Perfect 'balance' - ?

[simongt]

Now at a tender 70yrs old, my left knee is beginning to give me a bit of trouble. Appears to be just below the knee itself around the cartilage area. Very hit & miss; sometimes it aches, sometimes not. More recently, tends to be associated with overuse; i.e., walking too far or fast.
The subject of this thread is based on the belief that very few folk move in a perfectly balanced way; we will tend to favour one side or other of our body without realizing, thus leading to overuse of that favoured side, be it leg, arm, shoulder, well you get the picture - !
Chatting to a pal who is a keen runner and does some cycling, he has similar issues and mentioned about this balance idea.
For as long as I can recall, when I stop on a bike, I've always put my left foot on the ground thus leaning to that side, leaving my right foot engaged with the pedal for the move off. So after umpteen years of doing this, I wonder if this is what has lead to my slightly dodgy left knee - ?
Points of view anyone - ?

 

[wafter]

While I'd agree that posture / gait / imbalance can cause all manner of issues, I'd not concern myself that the simple act of putting one foot down over the other on the bike would have such a profound effect.

For stuff to become a problem it (understandably) seems to be the result of constant or repetitive sub-optimal loading - as per your walking example. Have you looked at the wear pattern on the soles of your shoes to see if it's even or biased to one side? Do you ride clipless or on flats / with cages? I've found clipless to be merciless and have found it (or rather its refusal to allow my incorrect foot positioning to correct itself) to really exacerbate knee / hip issues..

 

[simongt]

I ride both; platforms for about sixty five years, SPDs for about twenty five. But my point of leaning onto my left leg for so many years with the partial weight of me and my respective bikes on it every time I stop may well have had some sort of gradual long term effect.

 

[Rusty Nails]

I would have thought that nobody's body is symmetrically balanced naturally. We all have some imbalances, whether it has been there from birth or has come about via repetition and effort at work, sport, recreation. These cause some joint issues which in turn lead to further imbalance and compensation problems in other joints.

You cannot rule out the way you dismount/stop as a contributor to your knee pain but don't rule out those other major contributors...old age, general wear & tear and a bit of bad luck.

I'm not saying you are old of course.

 

[Cycleops]

I should go and see the quack. He can refer you so you get a proper diagnosis. Suspect it's general wear.

 

[Moodyman]

If you don’t already, you need to incorporate isolation exercises into our routine.

I.e exercises that work one arm/leg at a time. For example, if you do a conventional calf raise (both legs), your stronger leg will compensate for weakness in the other leg. But if you do a calf raise with one leg at a time, your weak leg cannot sit by idly.

You tube is your friend for ideas.

 

[Tenkaykev]

If you don’t already, you need to incorporate isolation exercises into our routine.

I.e exercises that work one arm/leg at a time. For example, if you do a conventional calf raise (both legs), your stronger leg will compensate for weakness in the other leg. But if you do a calf raise with one leg at a time, your weak leg cannot sit by idly.

You tube is your friend for ideas.

^^^^^^^
Wot he said 👍