of the foot directly over the shaft of the pedal (big round center part of the pedal) with your foot prallel to the floor. If you move forward you will put pressure on the top of the knee - back and you will put pressure on the bottom of the knee.

Your seat itself should have the nose just slightly elevate to keep you from sliding forward in the saddle. Sliding forward you can put pressure on the sides of your knee because you are using your feet in either the clips or the baskets to control your position so you don't slide forward.

The most important part of indooor cycling is form. Without form you are prone to injury. Many people think it's just jump on the bike and start pedaling. Because they can pedal hard or fast they think they are doing great and then they notice the pain.

What I have seen over the years is that people forget that the leg is a lever. When you sit in front of a class as an instructor what you see is that the main joints of your clients levers are wobbling (moving in and out, not just up and down). The longer the class and the more exertion the more chance of bad form. That is when you say into the microphone "Watch your form" so that people will adjust themselves.

The instructors I train are taught that form is everything. Longevity in sports and fitness is based on brains not brawn.

If your instructor doesn't constantly in class remind you to watch your form and adjust it - then you had better start reminding yourself otherwise you are probably going to get hurt or have pain.

During any class you take - remember one main thing - "It's your bike!" You ride it the way that is best for you, not best for the instructor.