Or is that a poplitius in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
I went to my Graston physical therapist on Friday and I told her about some pain I was having in the back of my knee. She starts touching the area behind there and I yelp in pain as she applies from massage techniques on my poplitius, this tiny muscle that runs behind my knee. She remarks that it is totally inflamed and very huge, certainly tender to deep tissue massage. Apparently it’s a problem common to cyclists.
I’ve been dropping the heel to engage my hamstrings and glutes during the downstroke of biking. I was focusing on this during Ironman Brazil and it got painful towards the second half of the bike. But now I’m thinking that I shouldn’t drop it so much, or otherwise, my poplitius may get overstretched and strained, like in my case now.
Ice and rest is the remedy for the short term.