Does stretching help the scary knee twinge??

E

Elle K

Member
Hi-

The sash series ( I luv the sash ) has had me jumping with bittersweet joy the last few weeks and now my knees are starting to talk. The twinges are there where the quads and caps meet- thankfully not the immobilizing, limiting pain.. I'm 5'8" with a 6" step.. love step - do it 3x a week max. I've become a Catheite over the last 4 months and have been seeing some yummy results of less fat, more muscle.. very happy :) I have new shoes too. My feet/arches love them :)

So does anyone find that a daily stretching regimen manages/strengthens the knee joint? Or does a recovery week with no impact after 4 weeks really do the trick?

I'm just hoping to learn some savvy tips to keep the ball rolling..

Thanks!!
 
My knees have been protesting too - generalized soreness. I'm interested to read the responses...

Well, now I have two months off to think about it anyway, what with the surgery the day after tomorrow.

Susan L.G.
 
My knee torked 2 years ago,ligament strain inside the left knee where the thighjoins the inside..medial collateral ligament...it got better but I've always had some problems with pulling into lotus (I teach yoga)...but Cathe's step flared it all up again...I'm 45, normal weight, regular exercising for 30 years, and wear and tear is the cause...which leaves the joints open to injury (like Cathe had)...I wonder if her knee needed ice after taping these workouts..can't imagine they didn't! Poor gal...
 
I get twinges every now and again while working out. There's an adage that I try to follow - it goes, "Work through annoyance, but never through pain." I consider twinges a signal to modify or dial back a little. For instance, I tried one of those "cross countries" on Body Max 2 and my knee said "no way!" so I modified back to a repeater with no pain the rest of the time. Still got a great workout!

So far, I don't have twinges when not working out. If that were the case, I'd rest until the pain is gone.
 
I agree with taking some time off of doing step. Maybe do uphill interval walking on a treadmill (which can be very intense) or a Cathe hi/low, making the "hi" low impact.
Stretching will not strengthen your muscles, only weight training will do that. If I were you, I would test my HIP strength. A lot of knee issues can be the cause of hip weakness. One legged squats making sure not to let the knee buckle in ANY way is a good exercise(you'll need a mirror for that). You may find that one hip is stronger than the other, which is not that unusual. These can be done off the end of your step, on the floor, or off of a real step, facing the side. As you get stronger, you can go deeper and/or add weights. I would not give up on weight training as that should be strengthing the surrounding areas of the knee (with PERFECT form). Of course, I'm not a medical professional so take my advice in that vein.:)

Carolyn
 
I appreciate your advice and stories.

Does anyone not have any problems with doing step frequently?

Good pointer on the hip strength. I don't have perfect alignment from my hips to knees - it's quite slight but I wonder if it's enough for step to really aggravaate. I will work on that and mention it to my MD .

I was just wondering about stretching as Cathe in her knee care post mentioned stretching 2x a day.. Interested in hearing if others find that's a standard that helps maintain performance.
 
I had a knee injury last year and saw an orthopedic surgeon and sports med doctor. They both highly recommended stretching and said that I really needed to work on my hamstring flexibility. The stretching definitely helped a lot.

Erica
 
That makes sense, Erica. My hamstring is prone to cementlike qualities..

I just did an iStretch Combo session this morning and it really soothed my knee today..

It felt wonderful. Thanks for the affirmation.

Do you stretch daily now?
 
I'm embarrassed to say that I'm awful about stretching. I rarely stretch and only do if I'm feeling extremely tight or have pain somewhere. Even when my doctors recommended it when I had my knee injury, I only stretched on my injured side. :p

I'm glad that the stretching helped your knee. Keep it up and don't follow my example. :)

Erica
 
Elle,
I am having knee problems right now too. For me it is just too much step and impact lately. I have been so excited about the new workouts that I think I have overdone it. I will be doing the elliptical for a week or so now. I think a lot of the problems I have are just due to overuse. I am definitley a stretch fanatic though. Take a break from the impact and I bet you will be okay. JMO!

Susan
 
Same here! The Butts & Guts tape really gets my right knee going!!x( It's not really pain, it just says "don't do anything like that again tomorrow!!! Lunges doesn't seem to bother me as much as squats, so when I do squats I barely sink in to it.

I went to an orthopedic/sports med doctor and he manipulated my knees all he could and basically said if it starts hurting to back off whatever it is I'm doing to aggravate it. Which unfortunately is "alot" of step and squats.
 
I'm another one with knee problems right now. My PT says keeping the whole leg stretched well (IT band, quad, hamstring, calf) puts less pressure on the knee. My IT band and quad are tight and that causes a lot of stress on my knee cap right now, causing it to not sit in the groove correctly. So, stretching is very important to knee health.

Karin
 
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