step/knee injuries

carrie123

carrie123

Cathlete
Hi Cathe,

Sorry to bother you, just a quick concern of mine though.

It seems alot of people out there have experienced more knee injuries using the step than with using any other workout. A few of the long term exercisers have had exactly the same injuries as you.

Will the same happen to me if I continue using the step over a long period of tme? I was just wondering if there was a relationship between the two: overuse of knees and the step.

It just sounds so painful and I'd like to prevent an injury if I know what could be the cause.

Thank you so much for everything, and I do love your workouts, it's just that I've noticed over the past few months my knee hasn't been right, it hurts to squat, or lunge. It sometimes hurts just to stand up, I can hear a grinding sound. My doctor says it's from overuse, but I wanted to see if excessive vertical training had anything to do with it.

Thank you again,


Carrie:) :)
 
Hi Carrie! No bother at all :)

I'm sorry to hear that you are having pain in your knees. You mention that you have already seen your doctor so that is an excellent first step in moving in the right direction towards getting/feeling better.

Have you asked your doctor about his/her thoughts on vertical training regarding your specific situation? Knees can be sensitive and or injured due to a wide range of things (ie: genetics, traumatic accident, degenerative arthritis, improper footwear, structural imbalances, growth spurts, improper exercise technique, ill flooring, just to name a few) and depending on your specific circumstances the things you should and shouldn't do can vary greatly. It is best to seek your doctors advice as to what exercises will or will not hinder your progress, as far as your knees are concerned.

You also mentioned you were wondering if your knees were bothering you due to excessive vertical training. I think the key word here is "excessive". Anything done in excess, not just one activity in particular, can eventually become problematic due to overuse and wear and tear. It is very important to do a balance of various activities as well as a balance of impact and non-impact activities (and incorporate proper recovery too) in order to promote a longer, healthier, and active future.

You stated that a lot of people "seem" to experience more knee injuries due to step than any other workout and that they have the same injuries as I do. I have to whole heartedly and very respectfully disagree with you on this statement. For the last 16 years I have done step aerobics and taught step aerobics to thousands and thousands of individuals. To this day I can happily tell you that my class attendance remains strong and I have a large handful of class members who have been exercising with me from the beginning and are still stepping strongly. These individuals are mostly in their mid 50's, one of them will be 63 on May 18th, and have no knee issues (they are actually the individuals who I many times call upon to demonstate my moves to the class while I am modifying through my rehab process). My overall observation after operating in a fitness facility for more than 20 years (before step even came about) is that injuries can occur from ANY activity (not just step) and for a wide variety of reasons.

I also have to say that I disagree that long term exercisers are suffering from the same injury that I have because 1) sports medicine otheopedic specialists could not even diagnose what I had for the longest time (and knowing what I do for a living they would have tested me for this injury right from the start if there was an overwhelming amount of evidence to support that step aerobics causes plica syndrome) and 2) my injury occured in my kickbox class and not my step class.

Please understand that I certainly don't want to come off combative so please don't read my post in this tone. I just want to point out and clarify what I know to be true :)

I wish you luck in improving your knee pain and please feel free to ask more questions if you have any.
 
That is a real relief to hear. So many ladies were talking about it on-line on other weight-related sites and (lessoned learned here that everyone's condition is specific)claimed they had the same problem, that it scared me enough to see the doc and ask you personally. Actually what really made me think was that 2 of the ladies were PhysicalTherapists.
Thank you very much for answering back so fast. My doc says everything should be fine after a little while, a week or two. I can't wait to jump back into it again, low impact that is:) Again, thank you. I will refer the other ladies as they "pop up", to this message so they will have a better understanding as well.
I know a lot of them will be relieved to know the step isn't bad for them. They were comparing it to something like what happens to your shins and knees after running or "pounding" the pavement over a long period. Hope I haven't offended you in any way. And thank you so much for clearing up some issues.
Take care,
Carrie
 
This is a timely thread for me because I just went to the doctor because of knee pains a week or 2 ago. He asked me what kind of exercising I do and I said step aerobics. He told me to lay off of it, OR, to strengthen and stretch my legs better. So now I do extra stretching before a step workout, and I am doing exercises to specifically work out the muscles around my knees. I guess time will tell if it will work, but I am hoping it will.

I do know one issue I have with my knees is that my knee caps tend to slide outward when I am out of shape. Well I think that is a big contributor to my knee pain, in addition to the fact that I jumped right into stepping after almost 3 years of no exercising at all. So before I give up or lay off of stepping, I plan to really condition the muscles around my knees and see what happens. I love step aerobics way too much to give it up !

Which leads me to this question Cathe...can you recommend any leg exercises that might help prevent or reduce or eliminate knee pain ?

Thank You !
 
I too believe that anything done in excess causes injury, as can anything done habitually with improper form. Many people who experience knee pain from stepping are stepping with an anterior pelvic tilt (if your pelvis was a bowl of soup, all the soup would be spilling out the front) which places a lot of undue strees on the knee. I have also noticed (just experience with exercise myself and with others in clubs where I work out) that often when people have pain from impact activities it is from executing these impact moves while in a state of extreme fatique and no longer using (squeezing) their muscles, but just sort of using the leverage of their joints. As is said over and over, it is so important to use proper form and listen to your body.
 
Hi RQS424! Your doctor can give you specific exercises for your knee pain. Depending on the exact knee pain you have (there are many...jumpers knee, runners knee, patellar pain syndrome etc.) your rehab exercises can vary. Doing strengthening exercises for the wrong type of knee pain can cause further irritation. You really need to ask him to give you a sheet of rehab exercises for your specific situation. Until you speak to him, I wouldn't do any exercise that causes you pain in that area. Good luck!
 
This is why I'm a firm believer in crosstraining. At one point all I did was step, and my knees were feeling it. Now I've wisened up. I only step once or twice a week and the rest of my cardio comes from kickboxing, power walking or treadmill intervals; power walking/running. And always, after cardio I spend at least 20 minutes stretching the legs. On non-cardio days I strengthen with floor exercises and balance work. My knees have never felt better.
 
Just to add a bit, I believe strengthening can help.

I tried running a couple years ago and had hip pain every time along with occasional knee pain.

Stopped running and started step, strength training and elypitical for a year or so. I can now run pain free after strengthening the surrounding areas. (Of course by using videos for the step and strength training I was also stretching more).

Glad to hear you are seeking medical attention and seem to be on the right track. :D
 
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