Spirits Crushed

[Michael_Blacksmith]

So I have been trying to gain weight for a while and started doing a basic body weight workout, eating right, and last week my left knee started acting up. I took a few days off to let it rest, yesterday I got back to my routine and today I am limping around  

 

Worse of all I'm only at 25 reps 3 sets of squats for my leg workout, and I was planning to get into weights for the next challenge but now that doesn't look like it is going to happen. I don't have insurance, or money, to go to go to a Dr. so I don't even know what is going on. 

 

Needless to say I am very bummed. I am still going to move forward concentrating on core and upper body strength, but at my age and weight this is flat out unacceptable. Grrrrr! Sorry, just had to vent a little.

[Warwolf]

Sorry to hear that dude. Injuries suck hardcore. But the good news is at least you have the wisdom to know that you should take care of it best you can. A lot of people would just get derailed totally, you're moving on to arms and upper body instead of quitting all together and that's pretty Awesome.

 

Be patient with yourself and your body, let it take the time it needs to heal. And look into ways you can identify and address the problem so you can better understand how to fix it. Take care of it, but keep being awesome!

[Wolverine]

You doing the basic, two leg, bodyweight squat?  Does the knee hurt when you're performing the movement or later on in the day?  Have you tried any other leg exercises (lunges for example)? If so, do they hurt?

[slsanders2]

Interesting write up by Anthony Mychal on his website.  May find some helpful info on there.  Wish you the best of luck.

 

www.anthonymychal.com/kneepain

[Waldo]

What hurts with your knee?

Some tendonitis acting up when starting a new exercise program or increasing intensity is not uncommon at all.

First time I tried running when I just started to lose weight, I gave myself really bad knee tenonitis and was limping bad for two weeks. But I started doing basic leg rehab exercises, working back up slowly, and eventually I got rid of most of it. At first I couldn't even do a basic bodyweight squat, it hurt too much, but I kept going. Now a year and a half later, my knee gets a little sore before its warmed up for leg workouts, but thats about it. In learning all the triggers, and underlying physiological reasons for knee issues, I was able to greatly improve my movement in general.

[Michael_Blacksmith]

I don't feel any more or less pain and yes, just doing a regular two legged body weight squat. I notice that the pain gradually grows after the workout. I have not tried lunges, but I will get them a try during tomorrows workout and see what happens, thank you for the suggestion.

 

Thanks for the link to Anthony Mychal's site, I purchased the e-book and will be reading through it tonight.

 

So I have been paying attention to exactly what is going on/hurting and it really varies, at times it seems like it is radiating out from the middle of the joint, and other times it seems like it is coming from the side, mainly the outer side. I am still learning about muscle groups and tendon names so I won't try to make too much of a fool of myself just yet. I can remember two other times that my knee decided to become super painful, on was from walking around a city for two days in new boots and having the heel meet the pavement too hard, which was maybe 6 years ago, and got to the point were I couldn't bend the knee without excruciating pain. The other was when I was backpacking in Denali last summer, got to the point where I had to decide to call it quits end my trip early and walk, limp, out of the wilderness. Last summer I just thought that I pushed myself too hard the first few days and had a pack that was too heavy. Your post is actually very encouraging Waldo, I'm no wimp to pain, but I know when to slow down or stop so I'm going to work on getting some massage time in, and good stretching/gentle exercise in. I briefly flipped through the e-book and it seems to have some good info on things I should try. 

 

Thanks for the encouragement Warwolf!

 

The other option is to cut the leg off just below the knee and fashion myself a peg leg and start a movement to bring sexy back to peg legs!

 

Note, I would much rather work on healing and keep my limbs haha

 

I will keep this thread updated with what I do, how I feel, and maybe someone else will benefit from my journey.

[Waldo]

I made a lot of progress before I got that book, but that really put together all the snippets that I had figured out that worked.  I basically had to reconstruct how I moved, but it worked quite well.   Still gets a little sore from time to time, but its not limiting at all.  Still do BW RDL's all the time.

[Michael_Blacksmith]

Sweet! I started reading the book and there was so much information to take in, I think I want to get all the way through it once and then go back and take notes on the exact regiment I am going to use. On a side note, I woke up this morning with a little bit of pain in my left hip, which oddly enough I was happy for since I feel it points toward muscle and tendon imbalance. 

