Knee Update!

I took two full weeks off of cycling, even gave up my spin classes on doctors orders. I went to the sports medicine clinic at McMaster for a second opinion because I didnt want to spend extra time off the bike if I didn't have to. They told me patellofemoral syndrome, which is just a big word for knee pain. I signed on for some physio there as well. Here they told me my adductors are tight but not weak, by my glutes were really weak. They used active release on my adductors and gave me some strength building exercises for the glutes. So I am currently comboing physio and active relief treatments.
During my off period I cut squats out, and swam for cardio. Still not good to go on the bike full time but I can use the elliptical with a knee brace keeping the patella in place. Today I added squats back into my workout routine and as of yesterday I started doing my spin classes again (taking them easy). I definitely feel a lot better since I added the extra glute work so we will see how much longer I need!
Once im good to go ill be out riding in the cold and will hopefully have some porduct reviews up or at least something better to read!

Fighting knee issues

Hey guys,
Havent been up to a whole lot of riding due to knee problems. I'm writing to tell you a bit about it, in case you are experiencing similar problems,  and also so I can remember exactly what I did if it comes back.

Its been about a month of this pain and it has been getting worse. I went to a walk-in and the doctor was stumped and settled with the idea of pinched ligaments in the knee. It kept getting worse up until now where I can only bike for 15-20mins before the pain kicks in (huge drop from the 5hrs I did at the centurion mid september!). The weird part is, is that it is only biking that hurts it, I can run, swim and do weights (squats and other leg exercises) pain free. The symptoms were similar to chrondomalacia so I knew I had a misalignment problem.

Today I went to the active relief centre in hamilton on referral from the great Steven Baker. Here they told me that my glutes were not firing, and my adductor wasnt completely firing. This creates a situation where the quads have to work harder, and it puts added stress on the knee joint.
So how do you get them to fire, and how much power have I missed out on in the season with this problem!? When they mentioned the glutes I was not surprised. I had issues with them earlier in the summer and went for a massage. Lesson learned, completely take care of a problem or it will come back to haunt you. So to fix it, I have been given some easy exercises that specifically target the nonworking muscle groups.

Being the science student I am, I had to do more research on this. Turns out weak glutes are an all too common problem in athletes, with repercussions such as knee and lower back pain. From this I found out two more good exercises to add to my arsenal, one legged squats and one legged dead lifts! A study was done that showed that these had one of the highest glute activation percentages.

The knee is a very complex joint, and if you are having problems I would highly suggest you see a professional to diagnose the issue. Having a functional knee is very important, and making sure it works right now, will save you from worse issues down the road. I will provide updates as I progress, probably every week. Any questions or words of advice feel free to comment!