# Front leg worn out



## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

Just got back from a glorious weekend in VT. Spent two days hunting all sorts of terrain, groomers, bumps, trees....

Anyway I spent most of my time deep carving packed powder. Lines looked sweet. No “dog shit” at all. Much better after going double posi stance 6,21. Noted that my front quad was fried today. More so than other days. Granted, the conditions were awesome and I rode harder than most. But that front leg(quad) is trashed and I feel stronger as the season has progressed. 

My question: is there a problem with my technique, stance, or par for the course? Seems that it was stressed from long “super G” heel side turns. Maybe too weight forward? Stance change? Or maybe I’m just finally boarding correctly and not used to the after effects? Thoughts?


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## SlvrDragon50 (Mar 25, 2017)

If you're riding more aggressively I imagine it would make sense that your muscles are more fatigued. I also found that powder tires my legs a lot faster than a groomer day.


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## Rip154 (Sep 23, 2017)

Might be easier on legs if you open up the stance abit, more degrees, but could lose some control in turns, at least when standing up.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

I'd imagine its because you had 2 consecutive days of getting after it.


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

wrathfuldeity said:


> I'd imagine its because you had 2 consecutive days of getting after it.




Yeah. Middle age probably has something to do with it. 


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## MrEgg (Mar 31, 2015)

try more degrees in your stance. 
Think when you are bending your knee & pushing forward you are putting pressure across the thigh muscle.


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

MrEgg said:


> try more degrees in your stance.
> 
> Think when you are bending your knee & pushing forward you are putting pressure across the thigh muscle.




Hmmm. Do you mean more forward angle? I’ll give it a go. Also noticed pain in calf from high back. I had to reduce the maxed out forward lean from the front foot too. 


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Dunno... my front quad is toast after any day of riding all day. SO mentions the same. I would have said that's just normal :dunno:


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

After that powder day 2 Thursdays ago I was so beat when I finished, it took me (no lie) 10 minutes to walk from the bottom of the lift to the lodge. My legs were barely working due to cramping and pain. They still hurt a good 2-3 days later from that one.

Other days, I can ride all day and the next and I'll be sore, but it won't carry over. It depends how hard you go, how hard you work out, etc. That last part has been my issue lately as I haven't worked out since Mid-Jan.


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## jae (Nov 27, 2015)

normally my front quad gives up first, and my back quad gives up about a minute later.


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## snowman55 (Feb 17, 2012)

This is why I respect people who ride 100+ days a year. I don't know how they do it. After riding 10 consecutive days, I can barely walk and I'm a fit guy who lifts 4 days a week all year around. They must have bionic legs.


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

snowman55 said:


> This is why I respect people who ride 100+ days a year. I don't know how they do it. After riding 10 consecutive days, I can barely walk and I'm a fit guy who lifts 4 days a week all year around. They must have bionic legs.


Most of them (not all) don't ride bell-to-bell or if they do ski/ride a full day, it is usually broken up with lots of breaks.

The hardcore ones though, those people are bionic.


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## Phedder (Sep 13, 2014)

Jcb890 said:


> snowman55 said:
> 
> 
> > This is why I respect people who ride 100+ days a year. I don't know how they do it. After riding 10 consecutive days, I can barely walk and I'm a fit guy who lifts 4 days a week all year around. They must have bionic legs.
> ...


This. Last season in Canada I was all about racking up as much vertical as possible with a 4 on 3 off work schedule. It was a lax day if I wasn't hitting 8,000m/26,000ft each riding day and I'd rarely stop for lunch, just eat on a chair, so after the 3rd day I was always toast. This season I'm riding with friends a lot more, seeking out as many sidehits as possible, or hiking/traversing more for interesting terrain. Much more in the 4-5,000m vert realm, sometimes getting earlier buses home to fill the afternoon in with something else. Now we've hit Daylight Savings I've been out cross country skiing twice and a few short hikes too. It's definitely helped keep me more interested in riding and just making the most of each day rather than bombing top to bottom every run chasing numbers. 

