Tendon stiffness

[MRBMC]

Hi,

I am experiencing a lot of stiffness in the tendons in the back of my knees after riding, I am fairly new to the sport so I orignally put it down to that however I thought by now my body would have adjusted.

Anyone else experienced anything similar?

[Leiothrix]

How new is new? Muscles build up pretty quickly, tendons take months.

The problem with that of course is that you feel big and strong when the rest of your body isn't up to it, so hurt yourself.

[toolonglegs]

I get it from very tight hamstrings...easy to check wether yours are very tight or not by doing a few stretches when warmed up.knees are complex beasts though so who knows.

[toolonglegs]

Yes and plus one to the post above,knees take quite a while to get used to a big increase in training...build up the kms slowly.

[sherlock]

I am experiencing a lot of stiffness in the tendons in the back of my knees after riding, I am fairly new to the sport so I orignally put it down to that however I thought by now my body would have adjusted.

How many kilometres per week at what pace is "by now"?

There can be plenty of contributing factors to joint stiffness, so without knowing any details:

· Bike fit — saddle & cleat position, pedal q-factor, etc.
· Cadence — grinding too hard/not spinning enough after big efforts
· Not enough stretching/warm-up
· Nutrition — potassium can help with joint pain (bananas, avocado, supplements)

I used to get sore knees during a big climbing effort (out of the saddle) in my first couple of hundred kilometers, but that's all gone now with regular riding and a couple more minutes of stretching before a big ride.

[sogood]

Tendons don't go stiff, even rigor motis won't stiffen them up. What you felt is to do with the muscles. Try some stretching exercise after each ride.