When i push hard i feel it in my quads, correct?

birdy247

When i am doing (hard) efforts, i feel the burn in my quads. In particular the muscle on the inside of my quads, VMO i believe.

I hear alot about glutes, hamstrings etc... But i only feel it in these when out of the saddle up a hill.

Does this show something in my set-up is wrong i.e. saddle too low?

Lady Venom

I feel it in my hamstrings after but when I'm pushing I notice it in my quads.

DanEvs

VMO is only activated during the last few degrees of extension so saddle too low wouldn't really fit. :? It's actually very hard to work the VMO when cycling and that's why a lot of riders (myself included) have to do gym work to prevent muscle inbalance and subsequent patella tracking problems.

Do you push big gears?

Anonymous

birdy247 wrote:

When i am doing (hard) efforts, i feel the burn in my quads. In particular the muscle on the inside of my quads, VMO i believe.

I hear alot about glutes, hamstrings etc... But i only feel it in these when out of the saddle up a hill.

Does this show something in my set-up is wrong i.e. saddle too low?

That's unusual, do you ride with your knees pointing out?

I too have to do excercises to ensure VMO is engaged so I have correct muscle balance and patella alignment, particularly after an accident I had...

notanotherhill

have to ask before someone else does...whats VMO

Mike67

"VMO stands for Vastus Medialis Oblique (sometimes called obliquus). This is part of the Vastus Medialis muscle which is one of the four Quadriceps muscles of the thigh.

The fibres of VMO have a more oblique alignment than the other fibres of Vastus Medialis (hence the name!). It arises from the tendon of Adductor Magnus and converges to join the other Quadriceps muscles inserting via the patella tendon, to the tibial tuberosity at the top of the tibia (shin bone). The picture on the right shows the relative position of VMO, just above and to the inside of the knee cap.
"

Any the wiser?
Me neither.

Here's the link:
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/knee/vmo.php

chrisw12

The teardrop?

Funny, I spent years doing weights trying to get a defined teardrop muscle (leg extensions were good) with little success. A few years cycling and it's now quite defined 8)

Can't say I feel a burn there very much though. It does get sore after long rides.

birdy247

I do ride with my feet pointing slightly outwards, and this is much more comfotable than when my feet point perfectly straight.

So should i be feeling it in my glutes and hammys???

iain_j

Mike67 wrote:

"VMO stands for Vastus Medialis Oblique (sometimes called obliquus). This is part of the Vastus Medialis muscle which is one of the four Quadriceps muscles of the thigh.

The fibres of VMO have a more oblique alignment than the other fibres of Vastus Medialis (hence the name!). It arises from the tendon of Adductor Magnus and converges to join the other Quadriceps muscles inserting via the patella tendon, to the tibial tuberosity at the top of the tibia (shin bone). The picture on the right shows the relative position of VMO, just above and to the inside of the knee cap.
"

Any the wiser?
Me neither.

Here's the link:
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/knee/vmo.php

Well, would you believe it.

I think you've just located my nagging just-above-my-knee pain for me. Thanks!

Now, how to fix it.

DanEvs

iain_j wrote:

Now, how to fix it.

The final few degrees of lift on a leg extension machine does the trick. Don't do the full sweep or you're just going to continue strengthening the main quad muscle on the outside of your leg and perform the lift one leg at a time. I do six sets of ten on each leg and my VMO's have doubled in size with no more knee pain. 8)

Might be worth seeing the quack before you go doing anything silly though.

shockedsoshocked

With a proper position on the bike you should be engaging pretty much all of the muscles from the hip down. Glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves (although my glutes are fairly lazy and would rather leave it up to my hams and lower back instead of engaging themselves, bastards).

Pokerface

My VMO is actually the largest muscle group in my leg. Not sure why - but might have something to do with my other leg being artificial and me pushing the wrong way on the bike.

However, from here on is, I shall be trademarking the term 'VMOpower™" just in case it IS the source of all my power.

Mike67

The final few degrees of lift on a leg extension machine does the trick.

I find a three year old child sat on my shins works quite well too

Trouble is he's getting heavier

Headhuunter

Another way to prevent patellar tracking/misalignment of the knee cap is to regularly stretch the muscle along the outside of the top of the thigh, not sure of it's name and the ITB. I used to get some knee pain but find that stretching this area regularly really helps stop that muscle tightening up and pulling the knee cap across.

keyser_soze

One of the best muscles to exercise for patella tracking problems is also the hip flexor. It stops your knee drifting inwards.

terongi

I used to feel effort in my quads like the OP.

I also used to to suffer from lower back pain after long hours in the saddle.

I went for a cycle fitting session and they videoed me riding on a turbo trainer. It showed that my back was horribly curved outwards as I rode. They adjusted the bike set up, but also encouraged me to straighten up my back and push back my shoulders to encourage my glutes/hips to work. They also gave me specific exercises and stretches to build up and loosen my whole hip area.

Hey presto! After a while I could feel my hip muscles (glutes whatever) engaging when I put down the power. I stopped getting such string sensations in the quads and I also stopped getting lower back pain. I was also able to put out more power because (apparently) the muscles in the hip/glute area are naturally more powerful than the quads.

As you can see, I don't really know much about the physiology of all the various muscles, but I am just describing what worked for me.

bobtbuilder

On my WInter bike when I put in a big seated effort, I get the burning sensation in the centre of my quads.

On my Summer bike, which was set up via a bike-fit at Epic Cyles I get a mix of quad, hamstring and glute burn.

terongi

I have noticed that I get a particularly strong sesation in my quads and knees when I ride no hands.

Maybe this is because I am more tense when I have less control over the bike?

Slimbods

bobtbuilder wrote:

On my WInter bike when I put in a big seated effort, I get the burning sensation in the centre of my quads.

On my Summer bike, which was set up via a bike-fit at Epic Cyles I get a mix of quad, hamstring and glute burn.

Be interesting to compare measurements of the two bikes.

bobtbuilder

Slimbods wrote:

bobtbuilder wrote:

On my WInter bike when I put in a big seated effort, I get the burning sensation in the centre of my quads.

On my Summer bike, which was set up via a bike-fit at Epic Cyles I get a mix of quad, hamstring and glute burn.

Be interesting to compare measurements of the two bikes.

On the Winter bike the saddle is much higher than on the Summer bike. The frame size is the same on both.

huuregeil

DanEvs wrote:

iain_j wrote:

Now, how to fix it.

The final few degrees of lift on a leg extension machine does the trick. Don't do the full sweep or you're just going to continue strengthening the main quad muscle on the outside of your leg and perform the lift one leg at a time. I do six sets of ten on each leg and my VMO's have doubled in size with no more knee pain. 8)

Leg extensions are a really bad idea. Simply put, the place a lot of stress on the knee, and they set up a non-functional firing pattern. No point having a strong-in-isolation VMO if the firing pattern during the pedal stroke is wrong.

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_arti ... extensions

Better than nothing, but a risky exercise and certainly a sub-optimal use of training time.

Far better to develop a good squatting form, and focus on one-leg squat variants. The pluses of the latter in particular, are that they develop strong glutes, which the most imporant lateral stabilisers of the leg.

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/arc ... medius.htm