7 Tips for Protecting Your Knees on an E-Bike

Electric bikes are a healthy and safe aerobic exercise for the elderly. This is a low impact exercise. It has a wide range of medical health benefits. Elderly people who regularly ride e-bikes can not only strengthen heart function, but also prevent high blood pressure, sometimes more effectively than drugs. On one of the most common online topics, "Is Cycling Bad for Your Knees?", let's explore this question together.

There are 7 major joints in the human body: shoulder, elbow, radiocarpal, hip, knees, calf joint, temporomandibular joint, and countless other small joints. It is precisely because of the existence of these joints that the human body can perform a variety of difficult movements, and the knee joint is the most complex joint in the human body. Whether it is walking or in any state of motion, it must withstand a person. most of the body weight.

Many people mistakenly think that the knee joint is strong. It just looks strong, but it is actually very fragile. It is the most vulnerable joint during sports. If you don't know how to properly use and maintain the knee joint, then the knee joint is prone to problems, such as ligament damage, meniscus damage and arthritis, which can even affect walking.

And many people like to ride electric bikes because it is a low-impact exercise, which means that it is gentle on human joints. But it's also a high-repetition sport, with the legs typically pedaling at more than 5,000 revolutions per hour. For example, the RPM reaches 90 revolutions per minute, which is 5,400 revolutions in an hour. There are also many knights who have knees pain problems, such as being too hasty, wrong seat cushion position, stepping too hard, too weak core muscles, too stiff muscles, wrong position of the shoe buckle...etc. Knee joint, today I will explain to you how to protect the knee joint when cycling?

1. Warm-Up Exercises Are Essential

The main purpose of the early warm-up is to stretch the muscles and increase the body temperature to cope with the next exercise without overloading the body, but the current concept of warm-up is not only the above, but also more important to prepare for cycling sports. Strengthen the warm-up of muscle groups to avoid injury to muscles and joints. The preparation before riding includes 20-30 minutes of warm-up (low-intensity jogging, cycling platform warm-up, muscle stretching, local massage), etc. The warm-up intensity is gradually increased from low to high to allow muscles to stretch more effectively. After the exercise (after the exercise), the exercise should not be less. You can use static muscle stretching, low-intensity recovery running until the heart rate recovers, and exercise massage, so that the fatigue caused by the hind leg muscles can be recovered as soon as possible.

2. Set The Appropriate Seat Height And Front And Rear Position

Although the knees only bears about 1/6 of the body weight during riding, this does not mean that knees injury is not easy to occur. Wrong way of exerting force, inappropriate setting of the whole vehicle, and bad riding habits will all cause knee joint damage. damage.

Proper seat height settings can make riding more comfortable and more efficient, and can avoid knees injuries. If the seat cushion is too high, it is easy to strain the calf muscles or cramp during the pedaling process, and the knee joint socket will also feel uncomfortable; if the seat cushion is too low, when the seat cushion is too low to step on to the top dead center, the knee joint is over-bent, and the pressure on the knee joint is too great and the knee joint is easily worn. Ordinary riders can adjust the height of the seat cushion by stepping the pedal to the lowest point with the heel and bending the knees slightly; the adjustment before and after the seat cushion is to sit on the seat cushion, keep the crank in a horizontal position, and step on the pedal with the sole of the forefoot. On the board, at this time, the knees and the forefoot are on the same vertical line. If you want to accurately adjust the height of the seat cushion fore and aft, you can seek help from Shengmilo official website customer service.

3. Do It The Right Way

Many people are accustomed to using their knees when they start to ride, but the result is that they will soon feel sore in their knees, and their speed will naturally slow down. The correct way to exert force should be to use the gluteus maximus and quadriceps.

Exercise Legs Muscle Strength

There are muscle groups around the knee joint. The function of the muscles is to absorb the impact brought by the movement during the exercise, thereby protecting the knee joint. If the muscle strength is insufficient, the knee joint is more likely to bear the force when doing some bouncing movements. Leg shaking during squatting movement indicates insufficient calf muscle strength. Here are a few simple and easy moves to strengthen your legs and increase knee stability.

4. Knee Warmer

There are very few blood vessels around the knees. Usually, you should pay attention to keeping your knees warm, especially in winter. If the temperature is lower than 15 degrees Celsius, you should consider using fleece leg covers.

5. Ride In Lock Shoes

Many people ride with their legs splayed in or out. This position puts extra stress on the ligaments around the knee joint and increases friction on the articular cartilage. This wrong position can be corrected by locking the legs and knees parallel. Locking can reduce the pressure on the knees, and the lifting action when pedaling also has a certain effect on enhancing the strength of the leg muscles.

6. Reasonable Cadence

How much cadence to ride at is a question that many beginners will think about. Generally, a reasonable cadence on flat roads should not be lower than 90 rpm. When the cadence is high, it will increase the burden on the cardiovascular system and cause the heart rate to rise; when the cadence is low, the breathing will be much easier, but the accumulation of lactic acid will be very large. quick. Everyone is a different individual, and it takes a lot of experimentation to find your optimal cadence and find the balance between your muscular system and your cardiovascular system. If you don't have enough leg strength to ride at low cadence, it can feel like a mountain is on your knees.

7. Step-By-Step Process

Whether you want to ride faster or farther, it must be based on your good physical fitness. You suddenly exert force and speed up without muscle strength. If you ride too far, your physical fitness will not keep up with your knees. a huge burden. On the premise of having a clear understanding of your own level, increase the distance of a single ride every week. The gradual process will steadily improve the riding level while also effectively protecting the knee joint.