Looking after a weary body...

[Exie]

I think this is the right Forum for this

Throughout 2010 so far, I've encountered a range of aliments, from joint aches to "noisey" knees. When I started riding again I didnt care for such things, I just threw the leg over and I was off. But I've REALLY noticed a measurable deterioration of the body in the last 6 months.

Poor old HBA have spent a fortune at my Chiropractor! However last week i was talking with them and they asked about my flexibility... I gave them a dumb look.... to which they stretched me out and seemed quite horrified. Said something about my back is fine, and hamstrings + glutes are overloading my back.

So she gave me a routine of stretches I have to do 2-3 times a day. I begrudgingly have been doing them, and am really surprised how much they've helped.

So... what other handy(eg. practical) tips do you have to look after your body ?

 

[4dabush]

Lots of fishoil capsules every day keeps my knees quiet. Bit of stretching, riding to and from my trails as a warm up/cool down. (unless doing shuttles, but even then I often ride to meet the ute!)

 

[Exie]

Lots of fishoil capsules every day keeps my knees quiet. Bit of stretching, riding to and from my trails as a warm up/cool down. (unless doing shuttles, but even then I often ride to meet the ute!)

Really ? Mine sound dreadful, I can almost feel the grinding. I actually saw the doc about it and she said "Yeah, thats normal, nothing you can do about it"

I will pick some up tomorrow and see if it helps. I love my bike, but dont want to end up in a wheel chair in 20 years because I didnt look after my knees.

 

[JP]

Try glucosamine. It's meant to help with cartilage issues, especially knees. Just ask whoever you buy it off (chemist, health food store etc) for a spiel on it first.

It's definitely beneficial stretching out your hammies and glutes to aid your lower back, especially as you get older. It doesn't have o take long and the benefits are awesome.

 

[Mobywan]

Any chance you sit at a desk for a living?

 

[Cooch]

Dude, here's some stuff I've learnt over the years:

1. Your spine is like the mast on a sail boat. With cycling, particular muscle groups get stronger: quads, calfs, lower back etc. and other groups get weaker: trunk, hip flexors etc. You need to work hard on maintaining and improving the groups that get smashed or non-worked while riding. Otherwise the strong muscles pull your spine one way and the others can't pull it back, leading to neck and lower back problems with the discs.

Your spine also carries all your nerves to most parts of your body, so you really need to look after it.

2. As you get older, you start to lose flexibility and hence you need to do something else to improve and maintain your flexibility. Flexibility is not your main strong muscles! It is your joints, ligaments, sinew, cartilage and alternate muscle groups. You need to work on these other things to stay healthy, flexible and strong. This will also aid further deterioration and injury in the event of a crash.

3. Recovery! I'm almost 40 and while I can strill ride as strong and as fast I was doing 10 years ago, I can no longer recover to do it again and again and again. I need about 24 to 48 hours to recover properly after massive efforts. If you train hard, rest harder!

I'm 39 and have been cycling/riding/mtb'ing pretty much since I got my first real bike at 13 - so that's 26 years of riding. That's a lot of tired/stiff/locked muscles and joints to undo.

2 years ago I started doing yoga under the advice of a physio, who told me I was so strong in certain directions and weak and non-flexible in others. This yoga journey is something I'm really getting into and can really feel the affects of reversing 26 year old cycling-muscle groups.

I've noticed performance improvements on the bike too. It really has taken my body back about 5 years or so. I can now move again!

Hope this helps.

 

[babington]

Cooch has pretty much covered all the bases all I suggest is get your hands on a foam roller, one of the most effective pieces of kit for any cyclist.


http://www.mattlambert.co.uk/images/illustration-1/5.jpg

 

[Trickymac]

yeah i agree with cooch as well, ive been an osteopath for 15 yrs, and want to know the people we never ever see with great bodies functioning well???....people who do yoga, why you ask? because all muscles, ligaments, tendons and hence joints all are well stretched and have good if not full range of motion which means good lubrication which means good nutrition (blood flow, nerve conduction) which means happy pain free tissues
i too strated getting tight and sore and having some issues when i was about 30, with a little bit of osteopathic treatment and regular yoga im good to go
give it a try, you wont regret it

 

[retro racer]

I must agree with stretching. It will improve your flexibility and also build muscle strength as well. At 46 and having to battle bowel cancer and blood clots, i still refer to boxing and kick boxing for exercise and flexibility and for the soul.
It sux to get old

 

[Cooch]

It sux to get old

This is something I'm only beginning to give a lot of thought to.

I don't think it sux, but what gets you thinking is "had I known that 10, 15, 20 years ago, how awesome would I have been! "

A lot of people think: Here I am at age 'X' now and I'm feeling very tired, sore, stiff and accordingly grumpy!

The think I have to remind myself is: Here I am at age 'X' and I'm still having a super active lifestyle, on and off the bikes! Without the riding/exercise and now yoga - where would I be?? Yes I'm more catious on the bike these days, more calculated in the risks I take, the training I do etc. But yeah, I'm still 'pinning' my local DH runs and going for the occassional street ride with the teens!

Yeeeooooww

 

[Cranks]

I use glucosamine tablets but also do alot of riding at a BMX track. I find this keeps my joints and muscles moving alot more freely cause I mostly do it after work on weekdays.

