cathe - protecting knees

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fitnfirm8121

Active Member
Hi Cathe. I'm a big fan of your cardio workouts (strength training too). For many years all I did every weekday was your step workouts. I read alot of people start to have problems with thier knees and joints after alot of years of high impact and step workouts. Although mine feel fine and I haven't had any problems, probably since I'm still young, Im still a bit concerned.

Do you do anything special or take supplements to protect your knees from wearing out? Is it mostly genetics that determine how much your knees can handle with high impact workouts? Thanks, I know you're taking a much needed rest, but hope you can take a minute or 2 to answer and give any advice.
 
Good question. I have been thinking the same thing since a lot of members have been posting lately that they have sensitive knees. I hope we get a response.


Blessings from our home to yours...Runathon
 
Hello,

I am no expert,and I am not Cathe, but I have made my self a checklist for safety.
Does anyone else have anything to add to it, that will help others or myself?.


CHECKLIST


1) Take into consideration the amount of bodyweightI have/height that I am and being aware of the type of exercise that will cause minimal damage or discomfort

2) Wear Shoes/trainers, with the right cushioning etc.

3 Being aware of excessive pounding on tender joints, (jumping, plyos jacks etc..

4)In Using a really high step for stepping, if overweight, (do I need to?)

5)Being aware of hard flooring, such as concrete.

6) Wearing knee braces/supports.

7)The importance of modifications and low impact


HOTCHICK


:)
 
>
>6) Wearing knee braces/supports.
>

Does anybody know a good brand/style of these that are good for working out in?

~Kathleen~
 
After stepping with Cathe for a year I've learned several things:

I don't use a step higher than 6 inches (I'm 5'4").

I supplement with Glucosamine/Chondrotin and Flaxseed oil. Since taking these supplements I've noticed an improvement in my joint mobility. It may be psychosomatic, but hey! I don't care! It's working for me!

I'm a firm believer in floor exercises. Cathe does some of these in the PS series. There are some great floor exercises you can do that will strengthen the muscles surrounding the knees, which tend to weaken or wear from endless stepping, squats and lunges.

Yoga helps, too!
 
Even though you aren't experiencing any knee problems now, you're wise to think in terms of prevention.

Some things to consider:
Cross training: I personally don't do the same type of workout (ie: step, kickboxing, etc.) two days in a row,which both give me variety and helps prevent overuse injuries by changing the type of movement I'm doing.

Step: as others have suggested, sticking with a 6" or even 4"step (especially for Cathe's more-recent workouts, which are faster than her earlier workouts) is a good idea. I've personally gravitated away from fast, torquey step workouts--which Cathe's are for me--toward more linear workouts, and my knees have thanked me for it!

Keep up with strength training to support the knee musculature. Make sure there is a balance in muscle strength (hamstrings should be about 70% as strong as quadriceps---I may be wrong about the exact percentage, if I am, I hope someone with a better memory corrects me!). Also, keep good flexibility, especially in hamstrings--which tend to be tight on a lot of people--and calves.

Make sure that the strength training is benefitting you rather than causing more problems by paying strict attention to form. Use a mirror to check the angle of your knees, and make sure that they stay behind the toes (as close to vertical as possible) when doing squats and lunges. I notice in some of Cathe's earlier strength tape (PS? MIS? one or both of those), most of the crew doesn't have a wide enough stance (for me!) for plié squats and their knees go a bit farther over their toes than I feel comfortable with. That's why I like it when Rhonda is in the crew: her squat, lunge, and plié stance is excellent (ie: on pliés, she stands wide enough to keep her shin about vertical).

Push through the heel on squats, pliés, lunges, step-ups to keep pressure off the knee.

Get a copy of the "Insiders Tell-all Handbook of Weight Trainig Technique" which stresses safe resistance exercise. Other excellent sources are "A Woman's Book of Strength" by Karen Andes and Douglas Brook's "Effective Strength Training."

Vary the impact of your workouts. To keep up intensity while reducing impact, you can replace some higher impact moves (ie: power 7's) with wide ROM moves (ie: high knee-ups, or kickbox-style knee slams).

If you feel a "twinge" during a workout or soreness in the knee joint after a workout, take immediate steps to reevaluate your routines. Getting an upper hand on knee (and shoulder and back) problems can keep them from developing into something chronic or more serious.

I think you're right: a lot of what determines whether and how much impact one can handle (or torque: I have less problem with impact than with torque) s genetic. We're all built on the same general pattern, but individual differences make one person able to tolerate a lot of impact, while another has very tricky knees. Also, most of us on the board here are women, and in women, the Q angle (the angle at which the leg extends from the hip joint) in women makes us more prone to knee injury than men. Also, at certain times of the month, hormones can make the ligaments softer and less supportive.

