Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

does anyone else get tendonitis from riding? how do you manage it?

i have a mild scoliosis that causes unending niggly problems for my legs, particularly my right achilles tendon. i am resigned to having tendonitis forever, my physio said it's just a matter of managing it so it doesn't rupture.

he advised regular stretching, which i do. but i've found the key determinant to be pedal pressure. if i change it up a gear and really mash the pedals, my achilles will flare up. this is annoying as i don't get as good a workout from spinning.

I had it really bad when I was 20yrs old, in my right leg while doing a charity ride from Ipswich to Cairns. The only way I got relief was physio and following the doctors orders of getting off the bike for two months after I arrived in Cairns.

The only thing is, it turned into shin splints after that.

Don't know if it was the result of riding the last 1000klms with tendonitis or not?

Foo

So what has happened since you posted this??

not a lot Foo. i've still got tendonitis, but nothing has broken. i'm managing it by taking it easier at basketball and turning smaller gears on the bike. did a long ride today and it was OK. i will carry on.

Very important to get ur cleats fitted and fitted precisely with these sorts of issues... Any valgus/varus stresses on the tendoachilles will create problems... Correct with ITS wedges or cleat wedges... Steve Hogg has some very readable articles on the principles of cleat positioning...

Goes without saying that fore/aft and saddle height also very important...

Try dropping yr saddle, and putting it fwd so yr positioned just a little fwd of the pedal axel... And see what affect that has...

Have you tried eccentric calf exercises? Eccentric exercises are done by lengthening the calf muscle while it is contracting. Stand with toes of affected foot on a step (other leg off the ground), calf fully contracted, and lower you heel slowly as far as it will go. Raise your weight with your other leg and repeat. Do only 5 - 10 repeats on the first day - you will feel it in your calf the day after. I think these exercise cured my achilles problems which interfered with my cycling for about 6 - 7 years.

Some references:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12942235
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19904895

Martin

martin_12 wrote:Have you tried eccentric calf exercises? Eccentric exercises are done by lengthening the calf muscle while it is contracting. Stand with toes of affected foot on a step (other leg off the ground), calf fully contracted, and lower you heel slowly as far as it will go. Raise your weight with your other leg and repeat. Do only 5 - 10 repeats on the first day - you will feel it in your calf the day after. I think these exercise cured my achilles problems which interfered with my cycling for about 6 - 7 years.

Some references:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12942235
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19904895

Martin

After seeing a physio I was advised to do the same thing to fix my achilles problem (tendinosis). I was off the bike for about 12 weeks while it healed, I have no trouble now (but I still do my calf exercises). I also iced the tendon after every training session for a few months and that seemed to help. It was more than 6 months before it was fully healed.