I just put together our April roster and we've got more staff wanting to hang around than expected and I'm very happy to take less shifts. Should bag 20 days on the mountain in April with a mix of days off and split shifts >


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## 16gkid (Dec 5, 2012)

I just finished riding 16 days straight from CO all the way to whistler, which also includes driving from location to location. Drink your protein shake kids! its amazing what it can do for leg endurance.


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

Scalpelman said:


> Just got back from a glorious weekend in VT. Spent two days hunting all sorts of terrain, groomers, bumps, trees....
> 
> Anyway I spent most of my time deep carving packed powder. Lines looked sweet. No “dog shit” at all. Much better after going double posi stance 6,21. Noted that my front quad was fried today. More so than other days. Granted, the conditions were awesome and I rode harder than most. But that front leg(quad) is trashed and I feel stronger as the season has progressed.
> 
> ...


Well but.... did you die?
Just drink your waters, eat ok. Do it again tomorrow.

It is what it is. 
Nobody knows if something is wrong with your technique, posture, etc. without a video or actually seeing you.... but in general, if the day was good, my legs are shot by the end of the day too.


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

Jcb890 said:


> Most of them (not all) don't ride bell-to-bell or if they do ski/ride a full day, it is usually broken up with lots of breaks.
> 
> The hardcore ones though, those people are bionic.


I usedta could!!! :laugh: I believe that the 13/14 season was the last I managed to consistently ride first to last chair! (...in Michigan, so obviously not saying I'm bionic! But that included night riding,... so 9-9 many days!!!  ) :lol:

I was 53, that was right before my back surgeries and lost 14/15 season. Since coming back, I have nowhere near that level of endurance. :blink: I tire *and* injure (...muscle pulls, sprains, strains, etc.) easier than I used to. :shrug:

Id say if you recently changed your set up as dramatically as you mentioned _and_ rode it hard,..? It's a fairly safe bet that your just using new muscles. If it continues to be a problem,.. well that might be something else!!!

Wouldn't call the oncologist or over think it just yet!  >


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

I just came back from a two day trip to CO. Went to Loveland first day and Copper second day.
My front quad and ankle was so tired compare to my back leg.
It's easier if I just go flying on the runs. I was doing mostly blue, black, and sometimes double black. Sometimes smooth sometimes moguls.
I can go all day but usually my front quad gets tired by the time I get to the bottom of the lift. Once I am on the lift, my legs get better and I am ready for a another run from top of the mountain to the bottom none-stop.
I don't know how many ft we did in a day but we were riding pretty much none-stop all day maybe one hour lunch break in between.
I was so tired mentally and physically at the end of the day.


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## poser (Mar 7, 2018)

Are you mostly pointing downhill and leaning into the hill? Seems like you could benefit from a setup that better distributes the load between your two legs for those types of conditions. The only time my front leg really feels particularly fatigued is when trying to maintain speed on a flat traverse of some sort, especially if I am having to kick.


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

Ok so I’m going to interpret that I’m finally boarding correctly (back leg used to get tired first) and that I need to push my conditioning further. 

I love this sport. Wish I started earlier. 



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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

poser said:


> Are you mostly pointing downhill and leaning into the hill? Seems like you could benefit from a setup that better distributes the load between your two legs for those types of conditions. The only time my front leg really feels particularly fatigued is when trying to maintain speed on a flat traverse of some sort, especially if I am having to kick.




YES!!!! Long heel traverse after a bomb run is the worst. So how should I distribute the load for pointing downhill? Position more forward and get out of the backseat?


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## poser (Mar 7, 2018)

Scalpelman said:


> YES!!!! Long heel traverse after a bomb run is the worst. So how should I distribute the load for pointing downhill? Position more forward and get out of the backseat?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




Are your bindings set at equal or offset angles? I’d think equal angles would be a starting place if they are not set that way already. Possibly play with a wider stance as well since getting low in a (slightly) wider stance will likely result in better distribution.


