My knees!!!

M

mmarg9

Member
Hi Cathe and all your devotees

I've been doing and loving your workout tapes for the past 3 years, and prior to that the Firm,etc ... well, basically working out for 20+ years starting with Jane Fonda's albums! I'm almost 45 now and lately have noticed that my knees are a little painful after I do your step workouts ...esp. going up and down stairs. Help!! I'm feeling like an old woman! Do you (or anyone else) have any suggestions? I suppose modification and not jumping would help, but I love to do your workouts full-out. My aging body is sending me a message I guess... but I don't like it!x(
 
Do you do something other than step workouts? I would highly recommend not doing the same type of workout two days in a row, to reduce the change of overwork injuries through stressing the same joints in the same way. You could do step once or twice a week, and use other forms of cardio as well.

I rotate my cardio between step (once a week, sometimes twice), kickboxing, rebounding and, lately, spinning (which is intense, yet usually more knee friendly than some other forms of cardio). I used to go through phases where I'd really get into one particular type of cardio, but I find that since I've been mixing it up more, my knees are every so much happier!

I personally have cut my Cathe step workouts way down, only keeping a few of them, because I've found that the speed and the angles of movement on several moves is not friendly to my knees, but everyone is different. For some people, it seems that impact is more of a problem, whereas others, like myself, can't take the speed and torque as well.
 
Another Idea?
Would Cathe's Step Workouts be more knee friendly if you did them without the step--just modify the moves? Then you could do one step workout as is, one workout without the step, and then one of her kickboxing workouts to complete your week. Just thinking out loud cause my knees have been taking to me too! What do you think?
Motherofsix
Heather
 
Your knees sound just like mine did, only I did step Aerobics off and on for the last 10 years. Just this last year I really got into it with Cathe and then I started to feel pain in my knees just little at first and going up and down the stairs was so hard for me, I kept stepping and started her Kickbox and weights and my knees got more worse so I went to an orthopedic doctor and took some x-rays and saw that my knees are worn, so he sent me to a physical therapist for some exercises to help with the pain and have worked ok, I also got a Cortisone shot under the knee cap on my left knee.
I would slow on the steps, I only do them about two to three times a week and if my knees aren't doing to good I will skip a day to let my knees recoup. I also wear a good knee brace that I was fitted with by my physical therapist and I spent like $80.00 for good shoes and special inserts and boy they are great!!! my feet are loving me now! LOL,
Take care, hope your knees feel better soon.
 
I went in to Lady foot locker and told them my trouble I am having and they recommended some, they cost only $20.00 and I could only find New Balance but I tried them on and jumped around LOL must have looked like a loon LOL. But they fit so good that I bought them,
As for a knee brace you should really have the knee looked into to see what is exactly causing the pain, mine is worn knees or in other words overuse "Jumpers Knee" and I will always have that the doctor was so kind to let me know LOL but with the leg exercises I am hoping to be almost pain free. There are so many differant knee braces and all do differant things for the knee cap and the knee joint, mine has this HUGE object that pushes on the outside of my knee cap and holds my knee in one place.
 
I asked for advice about a year ago on my knees. Our symptoms sound similar - the aching of the knees going up and down stairs - so I'll give you the same advice I was given.

Go see your doctor.

You don't want to make it worse. He or she will probably tell you to rest it which is the hardest part for people like us who love to workout. I had to rest my knees for 6 weeks and took Piroxicam. I did low impact cardio (walking, Nordic Track) and lots of upper body and core work during this time.

Good luck.

Sue
 
I've had the same experience, also having started with Fonda in 1981 - then the Firm, and Cathe now for about 6 years or so, maybe more. What I've found, actually, is that the *real stress on my knees comes not so much from the aero/step work but from squats and lunges. I can hardly even do squats at all anymore because they KILL my back, but they also really do a number on my knees. Maybe you need to do more floor-based legwork, rather than change your cardio routine? Just a thought.
 
For those of you who have visited a doctor for your knees -- could you explain some of the exercises?

Step aerobics is my fave, so I'm obviously not giving it up but will agree to cross train, of course.

My pain is on my right knee under my kneecap, sort of to the right. And, I especially feel it during cold weather.

My guess is the right knee feels it most b/c much of the time we lead with our right knee for a basic step holding pattern. I toss it up and alternate R,L but still need some exercises to strengthen whatever's weak! Thanks.
 
