Cycling is one of the world’s most popular type of exercise, often recommended to those who have some trouble with their knees. However, knee injuries don’t spare cycling enthusiasts.

As with any other form of exercise that can be connected to causing knee pain, the main reason why cycling can bring some discomfort in your knees is the repetitive motion. The more you ride, the more stress you put on your knees – the cartilage can get grinded and result in cycling knee pain. Same goes for cycling too quickly or in any other straining manner.

Besides damages from overuse, cycling knee pain can be caused by the bike having wrong set-ups like saddle height or length of cranks being unfitting for you. Old traumas, anatomical issues and weak muscles are some other factors that can contribute to causing the pain. So overall, cycling knee pain can be caused by you, your bicycle or the way you are cycling.

How to get rid of cycling knee pain?

Fortunately, there are tons of ways to solve this issue. It all depends of the cause, so before you can tackle the problem you need to figure out what is the pain caused by. Here are some of the most common ways that help to get rid of cycling knee pain:

1. Move or change your cleat – if you are sure the issue is caused by the bicycle, try moving you cleat back a bit. You can also consider changing the cleat to the one with float.
2. Check the saddle – wrong saddle height and position are likely aspects to blame. Too low or high saddle can put great stress on the tendon while putting the saddle too backward or forward can irritate the tissues.
3. Pedal in circles – wrong pedal stroke can cause your knees a great deal of stress. Check that you are always pedaling straight, in nice circles, instead of having your knees pointing outward or inward.
4. Don’t forget to stretch – even if you are going on a casual ride for an hour, don’t forget stretching as it is vital for strengthening your muscles. There is nothing worse on your knees than exercising on cold muscles.
5. Increase training gradually – one of the aspects causing cycling knee pain is pushing too hard or starting intense cycling suddenly. If you want to exercise more intensely, do the transition gradually, not out of the blue.
6. Listen to your body and take care of it – the best thing you can do for avoiding cycling knee pain is to listen to your body and understand when it is time to stop exercising. Over training can cause permanent damages to your body, so it is essential to train moderately.

Cycling is without a doubt fun and relaxing activity but like with any activity you must be cautious. Make sure the bicycle is set up properly, don’t go overboard with the workout and allow your knees to rest. It is important to maintain a good balance between relaxing and exercising so as long as you comply with that, you should be good to go and can enjoy cycling as much as you like.