Originally Posted by Sunset Dragon

Thanks for your advice. I hope your knee is doing well. In my case, I've got something called chondromalacia and patellar tendonitis, both of which have been caused by overuse. I basically went from doing nothing for years to going all out with my fitness. Naturally, my muscles began to develop at a pace that my joints couldn't keep up with as I was moving too quickly. My flexibility was also poor, especially my hamstrings, which I couldn't target with a stretch for a long time. I learned my lesson the hard way.

Well, rehab is not going too brilliantly and so surgery may eventually become an option, but the bike was one of the suggestions offered for my fitness, which is partly why I gravitated to it. I was initially advised to do Bulgarian split squats by a physiotherapist, great for strength building, but it was difficult to perform them without pain.

Since cycling does come with a lot of repetition, no doubt the fear of overuse has returned to mind. To be honest, I'm beginning to question physio. I didn't know much about chondromalacia, directing my attention to exercises that treat tendonitis as they seemed to have some positive results. At least, one area of my pain has dwindled. Researching online, however, it may be that chondromalacia is permanent. Trying to determine in that case what is best leaves me with a lot of doubts but nonetheless the goal is to of course build strength without making things worse, so I'll take your advice on board.