Seeing a pattern here. Winter of 2021/22 once I was forced inside to the trainer, I successfully complete the SSB Mid Volume plan over December/January, and then moving into build, the Vo2 max TR workouts started to ramp up and I developed a knee injury that forced me off the bike for a few weeks. When I came back, I went back to base and, because I don’t race, just started riding outdoors and basically cut off most interval work but at a reasonably high volume of “Zone 2 ;)” (typically around 10 hours a week) and the knee didn’t bother me again.
I took a brief off-season and started back on the trainer again toward the end of December 2022. Again, I completed the SSB Mid Volume plan and felt good about my fitness improvement. I then did the first half of build and was still feeling good, but in the last couple of weeks the Vo2 max workouts have returned and my knee issues have cropped up again.
The timing of this recurrence is pretty obvious, but I’m not sure what to do about it. Is this a fit problem that only shows symptoms at high intensity? Is it just my body’s reaction to a sudden increase in intensity regardless of fit? If I let the injury heal and determine I can continue to train at the lower zones that have been okay for me, how can I safely introduce VO2 max work? Has anyone experienced anything like this before?
Typically, knee issues that relate to intensity develop because of overextension. In other words, your saddle is likely too high. A saddle that is too low may also cause knee pain because of the constant strain on the joint throughout the pedal stroke, but pain relating to underextension tends to appear regardless of intensity. Knee pain related to an increase in force production is often caused by overextension of the knee. While you can compensate for the excessive saddle height by shifting your weight and/or overextending your ankle during lower intensities, these compensations become increasingly hard to implement as power rises. Thus, your knee joint starts violently overextending under the high load, and subsequently, you experience knee pain.
You never mentioned where you experience the pain, but pain derived from overextension tends to reside in the front of the knee joint. Is this the case for you?
That sounds right. I would say the pain was in the front of the knee joint yes. It’s sort of generalized at this point and is hurting even off the bike now but this seems like the most likely cause. I’ve known I’m a toe pointer, but have seen mixed reviews on whether or not that’s an issue. I thought if I was able to perform it wasn’t an issue but maybe it does need to be addressed.
That is an excellent thread. A lot of good advice in there. Maybe I should have responded there instead of creating a new thread. If a mod wants to move this into a reply there that would be great. I can also copy this post there and this can be deleted if that’s appropriate.
I had similar issues in the past, and yes, it does start to appear off the bike too. My guess is that your saddle is a lot higher than it should be. I also identified myself as a “toe pointer” until my saddle height was set correctly. You’re likely overextending your knee and compensating by pointing your toes. When I went through a proper fitting session, I ended up lowering my saddle about 25mm and shifting my cleats 10mm backwards. All of a sudden, I started activating my hamstrings and glutes properly and having control over the entire pedal stroke. As a result, I gained about 5-10% on my power at any given intensity without a higher RPE, and my knee pain went away.
I’ve had similar issues. What I decided to do to fix this:
I’m working virtually with a PT - Dr. Carol Passarelli - to address imbalances I’ve developed over the last several years. This has been really helpful with getting me to be more square on the bike, and not inflame my historical knee issues
Be very mindful with ramping up both volume and intensity
Are you using ERG? It might be the quality (to precise lack of) my suito in handling ERG but I found it would injure me on VO2 Max workouts. I use resistance mode now, as I did pre my TR use and touchwood there’s no injury. I’m also hoping that with no ERG as I was doing before I won’t be scared to increase my FTP.
I’m going to look into a bike fitter. I’ve seen one before but if this wasn’t caught, I guess I need to see a different one and figure it out for good. Wouldn’t mind another 5-10% lol.
This was another thought that I had. I am using ERG (Wahoo Kickr Core) and always have, but I have always found the sudden change in power demands sort of jarring. I’ve gotten used to it, but I did consider that could be a contributing factor
Keep in mind that if the bike fitter uses knee angle as a way to set saddle height, that may be problematic. Many people fall outside of the range in terms of joint angle at full extension of the pedal stroke. I, for instance, am 5’10 (178cm) with a saddle height of 70-71 cm, which is 2-2.5 cm lower than suggested by the 109% method or the Lemond method. Just make sure you actually feel entirely in control of the pedal stroke when you set saddle height. If you have been riding too high and pointing your toes (like I had for a long time), a proper saddle height will feel uncomfortably low to start with.
I had the exact same symptoms. I went for a new bike fit, that guy told me that the fitting was right that the problem was me for neglecting strength training and stretching/flexibility work… I went to a dr, get an MRI, everything was fine… Then I went to a PT told me that I had weak stabilization muscles and muscular imbalances, my core was miserable, he said something like “doing intensity on the bike without a good core and pelvic stability, is like shooting a shotgun from a kayak” (you know… The recoil… Bad idea) and that my knee was moving everywhere when I pushed too hard because lack of stability and that was the cause of the pain (for me).
I took a few recovery weeks (not completely off the bike but less load), started with the PT workouts, when I was better I gradually increased load and intensity and also I added strength training and flexibility to my training routine. The problem is gone.
May be you should go to a PT to get a proper evaluation and therapy.
