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.

[spin legs]

Great post #16! Good info. I am fortunate to have been instructed to set up in this way. I still have some members with knee pain. But we keep working with form and positioning and we work the kinks out.

[Katlover]

I've learned quite a bit by everyone's post however no one has mentioned swelling of the knee. I've been spinning about 1 1/2 months, 4 times a week and the fluid retention goes from my knees to me toes and by Fri. I can't walk because of the pain. I do have arthritis in my knees. Should I remain seated and not do jumps or any of the other standing movements? Also when you say don't mash the pedals do you mean push down as hard as you can? I'm trying to leave the tension very low and just pedaling fast as I can but maybe that's also wrong. Any help at all will be appreciated.

[Zen]

I've been spinning about 1 1/2 months, 4 times a week

Do you give yourself a day off between classes?

Should I remain seated and not do jumps or any of the other standing movements?

Try that and see if it alleviates the pain/swelling. It's your ride, you don't have to stand up.

Also when you say don't mash the pedals do you mean push down as hard as you can?

Yes

I'm trying to leave the tension very low and just pedaling fast as I can but maybe that's also wrong.

Find a happy medium. Fast spinning with hardly any tension isn't going to do much for you in the way of strength or cardio improvement Are you clipped in? Are you really using your shoes? By that I mean are you pulling up on one side while pushing down on the other? Keeping your foot in a flat position or pointing your toes? (don't point )

[Katlover]

Thanks for your reply, Zencentury. I have been doing the spinning on Mon.-Thur. with Fri, Sat & Sun off. Right now I'm staying out of the gym the rest of this week. Next week I will only do 2 spin classes and see how that goes. I will remain seated and not mash the pedals at all.

Now for the feet. I put my feet in these baskets that I leave very loose cuz they hurt my feet. I'm probably not using my feet correctly. I must be pointing my toes cuz they go numb after awhile. Now I know I'll have to concentrate on keeping them flat and using them more. I really enjoy the class and hope I can continue.

Again, thanks for your help.

[aicabsolut]

Cages, even if they're kind of loose, can cause numb toes. Usually, numbness is from having the straps tight enough where they actually do you some good or it's because the soles of your shoes are too squishy/floppy. If you're going to keep spinning so frequently (might be good to have a rest day thrown in there if you can move some of your workouts to the weekend), you probably would like to get some cheap cycling shoes and spd cleats so you can use the other sides of the pedals. The stiffness of the soles plus the cleats helps you make circles instead of using your legs like pistons. All that pushing down can be overloading your quads and knees. Also, if you have the tension TOO light, you are lacking some stability the resistance gives you. This is particularly bad for your knees when you do standing exercises. You might also want to think about how your knees track relative to the centerline of the bike. Do you stick them outward? Far inward? Do you have any biomechanical issues with your feet, knees, or hips, that might impact your leg alignment on the bike? If you get cycling shoes, you might be able to correct any of those problems with wedges or good insoles.

Talk to your instructors and see if they can see if you're doing something wrong. It's hard for us to speculate over the internet, but we can provide you with some general rules of thumb.