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

It sounds like you forgot to use performance enhancing drugs.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Fielding said:


> It sounds like you forgot to use performance enhancing drugs.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

poser said:


> Are you mostly pointing downhill and leaning into the hill? Seems like you could benefit from a setup that better distributes the load between your two legs for those types of conditions. The only time my front leg really feels particularly fatigued is when trying to maintain speed on a flat traverse of some sort, especially if I am having to kick.


No I am not leaning into the hill. In fact sometimes leaning into the hill takes the pressure off my front foot.


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## pencap75 (Dec 10, 2008)

Scalpelman said:


> Yeah. Middle age probably has something to do with it.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Middle age rider here (43). My leg fatigue problems went away when I mastered switch riding. When one leg starts to fatigue do some switch riding. Problem solved.


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## Jcb890 (Dec 12, 2014)

I was dealing with some knee pain the last couple of times out and felt like I was fighting against my stance sometimes when carving, so I moved my stance around.

Went from +15 front foot to +18 and that seemed to help a bit.
Moved the back foot from -12 or -9 to +6... that didn't feel right, like I was fighting the back foot, it felt too narrow even though I hadn't moved which set of inserts the binding was in.
Moved the rear binding back 1 set of inserts, slid it a bit closer inwards and to +3 and that felt great.

So, now I'm +18/+3.

I've ridden from +21/+9 to +12/-12 and I think I prefer a forward-stance. I felt like I had more edge control and could get in and out of carves a little better. It didn't feel like I lost balance going from -12 or -9 to +3 in the back foot.

Still, if I do not ride with proper technique and get sloppy, I wind up using my knees more than I should and my front (left) knee gets sore.
I'm also sure not working out lately has something to do with it since earlier in the season when I was working out I wasn't having any knee pain.


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

All good advice. I DEFINITELY need to commit a day of crappy boarding to learn switch once and for all. It would solve some fatigue issues, especially on long green traversing trails when getting to other end of the mountain to the other. 

I too have been playing around with stance angles. Positive all the way for me now. Currently +18/+6. Much better edge hold but I’m still figuring it out and playing with angles. Better edge hold and deep high speed carves seems to bring on leg fatigue A welcome progression. 


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## Psi-Man (Aug 31, 2009)

Scalpelman said:


> All good advice. I DEFINITELY need to commit a day of crappy boarding to learn switch once and for all. It would solve some fatigue issues, especially on long green traversing trails when getting to other end of the mountain to the other.
> 
> I too have been playing around with stance angles. Positive all the way for me now. Currently +18/+6. Much better edge hold but I’m still figuring it out and playing with angles. Better edge hold and deep high speed carves seems to bring on leg fatigue A welcome progression.
> 
> ...


Playing around with forward lean in the process can help as well. 

Speaking of stances....after a long time riding with the same settings (21/0) I tried 15/-15 to mess around a bit at Wachusett recently. Riding switch was easier, but after 5 runs went back to 0 in the back. I'll ride my big cambered F1 21/12 once in a great while, but I just can't get comfortable with negative rear angles. I would love to ride with a more freestyle stance given the Ripsaw is a twin, but just can't get comfortable enough. My wife rides 18/6, but my kids are duck because that is all they have ever known, 15/-6 or -9 (without looking) .


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## MDRev (Feb 26, 2018)

Been checking posts and this seems the place to ask this question - yesterday I had session on an indoor snow slope (UK) and decided to try switch, so set my bindings to +15 and -15 for classic duck stance. Riding regular was fine then spent the next few hours trying switch - various levels of success and failure but will continue to try - anyway today my right knee is struggling with life! Started last night with swelling and aches and pains, this morning it didn't like supporting my body weight and now walking round it feels tender as [email protected]#. Anyone else experienced this? Is it likely be just the joints not liking riding switch...or... ???

cheers


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## Psi-Man (Aug 31, 2009)

Most likely inflammation from overuse by trying something new. I would follow the typical treatment for tendonitis/inflammation for a week or two and see how you feel.


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