The last time I went to my dr (for other reasons) I brought up my knee issue.I was running alot last summer and the impact finally got to me.I took most of the fall off,got a treadmill for chrsitmas and I have been fine every since.
My Dr said that it happens more in women then in men.He sort of explained it to me, as if my knee cap were moving about.He told me to sit in a chair put ankle weights on my ankles and extend my leg out.Sort of like you see in Legs and Glutes,except she is standing in the video.It is suppose to strengten the muscle above the knee.I guess it may be a area that squats don't get:eek: I never ask my dr to elaborate unless is something serious.I just say o.k,o.k,yep,o.k, then I go home:)
Anyway,doing this as helped me and the fact the I am not running on pavement anymore as probably helped as well.
I love New Balance sneakers for doing aerobics.I don't have a problem with my knees when I do aerobics,its just when I run.But if I over do it with aerobics then my ankles feel the pain.
But I can't complain lately,everything seems to be in working order:)
All the best,
Lori:)
 
Have you done Cathe's Legs and Glutes? it is a lot the same exercises, I was told to lay down and have one leg bent and straighten the other, but like cathe says keep the knee soft never locck out. and then do leg raises, also you want to get a small ball stand up against a wall, put the ball between your knees and squeze the ball with your knees and do squats at same time.
Also I was told to ride a bike but make sure your seat is high enough as I was told it can also wear your knees more.
And on the leg lifts also do them while laying on your side. I was told I would have rock hard knees after doing them for awhile. So far my right knee is pretty much pain free and still struggling with my left knee but after the cortisone shot I am pain free!!!!! and feels so good too :)
 
Be careful with the cortisone shots. They relieve the pain but don't do anything for the underlying reasons for it. Pain serves as a warning to not do things that your body can't handle. If you cover it up, you could be doing more damage to your knee and not realize it. Repeated use of cortisone can also cause long term damage to the tendon or joint.
 
Some of the knee strenthening exercises I got from a PT are:

Sit on the floor, leaning back into your elbows, with one leg bent (foot on floor) and one leg straight. Flex your quads in the straight leg, then lift slowly (count of two) until you get to about a 45-degree angle. Hold for a beat, then bring to the ground in two beats. You can start with no weights, about 15 reps/leg, then add first reps then weight.

Lie on the floor, same position,and put a rolled-up towel or small soft ball (green genie) under the knee of the straight leg. Press down into the ball while flexing the quads. Hold for count of 10 and repeat for reps.

Both of these exercises target the muscles of the lower quad, right around the knee. Extentions (the exercise using an ankle weight and alternately bending and straightening the knee from a seated-on-chair position, is not recommended by some PT's as it can put strain on the knee joint. The first exercise above is similar, but the angle decreases stress at the joint).

One PT gave me a bunch of exercises for the entire knee area. In addition to those above, I would squeeze a small ball (green genie) between my knees. Kind of like an inner thigh squeeze, but focusing on the inner lower quads. I also did some balance moves, standing on a towel with one leg (any balance device would work) and tapping forward, to the side and back with the other leg.
 
Kathryn, thanks for posting these exercises. I printed them out because I need them BAD. Like so many in this forum, my knees are getting the brunt of all the stepping and weighted leg work.

Questions: When squeezing a small ball between your knees, did you do this lying down on the floor or sitting in a chair? Also, how big was the ball? Do you think that doing these exercises for, say, about 15 minutes three times a week is enough? Thanks.

Pinky
 
>Kathryn, thanks for posting these exercises. I printed them
>out because I need them BAD. Like so many in this forum, my
>knees are getting the brunt of all the stepping and weighted
>leg work.
>
>Questions: When squeezing a small ball between your knees, did
>you do this lying down on the floor or sitting in a chair?
>Also, how big was the ball? Do you think that doing these
>exercises for, say, about 15 minutes three times a week is
>enough? Thanks.
>
>Pinky

You could do the ball squeeze from either position, but I usually did it seated. The ball I used was a smooshy weighted ball I got at walmart (purple, I think!). Other people I know do squats (light or no weights) with a child's play ball (basketball sized) held between their knees, which works the knee in a similar way. I've tried this, and like it as well.
>
>
 
I'm another one with sensitive knees, which I stressed out after 10 years of running. I also can't do too many squats and lunges because they hurt my back as well as my knees. For this reason I've pretty much given up on Cathe for lower body, except when she does floor work. I find I have less knee pain after stepping if I incorporate a good floor work program, which includes the above exercises recommend by everyone. Another thing that has helped me is glucosamine/chrondroitin. I take this supplement 3 times a day, my maintainence dose is twice a day but if my knees are sensitive following a workout I up it to 3 times a day and usually after a couple of days my knees are fine. It could be the placebo affect, but hey, if it works for arthritic dogs, it must be doing something right!
 
I've read that a tight ilio-tibial band can pull the knee cap out of alignment. Sit in a chair and put your right ankle on your left knee. Hinging from the hip bend forward until you feel the stretch in the outer hip of the right leg. Hold for thirty seconds or more, making sure to keep your back flat. Repeat on the other side. Do this before and after things that bother your knees. It might help. It certainly won't hurt.

My left knee has a severed ACL and 95% of the medial meniscus was removed after an injury. My right knee has poor patellar tracking. I actually find that step is kinder on my knees than other forms of impact cardio. You are wise to be taking such good care of these precious joints.

--Ann
 
I've heard that having hamstrings (back of thigh) that are relatively weak compared to quads (front of thigh) can cause knee problems, and is especially common in women. If that was a problem, then I wonder if doing the leg extension exercise that the doctor described would make the imbalance worse as it would hit the quads? It's difficult to really target the hamstrings with Cathe's standing leg work (I tend to feel squats and lunges mostly in my glutes and quads), so we should probably make an effort to hit the hamstrings.
 
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