Knee tightness/stiffness after biking

Rotavele_

I recently was given a Peloton and the bike is pretty cool but I've noticed I get a lot of stiffness in my knees after riding. I'm assuming it's caused from the placement of the seat or something. I'm not paying 150 for a virtual fitting, I think that's ridiculous and going by the YouTube videos they say waiste high but I see no difference. So does anyone have any tips to help with this.
The stiffness is at the top of my knees

AnnPT77

Possible there's just some overwork effect? It can be more than sore muscles. My knees get stiff from biking/rowing sometimes. For me, foam roller and quad stretches help me with that, if that's part of what's going on.

westrich20940

So...you might need to actually ask a PT or doctor --- knee 'stiffness' or pain can be lots of things. As far as seat placement.... your knee when your pedal is at the bottom of it's turn shouldn't be fully straight - it should still be slightly bent. As far as I know about bike form.

But as Ann said, could also be overuse or muscle imbalance.....many cyclists also deal with IT band issues sometimes...is it that?

Like, could you be a little more descriptive about what your 'stiffness' actually feels like and where exactly?

But overall...are you sedentary (sitting a lot) - bc my first guess would be weak lower back muscles, glutes....or overused hammy's.

Rotavele_

westrich20940 wrote: »

So...you might need to actually ask a PT or doctor --- knee 'stiffness' or pain can be lots of things. As far as seat placement.... your knee when your pedal is at the bottom of it's turn shouldn't be fully straight - it should still be slightly bent. As far as I know about bike form.

But as Ann said, could also be overuse or muscle imbalance.....many cyclists also deal with IT band issues sometimes...is it that?

Like, could you be a little more descriptive about what your 'stiffness' actually feels like and where exactly?

But overall...are you sedentary (sitting a lot) - bc my first guess would be weak lower back muscles, glutes....or overused hammy's.

Sry I was typing quickly.

It's really difficult to explain the feeling but it's like an overall pressure or fullness in the top of the knee. I walk a lot and up stairs a ton due to work. I'm an elevator technician here in Manhattan so if an elevator breaks down there are times I'm walking up 5,10,25,40 flights of stairs carrying a 25 pound tool bag. I never get this feeling in my knees. I feel like I wanna die after walking up the stairs but not the knee issue ☺️.

The feeling is 95% of the time right at the top of the kneecap. I'd post a pic but this app sucks on Android so I can't.

Rotavele_

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Possible there's just some overwork effect? It can be more than sore muscles. My knees get stiff from biking/rowing sometimes. For me, foam roller and quad stretches help me with that, if that's part of what's going on.

I was thinking I was overworking it. Being I was using a Peloton I was trying to keep pace with the live instructors and the people in the classes to maintain a high score. Not that the score matters but it is kinda like a motivator to push harder. Maybe I'll try some casual easy going rises and see how the knees hold up.

I also feel the placement of the seat front to back and high has some issue in it. I've also tried sneakers and cycling should but didn't like the clipin/out

ccrdragon

This is experience from outdoor biking, so take it with a small grain of salt...

Bike riding is not a strength exercise, it is an aerobic exercise. Unless you are doing severe hill climbs, there should only be enough pressure on the pedals to keep your feet from sliding off. If you find yourself pushing really hard on the pedals, you need to shift to a lower gear - loosen up the tension on an indoor bike - until you can return to the minimal pressure situation. Pushing too hard on the pedals will cause two things to happen - you burn your legs up and cause foot issues from the pressure.

To me, it sounds like you are riding really hard and pushing too hard on the pedals to keep up with the pace of the ride. The best trick to overcome this problem is to pedal FASTER not harder... sounds counter-intuitive, but in the long run your body will be less sore and will thank you with better and faster rides. When you first start out, it will be harder to pedal faster, but as you increase your aerobic capacity, it will get easier and will become the natural thing to do.

Finding a natural cadence is a lot like running - if you are pedaling too fast, you will not be able to say a sentence out loud - slow your pace until you can do that. If you feel a lot of pressure on your feet and your legs are getting burned out, you are pedaling too slow/hard and need to pedal faster.

Hope this helps!

tomcustombuilder

If there is any pain then possibly tendonitis either quad tendonitis or possibly patellar tendonitis (usually you feel it a bit lower). Bursitis is also a possibility. Just tight then probably you’re just not used to the motion. Make sure the seat isn’t too low