Building leg strength advice

[Forrest747]

Rehabing my new knee and about to include stationary bike. any advice for what type of cycling profile to use to strength quads and such thanks.

[Shadow Catcher]

Your physical therapist should be your guide in this! This is NOT what we as regular cyclists would/should necessarily do which is spin, high RPM and low resistance.

[rbeemer]

I agree with Shadow catcher...talk to your PT person and doctor. I am suspecting that they may recommend a recumbent style of bicycle as those are generally easier on the knees.

[Fenlason]

Rehabing my new knee and about to include stationary bike. any advice for what type of cycling profile to use to strength quads and such thanks.

I don't know what you mean by profile?

From my experience, a recumbent isn't any easier on the knees. Actually if you over gear.. push to big a gear.. you have a seat back to push against which means you can push harder than you can sitting on a upright. Used intelligently either would work good. hmm if you are not a cyclist.. I think you would find a recumbent more comfortable inside.. but that would depend on you and the particular unit.

I rehabbed two trashed knees with cycling, and then weight training.

good luck.

[Forrest747]

the bike at the gym has several profiles hills, single hill, sprints manual so wondering which one would be best. thanks.

[Fenlason]

the bike at the gym has several profiles hills, single hill, sprints manual so wondering which one would be best. thanks.

hmm that would be a more PT or Dr. question.. I have no idea what you would be capable of. I would start gently.. I think movement... blood flow.. and . range of motion stuff would be what you are after to start with..

no serious hills and no sprints.. that would be true for someone with ok knees.. but has been inactive..

[Forrest747]

at physical therapy they have me pedal on just a stand with pedals nothing else. i can go for about 8 minutes with no issues. i have never biked hardcore i tried once biking to work 15 miles on what looked flat and level. 3 hours later i made it. ok i can hear you laughing. i am not too thrilled with the idea of weights with my non-surgical hurting.

[Fenlason]

at physical therapy they have me pedal on just a stand with pedals nothing else. i can go for about 8 minutes with no issues. i have never biked hardcore i tried once biking to work 15 miles on what looked flat and level. 3 hours later i made it. ok i can hear you laughing. i am not too thrilled with the idea of weights with my non-surgical hurting.

No laughing here..

I would stay with just the manual setting to start with.. and work into it.

It was about 3 decades ago.. when I rehabbed my knee's from the service.. so I don't remember specifics of what I did..I did bike quite some time before the weight training.. and I needed the lifting to develop some stability in the joints.

[Cliffmeister2000]

When I bought my first bike, for my 40th birthday, I weighed 265 lbs and thought biking was just the ticket to lose weight. My first ride (with my wife, who we bought a bike for also) was 5 miles and I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life! We kept at it, though, and by September (my birthday was in May, but I bought the bike early, in April, right after watching the Rosarito - Ensenada 50 mile Fun Ride), I was doing 50 mile rides. By January the following year I had lost 70 lbs and we rode our first Century.

I have intermittent problems with my right knee. If I ride enough, it doesn't hurt. If I don't, it does.

By all means, check with your doctor, but if he agrees, get a bike and stay with it. It is the best, most fun exercise there is, IMHO, and it is great knee therapy.

Besides, how else can you see so much countryside and have fun doing it? Cars are too fast and confining, walking is great but you don't cover too much ground, but a bike! Take a camera everywhere you go, and you will have a blast!

[Mauleskinner]

From my experience, a recumbent isn't any easier on the news. Actually if you over gear.. push to big a gear.. you have a seat back to push against which means you can push harder than you can sitting on a upright. Used intelligently either would work good.

Definitely something to consider...I've read some things that suggest transitioning to a recumbent can cause knee problems exactly because of what you mention...the ability to push against the seat back until you blow out your knees.

As far as the original post, I'm not sure that a bicycle should be used as a "strength training" tool...but I've never been a "strength training" guy, so I could easily be wrong.

David

[drafter]

When I got my recumbent trike, it was real easy to try to push into a hill with too high of gearing. After one or two hills I was done riding for awhile due to pain in my knees. I soon realised that if you use the lower gears you can pedal up alot of hills and not really work the knees too hard. Trike are not really speed machines but they seem to be geared to climb up hills, not fast but slow and steady. Sorry this is so long but there seems to be a learning curve as to what you can and can't do (physically) while riding.

[Oasis Maker]

I'll echo the cautionary theme of rehabbing within your Doctor's and therapist's guidelines and not making up or soliciting a program on your own. The weeks following surgery are an incredibly important window for rehab and will largely influence how your long term healing will be.

Scott