 

[Exie]

I don't think it sux, but what gets you thinking is "had I known that 10, 15, 20 years ago, how awesome would I have been! "

I like to think of myself as a "new" vet, and at the early stages of deteriorating. I've seen how noticeable it is, and its kinda scary. Not so much right now, but its the ...
"I _now_ want to prepare for 10,15,20 years time, better late than never! If I start now, then I may be able to minimize the downward spiral"

Sorry ... shouldn't say downward spiral... hopefully its just a gentle gradient.

I picked up some fish oil today ... talk about "oils aint oils" I ended up with this liquid stuff thats supposed to taste fruity, and picked up some glucosamine too. I'll keep it up each day with the stretching and see how the trend goes over the next few weeks.

 

[babington]

While on the subject of adding supplements to our daily regime I also recommend using Glutamine especially after a hard ride/gym session. It helps to preserve muscle and boosts the immune system both of which are compromised during strenuous exercise.

 

[4dabush]

I used to use glucosomine when I was weight training pretty hard. Yes, I felt it was very worthwhile then. In my opinion, it helped with recovery immensely, but its a bit more expensive and since I'm not hitting the gym 5 days per week (since my daughter was born), I haven't felt the need.

Exie, my folks use liquid fishoil and they swear by it and take 15ml with a drop of fruit juice in it (well, floating on it!) and follow that with a 100ml of straight juice. They reckon it has absolutely no taste and does not repeat on them, which can be a side effect of some fishoil. I'm lazy and take a handful of capsules every morning...goes with all the rest I take, (mega multi, Vit C, Horseraddish and Garlic) and is just habit now...must have been doing that for about 20 years now! I take oil morning and night, the night time ones only in the last 12 months or so. Might be in my head, but I reckon it works! I reckon I noticed the difference almost straight away.

I'll be interested to hear in a week or 2 if you think it makes any difference!

 

[outtacontrol]

Really ? Mine sound dreadful, I can almost feel the grinding. I actually saw the doc about it and she said "Yeah, thats normal, nothing you can do about it"

I will pick some up tomorrow and see if it helps. I love my bike, but dont want to end up in a wheel chair in 20 years because I didnt look after my knees.

I went and saw a very reputable sports physician who did a barrage of tests on my knees, which crunch and grate horrifically, thanks to 25 years of soccer.
He gravely informed me that I had OFO Syndrome, when the results came back. He went on to explain that OFO stands for Old and Fucked Out.

Seems he has a good sense of humour.

 

[C.H.B]

This is something I'm only beginning to give a lot of thought to.

I don't think it sux, but what gets you thinking is "had I known that 10, 15, 20 years ago, how awesome would I have been! "

A lot of people think: Here I am at age 'X' now and I'm feeling very tired, sore, stiff and accordingly grumpy!

The think I have to remind myself is: Here I am at age 'X' and I'm still having a super active lifestyle, on and off the bikes! Without the riding/exercise and now yoga - where would I be?? Yes I'm more catious on the bike these days, more calculated in the risks I take, the training I do etc. But yeah, I'm still 'pinning' my local DH runs and going for the occassional street ride with the teens!

Yeeeooooww

not buying into the''im old therefore i feel old'' bullshit is a good thing
ive been watching my father in law convince himself that hes old and cant do this and cant do that for the last 10 years or so.i'm 48 hitting the downhill trails (albeit not very quick) and plan to do so untill
i no longer can.life is too short

 

[Bjorn]

To paraphrase Bart Simpson, "My knees sound like a cement mixer."
I've used glucosamine when healing dislocations etc but probably should be having it on a regular basis. Get your glucosamine cut with chondroitin sulfate, it's one of the building blocks of cartilage.

 

[Exie]

.. Just some feedback after a few weeks....

The "cement mixers" are still noisy as before. So, the fish oil and glucosamine hasnt really fixed anything.

But they havent become any worse. I'm not sure if I'll continue with it long term. Alot of people say its good to do, but I could easily spend $50-$100 / month on this stuff, which over a year adds up ($500-$1000)... or over 3-4 years is a new bike!

Its a bit of a Y2K thing, I might be delaying problems, or I might be wasting my time/money.

The GF is a better shopper than me, if she can find a cheap source, I might be more inclined to continue with it long term.

 

[4dabush]

Hey Exie,
I was going to ask... so while they are still noisey, do they 'feel' better? I take fishoil morning and night and found that 2 x a day was a lot better than once. (And i just take whatever capsules are on special).

Do you have any tips for treating corks? I've got a Black and Blue hip from arguing with trees and rocks on the wekend!

 

[Exie]

I was going to ask... so while they are still noisey, do they 'feel' better?

Maybe ... it might be a placebo effect, but I'd say a small difference ... 5-10%

I take fishoil morning and night and found that 2 x a day was a lot better than once. (And i just take whatever capsules are on special).

I've just got under 1/4 of the oil left, I'll try twice daily till its gone and see how that goes.

For reference, the Glucosamine I've got has:
Glucosamine Hydrochloride (1.5g)
Chondroitin Sulfate Equiv. (150mg)
Chondroitin Sulfate Bovine sodium (166.67mg)
Borax (26.5mg)
Boron Equiv. (3mg)

I dont know what all that is..... I just take the tablets.

Do you have any tips for treating corks?

Cant help you there, I took a few tumbles recently too, found most cleared up in a week which seemed pretty good. Maybe thats been using up the oil and tablets for healing the bumps rather than knees ?!