Can You Try Cycling with Osteoarthritis of the Knee?

Cycling is a great form of exercise if you have knee osteoarthritis. It’s a lower impact workout, but still provides plenty of cardiovascular benefits, and could even help maintain or improve your joint health, while increasing your range of motion. Here’s what you need to know.

Why Biking for Osteoarthritis is a Smart Choice

Engaging in cycling with arthritic knees can loosen joints without wearing them down. Research even shows that biking builds muscle strength to support your joints while reducing the joint stiffness associated with knee osteoarthritis. Using an exercise bike when you have arthritis of the knee also provides knee pain relief while improving your overall quality of life. You might even lose some weight when you bike, which could take more pressure off your joints.

Is Indoor or Outdoor Cycling Best?

Is it better to bike outdoors or to use an indoor stationary bike if you have arthritic knees? Luckily, both are great options. Biking outdoors is a great way to enjoy nature and view changing scenery, meaning you might be up for longer training sessions. At the same time, when you pass over varying outdoor terrain, you’ll naturally be challenged to adjust to different levels of resistance and incline.  

Similarly, cycling indoors can offer many benefits. First, a stationary bike can be good for knees because it’s easy to control resistance levels, without worrying about rain, heat or other environmental factors. You also won’t need to worry about falling off a stationary bike, making it a great choice for people who struggle with balance issues.

Choosing the Right Equipment and Pace

If you’re cycling with osteoarthritis of the knee in the outdoors, try keeping your seat and handlebars elevated, to reduce joint pressure and relieve potential back or neck pain. When cycling indoors, you may prefer to sit on a recumbent bike, since you can lean back and keep pressure off your back and hips. However, if you have arthritis in other areas of your body, you may prefer an upright bike, since biking in the recumbent position can be tougher on hip joints.

Regardless of your bike choice, you should start off with low-intensity cycling, proven to be as effective as high-intensity cycling for improving joint function and range of motion. If you’re new to the sport, ease your body into cycling by riding slowly on flat surfaces. Limit early sessions to no more than 10 minutes, allowing your body to adjust to this form of movement before training harder or for longer periods of time.

After finishing a cycle session, stretch gently and give your body time to recover. If you experience worsening joint pain after exercising, stop cycling and talk to your doctor to avoid injury or further joint damage. And if exercise has become too painful, or you need more knee pain relief, request a consultation request a consultation request a consultation at the Texas Knee Institute. Our interventional radiologists provide genicular artery embolization (learn more about What is GAE here). So, when you come in for a visit, we can help you decided if this minimally invasive knee  osteoarthritis treatment is your best option for relief.