opinions on knee?

[winter2b]

Hi all,

While doing KP&C the other day, I did something that made my knee hurt. It was never a constant hurt. I haven't worked out since, and I'm feeling MAJOR guilt over it, but I don't want to irritate my knee. Right now, while walking my knee usually doesn't hurt at all. Every once in awhile when doing stairs it feels "funny" and once in awhile I will get a twinge of pain, not "I want to cry" pain, but just something that is noticable. So...with that said - do you think I should A: keep doing nothing for awhile longer - and if so, when do I know it's ok to get back to it? or B: start doing elliptical and walking or C: get back to Cathe on a "as I can" basis - paying careful attention to how my knee is doing?

I miss Cathe's workouts so much...I really want to go back to them, but I don't want to ruin my knee. It doesn't feel bad enough that I feel I need to go to the doctor, but I'm not sure how much I should be doing. Of course, I know you're not doctors (at least I don't think so!), and I know your opinions are just that... Everyone has to listen to their body, but I just don't know if I should do that or do nothing right now.

Thanks so much - sorry this got so long!

Amy

 

[DebbieH]

Amy, I'm sorry you are still having some problems. I think I saw a post the other day you mentioning hurting your knee. As someone who just got over a knee injury, I would give it another week possibly before going to the doctor since you say it's not awful pain, but if it persists, just go and see what they say. In the meantime, I would do something like ellptical/spinning/swimming or anything non-impact that does not seem to aggravate your situation. Don't feel guilty at all. You are being smart and doing the right thing for now. I know this doesn't help much but I do understand your frustration. Hang in there a bit more and keep us posted on how you are doing.

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH (AKA "Den Mother Debbie")http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!

 

[catwoman]

I just want to add that it's better to miss a week or two of workouts to let your knee recover than to continue to work out and make an injury worse to the point where you might have to stay off of it and not work out for a couple of months.

I injured my calf last June, and couldn't exercise for about a month-and-a half to two months. I tore a muscle. Wow! Talk about severe pain! It sucked having to stay down for so long without exercise, and I'd hate for you to have to go through that!

 

[kathryn]

I would definitely avoid any leg work that irritates the knee(except maybe spinning or walking or some of the non-weight-bearing exercises that Debbie mentioned), but that doesn't mean you have to do "nothing." Instead, focus on upper body resistance training, abs, stretching and anything else that doesn't cause odd feelings in your knee.

I also highly recommend getting the problem diagnosed by a doctor/PT, so you know what to do to keep it from becoming a serious and/or chronic problem. It's always best to nip these things in the bud than to let them go on and cause more problems. You'll also then know what the problem is and if it can become something more serious, and get exercises to do to help correct it (try to get a PT to set up a program of exercises you can do at home).

Some exercises you can try that can actually help your knee (again, having no idea of what the exact problem is, I can't guarantee this, but these are exercises that are often used by PT's to help strenghten the knees without stres when people have tracking problems or "patello-femoral pain syndrome" - which just means "knee pain"!):
Quad sets: sit on the floor, with knees bent and feet on floor. Straighten one leg on the floor, with a folded towel under the knee (not too high). Press your knee down into the towel, flexing the quad, leaving your heel on the floor. Hold the contraction for a few senconds. Repeart.

Another exercise starts in the same seated position. Straighten one leg on the floor. Flex the quad and lift the leg until the knee is at almost the same height as the other knee (this exercise is sometimes easier if you lie down instead of staying seated). Hold the flexion at theh top position for the count of 2, then slowly lower the leg, keeping the quad tight. You can focus on the inner quad (the vastus medialus), which is important to keep strong to keep the knee tracking correctly, by turning the left toe out to about 10:00 or 11: oo (straight up would be 12:00), and the right toes out to about 1:00 or 2o before tensing and lifting.

You might also want to add some floor work for the hamstrings and glutes. Again, don't do anything that causes pain or discomfort, and I really recommend you see a doctor or PT first (I sometimes see signs in front of local PT offices that offer a free initial appointment to diagnose problems and let you know what the can do for you).

 

[hippahips]

Amy, I agree with what everyone has said so far. Last spring I was feeling exactly what you were feeling. By some divine intervention, an old friend I hadn't seen in 7 years dropped by for a night. He is a PT. He took one look at my knees and told me I had muscle imbalance from doing squats regularly and only in one way. We talked about my lower body routines and he came up with modifications that would suit my fitness goals. One thing he emphasized was for me to point out my toes about 30 degrees when doing wall squats and leg presses to develop the inner side of my knee and balance the outer part. I started with 5-lb. DBs and worked my way up to 15s in 3-4 months. I cut my leg routines by half, did more floor work and more kickboxing than step. When I wanted to do IMAX, I took the step out. Now I vary my lower body routines a lot. I do weighted workouts like PLB only twice a month now and rotate that with floor work and kickboxing. Even when I do L&G, I do the quad work with ankle weights the way Kathryn describes it in her post -- on the floor with one leg extended. I do two sets of that with 5-lb. weights. I worked to this point starting with no weight. My ankle weights are the kind that you can adjust by one pound increments.

All of this came from my long talk with my friend who knew exactly what I needed. Until now there are days when I skip cardio because my knee feels "wonky". I take a long walk around the neighborhood instead. There are also days when I don't do the jump kicks in KPC. This actually makes me work harder because I get to take the momentum out of those jumps when I do low impact kicks.

Do see a medical professional. In the meantime, rest your legs. Concentrate on other body parts. Do some yoga and stretching. I find that the hero stretch and the bow pose in the P90X Stretch DVD is wonderful for my knees. Take good care of yourself.

Pinky