? about high impact.

[Tricia Haley]

Hi Cathe or Educated Crowd,

For some background, I have a sensitive knee. 80% of the time it bothers me and the other 20% its ok. When i try to do the HI/LO impact on the floor my thinking has always been,start out doing what i can then modify as needed (or when my knee starts bothering me). I really don't want to give up on doing the high impact. So my questions are:

1) will my knee/knees ever get used to the jumping over time?

2) because my knees tend to feel most of the impact does that mean that i have weaker muscles that need to be straingthend?

3) where in my legs should i feel the impact?

4) when doing impact i tend to be more on my toes, is this correct?

Thanks for all future advice:+
Tricia :7

 

[hippahips]

Hi Tricia, I also have bad knees. When I started doing step aerobics in the mid-1990's, I'd have this burning sensation in my knees if I used two risers under each side of my step. I used to think my knees would get used to that height eventually but it never did. Now I use a smaller Weider bench that's good enough for home use. I use only 2 heights: a very low 4 inches for my blah days and a still low 6 inches on days when I want more intensity.

If your knees feel most of the impact, it may be that you're landing on your toes all the time. At least, that's what I used to do. My previous aerobics instructors always emphasized the importance of making sure your entire foot landed on the step, and once I got myself to focus on doing that -- on a much lower step -- my knees stopped burning after those long, intense workouts.

Also, it pays to invest in good aerobics shoes that fit well and to change those every six months. I used to be such a tightwad about buying shoes as they don't come cheap, but when I use my worn out shoes, even my toes and the arches of my feet complain.

You can always make low-impact modifications for high-impact moves. You can make the workout just as intense by keeping your range of movement wide. Hope this helps.


Pinky

 

[kathryn]

1) will my knee/knees ever get used to the jumping over time?

Perhaps, but I suggest you meet with a physical therapist to make sure there is no structural problem that could be made worse by continuing with high impact.
>
>2) because my knees tend to feel most of the impact does that
>mean that i have weaker muscles that need to be straingthend?
Again, it's possible you have some kind of muscle imbalance, with one muscle group being too strong in realation to another, or one muscle group being less flexible than is necessary for good muscle balance. This is also something a PT could help you with.
>
>
>3) where in my legs should i feel the impact?
Primarily in the quadriceps.
>
>4) when doing impact i tend to be more on my toes, is this
>correct?
Not really. While you land on the toes, you should roll through "toe, ball, heel" . Staying up on the toe could put more stress in the knee joint.

 

[Tricia Haley]

Thanks guys BUNCHES for your advice!! Kath, on your response to question (>4- when doing impact i tend to be more on my toes, is this
>correct?) Do you mean any time (for example)when i'm doing jumping jacks, jogging in place, or any of the other floor Cathe moves, i should always make sure that the impact is on my whole foot, like you said ("toe, ball, heel")instead of trying to stay more on my toes or the upper part of my foot only? (I hope that makes sense.) Because if thats what you mean then i can say, "Aaaaa, i get it". I'm going to have to go try MIC again and see if that makes a difference!!!:+ :7 Thanks again guys Tricia

 

[kathryn]

You've got it! And you can add more intensity while decreasing the impact by doing jumping jacks into a semi-crouched position (probably at a slower speed than what the regular jacks are being done at), like the plyo jacks in Bootcamp.