I’ve never had IT band issues before, so I wanted to ask those of you who have some experience with this for some advice.
I’ve been ramping up the training in all three disciplines since I’m hoping to complete an Ultra Tri in October. I noticed a slight tinge of discomfort after my normal rides of 1.5 to 2.5 hours but didn’t think much of it until this last weekend. After a 150 mile ride last weekend I could tell the IT band was really hurting afterward and took two days to feel normal again. I have no issues swimming and ran 8 miles three days after that ride and the running didn’t bother the IT band at all. In fact, the only time it ever gives me fits is after cycling and if I give it some rest from cycling it goes away. In terms of background, I biked roughly 8,000 miles last year and am close to 4,000 this year so it’s not just due to me upping the mileage.
I did put some new cleats on my shoes recently and wonder if a slight angle change when I installed the new ones is what is causing me issues? I can’t think of anything else that’s different so any advice would be appreciated.
I’ve never had IT band issues before, so I wanted to ask those of you who have some experience with this for some advice.
I’ve been ramping up the training in all three disciplines since I’m hoping to complete an Ultra Tri in October. I noticed a slight tinge of discomfort after my normal rides of 1.5 to 2.5 hours but didn’t think much of it until this last weekend. After a 150 mile ride last weekend I could tell the IT band was really hurting afterward and took two days to feel normal again. I have no issues swimming and ran 8 miles three days after that ride and the running didn’t bother the IT band at all. In fact, the only time it ever gives me fits is after cycling and if I give it some rest from cycling it goes away. In terms of background, I biked roughly 8,000 miles last year and am close to 4,000 this year so it’s not just due to me upping the mileage.
I did put some new cleats on my shoes recently and wonder if a slight angle change when I installed the new ones is what is causing me issues? I can’t think of anything else that’s different so any advice would be appreciated.
I had a similar issue while training for Vineman this year. From my experience I resolved my issue by doing a few things.
I took the time to foam roll after my workouts and stretch.
Strengthened my core, hips and glutes to help fight fatigue that contributes to losing proper alignment in your lower body.
Rested (active rest) until the pain was gone before going back at it with the previous intensity I had prior to the injury.
I would take a look at your cleats and think about strengthening as I did as it did the most to help me out.
I feel your pain literally. You might be straining your hip flexors which will cause issues with IT band. Also try foam rolling and hip strenthening exercises. Good luck
I feel your pain literally. You might be straining your hip flexors which will cause issues with IT band. Also try foam rolling and hip strenthening exercises. Good luck
It’s frustrating!!! I just did a 36 mile run/walk and the IT band feels fine after that.
Since I know my cycling fitness is good I may just lay off the biking for a while and swim and jog since that doesn’t flair it up.
I had the same problem. Yes, the exercises/stretching should be done, but the problem is likely your cleat position.
For me, the answer was moving the feet outward a bit. But you will have to try several positions. A bike fitter might help.
Drop your seat a Couple of MM. That will take some of the pressure off your IT band. Had a similar problem almost 20’years ago…a very small drop in seat height and I was good to go m
I’ve never had IT band issues before, so I wanted to ask those of you who have some experience with this for some advice.
I’ve been ramping up the training in all three disciplines since I’m hoping to complete an Ultra Tri in October. I noticed a slight tinge of discomfort after my normal rides of 1.5 to 2.5 hours but didn’t think much of it until this last weekend. After a 150 mile ride last weekend I could tell the IT band was really hurting afterward and took two days to feel normal again. I have no issues swimming and ran 8 miles three days after that ride and the running didn’t bother the IT band at all. In fact, the only time it ever gives me fits is after cycling and if I give it some rest from cycling it goes away. In terms of background, I biked roughly 8,000 miles last year and am close to 4,000 this year so it’s not just due to me upping the mileage.
I did put some new cleats on my shoes recently and wonder if a slight angle change when I installed the new ones is what is causing me issues? I can’t think of anything else that’s different so any advice would be appreciated.
I ride 300-350MPW and used to have ITBS but figured it out over time and now have not had issues for 3 years. It might hurt on the bike but most likely it is a combination of several activities. Flip turns could be causing back tightness and leading to the ITBS, very common issue. Run could be initiating the issue and then it is brought to light by a poor bike fit. In general i think a few things are worth looking at in terms of bike fit.
