Hi - I’m coming back from a knee op and I am trying to avoid any knee pain as this sets back my recover. However I don’t want to see all of my cycling training disappear. I’ve attempted a Base plan but I made the mistake of attacking the ramp test as per usual, this means I then suffer from knee pain when completing even the Sweet Spot Base, should I start again and take the Ramp test as a point for assessing where the knee pain starts or is there any other any other method I could use? Thanks in advance Paul.
How long have you been off training?
First up ask your doctor/surgeon/physio what they are happy with you doing.
Then if less than a few weeks off the bike I would drop FTP down by 20% and then focus on zone 2 work, not a ‘plan’ per se.
If longer then work upwards rather than down, gradually load yourself over a few weeks to see what you can tolerate as an injury now could set you back even further.
I am coming back from an ankle tendon injury and have been advised to ride for 15-30 mins zone 2 twice a week.
Obviously I cannot use a ramp test and as I have had many months off any old data is meaningless.
What I did instead was first week rode at 100w for 5 mins then 140w for 10 mins.
Week 2 I did 140w for 5 mins then 160w for 15 mins.
Week 3 I carried on with week 2 but brought up the power for the latter part of the ten mins. Got feedback now saying that’s too much for where I am in recovery so will drop back to the 160w max for another week and look to increase duration instead of intensity.
At the moment I care less about retaining fitness than I do managing my recovery.
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Op was about a month back and seems to be settling down, as soon as I had trouble with the plan I stopped but I was just seeing if there was a specific plan for this situation.
I’m going with every other day Recess -4 for a few weeks to see how that goes
But yes I agree getting over the injury is paramount I have to learn to be patient.
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I would avoid anything with higher intensity…having had knee ops in the past, it is a recipe for disaster, IMO.
Focus on Z2 work / Traditional Base. Log your miles at a relatively easy effort to slowly rebuild strength. It is only February and most events are still getting cancelled / postponed…no need to push your recovery.