Modifying workouts due to knee injury

by Jeri
(Hawaii)

Hi Monica,

Wouldn't you know it I got injured...I should've listened to my body when I first felt that dull nagging right knee pain but I went running anyways & slacked off on my yoga workouts. Now I'm paying for it & I have to take a break from running.

In my past life I would've fallen off the wagon, not worked out for weeks or months until my knee felt better, & turned to food for comfort. Not anymore...especially in the midst of the holidays & rainy weather I'm looking at this as an challenge that I know I can overcome.

That said, here's what I've done to modify my workouts due to my knee injury:

1) Elliptical (using intervals to get my heart rate up)
2) Focus on core (time to dust off Tony Horton's ABX dvd)
3) Focus on upper body workouts
4) Yoga - minus the one leg balance poses
5) Lower body workouts - put away my 5-lb ankle weights, minus the squats, lunges & focus on more pilates moves like leg lifts.
6) Weighted hula hoop
7) Food - be extra vigilant especially during the holidays & make sure I get lots of quality foods - fruits, veggies, water, whole grains & fiber.

Do you have other suggestions? As always, I appreciate any advice you can give me. I have a binder dedicated just to your website because I've printed out a lot of the material because I'm always going back to reference it or review it especially when I need some extra motivation.

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Modifying workouts due to knee injury

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starstarstarstarstar 		Foam roller therapy plus glute & core work
by: Monica

Hey Jeri

Sorry to hear you're injured. We all fail to listen to our bodies and then end up paying for it with pain and the inability to workout.

The main reasons fit people have knee injuries due to running regularly are:

1. Tight hip flexors
2. Tight ITB and TFL
3. Weak glutes & weak core
4. Shoes with too much support
5. Terrain speed and/or distance always the same

I guarantee that if you get on a foam roller and roll out your quads, ITB, and TFL you will release a ton of tightness and the pain will go away fast. Foam roller work is painful but totally worth it if you want to heal faster. Try the foam roller routine in the video below or get started with Foam Roller with Core Performance DVD

The second thing to do is to work on exercises that strengthen the glutes and core. Skip the P90X (not a good idea for you at this point) but definitely do pilates or other core workouts that focus on your TVA (deep ab muscles that stabilize) skip anything that focus on the rectus abdominis (pretty 6 pack muscles). Try Swiss Ball Abs and Core with Adam Ford

Once you are ready to get back to running you may want to consider running for a few weeks without shoes (on grass or on sand). Pay attention to what your body tells you when running without shoes. Your feet will clue you in about postural imbalances that need correcting while running.



If you want to prevent this from happening again be sure to start all your workouts with some good mobility warmup exercises. It takes less than 5 minutes to do this entire routine.

I used to live on the foam roller and had to do hours of yoga each week just to stay pain free but then I started mobility exercises regularly and no more pain or injuries.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Foam Roller
by: Jeri

I absolutely LOVE my foam roller! I'm constantly looking for new & inexpensive fitness equipment & you've always give great suggestions.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Workout Setbacks Are Often A Great Thing
by: Monica

Hey Jeri

I'm glad you love the foam roller. Did you get a dvd with it?

I was having the same problem last week. I got all excited about a new butt workout plan so instead of finishing up 6 weeks of intense training with a week of recovery yoga workouts, I jumped right into this new plan and the knee pain started within days.

I instantly thought of you! So I got into my week of yoga workouts and the pain is now gone. The great thing about all this is I was finally able to do revolved triangle, a pose I had not been able to get into in a very long time.

Sometimes our setbacks are good things. Good that you are able to see that.

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starstarstarstarstar 		Setbacks = Opportunities
by: Jeri

I didn't get a dvd - I've actually been researching getting a foam roller for a while & had a book about it before I got the foam roller.

It's been over 3 weeks since my knee injury & although it feels better, I'm going to hold off on running for another week just to be sure. In the meantime, I've been enjoying focusing on my strength training and yoga.

My hubby tells me to take this injury as a sign because he notices I work out pretty hard core & he was afraid I'd get burned out (which is what happened to a close friend of ours & she hasn't been able to get back on the workout wagon for a while now).


Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Back to the drawing board
by: Jeri

Hi Monica,
I just wanted to give you an update. I slowly tried to start running again (I jogged/walked about a mile with my daughter in the stroller) & the next day my knee pain came back so I scheduled an appointment to see a sports medicine specialist.

Turns out I have runner's knee (patellofemoral syndrome) due to abnormal tracking of the kneecap because of muscular imbalance.

In addition, I wanted to share with you some rehab exercises he gave me (to improve muscle balance with quad strengthening): LEG LIFTS - sit on floor, legs out in front, lift 1 leg as high as I can & out to side then back to start, TOWEL SMASH - same position sitting position on floor, roll towel & place under both knees, press down as hard as I can & hold, BALL SQUEEZE - sit on chair, place ball between knees & squeeze. I'm supposed to do 2 sets of 12 everyday & I've immediately began to feel the difference in my knee.

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starstarstarstarstar 		High Five
by: Monica

Hey Jeri

I am so glad you went to a doc. I have clients who put this kind of thing off for ages and then the damage get so bad and is so much harder to fix.

You are smart to address it sooner rather than later. Those exercises he gave you are excellent and they do work fast.

Let me know when you are recovered and maybe we can do a posture evaluation and work some corrective exercise into your routine.

BTW Happy New Year!!
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starstarstarstarstar 		Status Update
by: Jeri

Hi Monica,
I wanted to let you know my knee pain is slowly but surely diminishing & I decided to wait it out for at least another 2-4 weeks (I want the pain completely gone). I'm also happy to say I've maintained my weight & the elliptical isn't so bad anymore (I used to dread it). This injury has opened my eyes & I now know I need to vary my workouts more & focus on flexibilty.

However, when my xrays on my knee came back showing "mild degenerative arthritis" naturally it caused me some concern until my doctor assured me the finding is incidental & all of our cartilage cushions will slowly wear down with time & the best "medicine" is to stay active & fit. Furthermore, he added there is no reason why I can't get back to my normal activity without limitation (I'm even missing my lunges & squats). I'm so glad I went to see a sports medicine specialist.

He added Glucosamine supplements is safe & reasonable but expensive doesn't mean better. I wanted your take on these supplements. Thank you.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Glucosamine worked for me
by: Monica

Hey Jeri

Sorry, I missed this post. I used glucosamine back when I was dancing for a living. My knees were a mess back then and so was my lower back. At one point I thought I was going to need surgery.

The glucosamine helped but what helped more was my neuromuscular therapist at the time started doing thai massage which is like an assisted type of yoga. This made a huge difference which goes back to all the mobility stuff I'm always going on about.

Mobility exercise is the secret to injury prevention, recovering from nasty injuries faster, and preventing re-injury. I finally filmed a mobility routine (maybe you already saw it) but be sure to do this before you run.



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