Bike Fit
I moved my seat from 2cm behind the BB to 5cm behind the BB, in other words i moved the seat back. I don’t know why this mattered but i tried bringing it forward early this season and i noticed my ITB was slightly tight, moved the seat back and it was great the next day.
Lowered my seat height, angle went from 151 to 139
Increased Q factor, AKA wider stance
Specialized insoles+ wedges to essentially get my foot flat as it was angled in before and proper support
Speedplay pedals with no heal in and 5-6 degrees of float for heal out. What i like about speed plays is that if you slightly miss the alignment from shoe to shoe the float can essentially make up for human error. In other words, if you just open the float up a bit on the pedals it pretty hard to mess up the alignment, then over time you can dial in your specific float.
What I would recommended would be some shock absorbing insoles… Id say go for some from Nuovahealth as they are super and really helped me a heck of a lot when I had problems with my IT band as stopping shock is so important because micro holes can develop on the band and shocks can make these small holes bigger and bigger.
try:http://nuovahealth.co.uk/shop/nuova-shock-absorbing-insoles/
You say it’s only from cycling. Are you 100% sure about that? I found that I pissed off my IT band from running, and then the symptoms would flare up on the bike. How many miles are you running in addition to all those bike miles?
I have battled this for a while now, but broke my leg in the middle of it so there is that…lol. The other leg by the way.
Mine came about late last July. I was riding ~250mpw, swimming maybe 5-8K, running 1-2 times / week at the time about 5 miles each. Just as I was attempting to ramp up the run I also did a 300 mile bike week. I think that broke the camel’s back. For me I generally could barely feel it riding, but could not run. Too painful or total lock up.
I did a lot of research and posted here. I do the Fitzgerald IT strengthening exercises 2-3 times / week, foam rolling, and specific youtube IT stretches. I seem to be on top of it. I also wear a funny black band with a bump in the band while I run. I do not wear it on the bike. I seem to be ahead of it, but due to broken leg my running is very minimal right now like 6-9 mpw. I hope to continue to progress with the broken leg thing and keep getting stronger.
So for me I tried different seat setbacks, seat heights, cleat angles / positions / foam roller / ice / etc! I keep coming back to I believe it’s muscle imbalances. Too much riding the road bike probably caused issues.
FYI I was SUPER strong on the bike as a result of riding my bike a lot. Go figure!
I wish you good luck and if any questions on anything I’ve tried let me know.
i agree with everything that’s said with some caveats. foam roller: great, but, that’s like saying “i keep getting cuts on my hands every day,” and the answer coming back is: band aids! true dat, but you still will keep getting cuts. needing a foam roller means you have an underlying problem.
there are 5 axes in pedal/shoe: up/down (seat height), in/out (stance width), fore/aft, varus/valgus and heel invert/evert. i would pay the following attention these axes, in this way:
the person who said lower your saddle, bingo, but i’d like to see the pre-lowered-saddle seat height (show is a video, as in a critique my fit video) so that we can all see if that’s a likely culprit.
fore/aft: the cleat should be more aft and less fore if you have IT band problems.
stance width: we’ll save that for later of nothing else solves this.
heel in/out: this is one really good reason for speedplay. there are lots of reasons for this pedal, but there are 2 little screws on the cleat that describe exactly where float starts and where it stops. if your knee wants the heel rotated toward the bike instead of away from it, and your cleat doesn’t allow it, it’s the knee getting the short end of that.
varus/valgus: full custom footbeds are the most needed, least offered, product in cycling. ski shops know how important this is. why don’t bike shops know this? further, you can’t sell a custom footbed mail order. you can wedge your cleat, and varus wedging your cleat may well solve your problem, but it’s about a hundy, and 20 minutes, getting a set of sidas or footbalance or other full custom footbed. do this first.
the thing about the footbed, it needs to be extremely low volume for cycling. just like for skiing. get the very thinnest blank they have.
You say it’s only from cycling. Are you 100% sure about that? I found that I pissed off my IT band from running, and then the symptoms would flare up on the bike. How many miles are you running in addition to all those bike miles?
Same as you with the running. Sometimes even too much pull buoy can cause an IT flare up with me.
I had to DNF two ironman because of IT problems on the bike. Clear position was the problem for me. I moved my cleats out a bit and it made all the difference.