(Oh, yeah, you'll notice I'm not Cathe either!)
 
I've had a leg injury from tennis and I've found that Cathe's workouts can be modified easily. I've been using one riser rather than two. Also, I do not do them daily. Her earlier workouts are slower and she builds up the intensity, starting with low impact versions of the steps. She also balances higher vs low impact better in those tapes, with fewer turns. I've done the tapes using lower impact and found I'm still in my cardio heart range zone, but not at the high end as I am with high impact. Her newer tapes do not always show the low impact version, but if you know them you can easily adapt. Surprisingly, I also find the interval tapes easier on the legs because the high impact is only for a short time period.
 
I'm not Cathe, and I'm not a professional trainer, but I have very simple ways of avoiding knee pain and injury.

I keep my step low, only 6 inches high, which works for me because I'm short -- only 5'1". I use a Weider bench and its lowest height is 4 inches, which I use on days when I don't have so much energy but still need to work out.

Modify if needed. Cathe's Step Fit workout really does a number on my knees. Instead of going over the step with a turn, I simply go over. I do the high-intensity mambos on the floor, not on the step. Instead of skipping over the board, I do a two-step movement across the step. In her Imax 2 workout, I do 4 slow jacks instead of 8 plie jacks. I keep the same intensity without doing havoc on my knees.

Try doing the workout on the floor. This may feel funny at first. When I take the step away, I do more high-intensity moves. When I start feeling it in my knees, I simply go low.

I take glucosamine for my joints. I also make sure I get enough calcium from food aside from the calcium I get from supplements. Osteoarthritis runs in my family. I have it on my spine and I expect to feel it in my knees as I get older.

Strength train and STRETCH, stretch, stretch. My doctor was very happy when I told her I got into strength training and basic yoga. I have weak bones, thanks to genetics, but the stronger my muscles, the better supported my bones. Stretching keeps you limber and prevents your muscles from shortening. Also lets you relax.

REST. If I am scheduled for a workout on a day when I am very tired, I skip working out. Simple as that. Better listen to my body and give it a break rather than have it rebel on me. I tweak the rotation for the rest of the week in a way that I still get to do both cardio and weights. Bootcamp and Cardio & Weights in Cathe's intensity series are perfect for such situations.

Hope this helps! :)
 
After doing some major damage to my ankle back in June, I've gone to using just a 4" step, since my ankle seems to "lose" it at times and I find I can actually do all of her latest workouts with almost full intensity where I couldn't before. Maybe the low board is easier but it lets me focus more and my knees (one of which had surgery years ago) seem a lot happier, I'm almost 5'3". I can't do her older videos anymore, too slow or I'm just addicted to the new stuff :)
I don't do a lot of her turns over the board (either direction) and even walking around the board I tend to keep on a straight walk. After awhile you know enough to modify where you need to. I'm going to look at gluocomine after reading some of the other posts, never hurts to start early.
Traci'
 
Only during the past year have I experienced any knee problems and I've been working out/running now for 20 years. When it first happened I felt nothing during the workout it's the next day or so after that I got a niggling pain which lasted for a few days and became more noticeable during particular workout moves! Low impact doesn't bother me nor does directional changes its when I do any kind of single legged weight bearing exercise. Some workouts I abandoned long ago because of the emphasis on single legged moves. I'm wondering now, has anyone changed those hops in IMAX2 for anything less stressful on the knee joint?
 
, has anyone changed those hops in IMAX2 for
>anything less stressful on the knee joint?

When I did IMAX2, I changed the seemingly-endless one-legged genie hops for a series of hitch kicks (hop up, land on left foot with right heel to ground in front, then switch). Keep your weight back more, like you're in a semi-squat. It's still mostly 1-footed, but seems much less stressful than the genie hops.
 
Hey yep, I modified those genie hops in IMAX2, mainly because my foot would hurt when I put it down after hoping on the opposite leg. What works for me is four hops on the right switch to the left and do 8 hops then back to the right for the final four hops. This way I stay on the same foot as Cathe when starting the next move.

-joy
 
I've reduced the impact of the genie hops and other impactfully painful moves by doing them on the rebounder instead. I also can't do her jumps that have one foot on the board (step) and one on the floor (like in C&W). The uneven balance of my legs plus the twisting while jumping is too much for my knees.
 
You know what? Even if Cathe never gets the chance to answer this question, I'm sure she'd have answered with exactly what I've read here in these posts.

I am impressed, there's some real good advice and good common sense modifications suggested.

Cross train
Modify
Rest
Listen to your body!!

Excellent ideas ladies!!

Clare
 
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