Cycling
Joint-friendly endurance training on road, trail or indoor bike.
Execution
- Set the saddle so the knee stays slightly (10-15°) bent at the bottom — no fully extended leg.
- Cadence 80-100 rpm for efficient pedalling — less torque, less knee wear.
- Hands relaxed on the bar, shoulders down — not shrugged.
- Adapt breathing to the pace.
Tips
- Gauge effort with power (watts) or heart rate — pure "feel" is misleading.
- Clip pedals raise efficiency but need a few rides to get used to.
Joint-friendly and precisely dosable
Cycling has two advantages over running. First, there's no impact loading — body weight rests on the saddle, not on the knee and ankle. Second, intensity can be controlled very precisely, especially on an indoor bike. Both make the bike the first choice for long sessions in the easy range.
That's exactly where its main benefit lies: zone 2, at 60 to 70 percent of max heart rate, where mitochondria and fat metabolism benefit the most. Sessions like that are noticeably easier to sustain on the bike than while running.
Riding position
The most common cause of knee pain from cycling is a saddle set too low. As a rule of thumb: at the lowest point of the pedal stroke, the knee should still be slightly bent, about 25 to 30 degrees. A saddle that's too high, in turn, makes the hips rock with every revolution.
Common mistakes
- Too heavy a gear. Low cadence with high resistance strains the knees and trains less endurance. 80 to 95 rpm is a good range.
- Always the same medium pace. The same rule applies here: mostly easy, occasionally hard, rarely in between.
- Only cycling. Without impact loading, there's no stimulus for bone density — a strength or jumping component belongs alongside it.
Programming
Two to four sessions a week, 45 to 90 minutes easy, noticeably shorter when done as intense intervals.