Cycling and sore knees

iankuk

Sorry if it's been covered before but i've been cycling for a couple of weeks now, im on my 3rd week. I do half hour in morning on way to work and same thing back. variety of hills etc. on some of these hills i use the easiest gear i can but push rather hard to get myself up it. The one thing i'm finding is that i'm enjoying it. I'm 32, over 15 stone and 5'10 and this is probably one of the only exercises i enjoy apart from swimming. so anyways, im finding that parts of my legs especially my knees are sore and i have some ideas on how to remedy this and wanted you fine peoples feedback:
1) stretch off. So far i don't but its occurring to me that if i don't then i could do more harm than good!
2) make sure the bike is setup okay for me....the seat is ok and i can reach the floor alright but ive no idea about bikes either..
3) power through and the pain will stop? is it because i'm used to sitting on the sofa? will the pain just vanish the more i do it?

The good thing is that although i'm not seeing any major weight loss, i am noticing marginal increase in stamina. The bits i used to feel really winded on i now move along with a bit more ease. so all good there

Feedback appreciated
Ian

fareina

Great job on the bike! Getting a proper fit on your bike is very important. Most local bike shops do this for free or at a small cost. You want to make sure that when your legs are fully extended that there is a slight bend left on your extension, conversely you do not want to have too much bend. You can probably google this and adjust your seat height to remedy this. It may feel a bit awkward at first, but it should relieve knee strain.

DianneP6772

HI, yes - i agree with Fareina. Get a bike fit. I am a cyclist and did that many years ago - well worth it if they charge a bit for it.
I cycle almost everyday and with a good fit i find cycling helps my knees as it builds your quads. Great calorie burner, although i use MFP's chart and go one level below theirs for calorie burn. Say - if i cycle an average of 14.5mph - i look at the 12-14mph chart and use that. Keep it up - but get a fit.

jessicapk

Cycling is my favorite exercise, too, even from before I was actively trying to lose weight. Seat height makes an amazing difference both to my knees and the muscles directly above my knees. I will get super sore if it's not adjusted right and I'm riding hard. Generally, the bike seat should be about the same level as the handlebars and, like the poster before mentioned, you should have the slightest bend in your knee when the pedal is all the way to the ground. Took me a while to figure this out and I ended up doubling how long I could go. Hopefully, that does it. Happy cycling!

BrianSharpe

+3 on getting your bike properly fitted (poor fit is the #1 cause of knee pain)

Alweb

I found seat height makes a huge difference to my performance and hence how much I ache! Once thought I was struggling and couldn't work out the problem for a few days, then found my seat clamp wasn't tight enough and the saddle had dropped an inch...its really noticable if you arent set up right.

I found the ancient advice of "tip toes on the floor" isn't good for me, and as said above, really important to get your knee bend right, I now have my saddle really high and a find most of my aches have gone.

babol23

I had the same issue when I started a few months ago. Had to experiment with the seat hight to get the proper
extension of my legs.

Idreamoflean

If your knees hurt then you need to raise your saddle :-)