[ire]

I've got a nagging issue that has been bothering me since last cyclocross season. At a race last year I strained my hip flexor and it bothered me for the remainder of the season. Sometimes after racing I would have trouble walking. I figured it would go away with some time off after cross season. Well....it didn't. Here I am 5 months later and I am still suffering pain. It only hurts when my pedaling gets erratic (like pushing it hard and your knee swings out). Anyone else have these issues? Any advice? I guess I could go see a doctor....but that would be too easy

 

[Westy]

I hit the gym hard this year and did a ****-ton of squats in the off season. I feel much stronger this year and my whole pedaling style seems a little different, bigger gears slower cadence. I do notice that my tensor faciae latae now get sore after a hard ride, muscles I never knew I had. I can only think that it has something to do with a strength imbalance with other muscles. Maybe your tensor muscles can't keep up with the rest of your legs?

Could you avoid the problem by keeping your cadence higher and focusing on better technique? If you can take some more time off you might want to try and strengthen these muscles? Which ones hurt?

 

[ire]

I was reading and they said part of the issue can be a weak core. That would make sense for the timing because I don't do core workouts during the race season, and it happened towards the end of a long season. Higher cadence does help as it tends to be lower cadence, hard efforts that cause it to hurt. I was going to start doing more core workouts and try stretching to see if that helps. I've never had a nagging issue like this before....getting older is hell BTW that's a nice diagram