 

I got this.

[slsanders2]

Glad to hear you have a plan! Glad we could help! Keep it up!

[cline]

Wow.  this sucks.  Sorry to hear.  I deal with injuries on what seems to be a somewhat regular basis.  Most are legs.  I have kind of figured it out over the years.  So, just my $0.02 but here are some thoughts until you can get situated with insurance and a doc.

 

I had a severe (really bad) injury.  As a result of rehab, surgeries, etc.  I developed imbalances in my gait, how I hold my body weight, etc. These were not obvious to me b/c they were so subtle.  So when I started running, I was not hitting the ground evenly with my legs and BAM stress fractures.  Same issue applied to body weight squats - I would push more out of my historically strong leg.  So I had to work on correcting imbalances.  This could seriously be part of the issue - esp since you have pain after hiking, long walks, etc.  It could be a lot of use of legs over time just taxes the one knee b/c of an imbalance you can't see and are not aware of. 

 

Here are some things to consider (sorry if you've already done this but maybe it will help): when you can, do body weight squats in front of a full length mirror and watch your legs.  Do you knees collapse in?  Do they wobble?  Are you getting full depth?  Is your chest up?  My spousal unit swore he had great squats until a coach told him he didn't.  I'd told him for over a year.  When he finally really watched himself do very low squats in a mirror he became much more conscious of it and was able to isolate the problems.  For example, for him full depth lead to sacrifice in form. So he worked on form and depth separately until he could do both and wow do they look great now!  When your leg heals up, there are some great body weight squat techniques you can work on.  If you have squat technique issues (including pushing more with one leg like I used to do), you'll get knee pain.

 

Could also be running/walking style.  I spent a lot of time on this.  Consider pose style running/walking and when you are stronger, see Greg Everett's training tips for pose running.  He's got some great basic drills to help a lot. 

 

Key thing with walking and running:  core.  I know, I know.  Everyone I've ever known with a leg issue says "it's not my core, it's my leg" but yeah, it's your core too.  If your core is not fully and properly engaged even walking, that little imbalance in the legs could make you really sore.  It helps.  I spent a lot of time in PT/rehab on core as well as evening out leg stuff.

 

So for your sore knee now - you know the drill.  Rest.  Ice it regularly, if that's your thing, to reduce inflammation.  I know there's a lot of debate around icing, personally, I like it.  Also, basic range of motion stuff to help keep fluid from building up - really just sit in a chair and bend and straighten (as long as it's not painful), lie on floor and do it ,etc.  Basic range of motion might help.  If it hurts to do that, I would really really really recommend a doc and total rest.  If you have that much pain, it's worth it to see a doc and get it dealt with now versus a lifetime of dealing with it. 

 

I recently bashed my knee with a barbell .  The knee is taking FOREVER to heal.  There was tons of swelling and fluid which restricted movement and tons of pain for a week or so.  I'm over 3 weeks out and the swelling is just now going down.  I worked range of motion and gentle knee stretches when I could tolerate it but only when I could tolerate it comfortably.  The knee still really bothers me on occasion.  It's going to take a while.  I guess the moral of the story is patience and faith and range of motion if tolerated.

 

Personally, I also love arnica gel/cream (generally at health food stores) for inflammation, swelling, etc. 

[Logros]

You said it was muscle and tendon imbalance maybe...have you thought of seeing a chiropractor?

 

A good one will be able to fix postural problems, headaches, joint pains, sinus problems and a whole raft of other stuff. I was seeing one at one point and she managed to cure my gimpy knee. Apparently a lot of that sort of pain comes from tendons being too loose/tight and putting the bones they're meant to keep in alignment, out of alignment.

 

Keep it in mind, they can work some miracles. Just make sure you're seeing a good one. The chiropractor I was seeing trained somewhere in America, I forget where, and pretty much got training equivalent to that of a doctor. She's the one who first started me down a paleo diet track too.

[Michael_Blacksmith]

So good news, my knee is pain free! I am back to doing only 15 reps 2 sets of squats in my workout and so far so good. I have also started doing the rehab from the e-book, and have noticed that I hit pretty hard with my heel when walking around in my Vibram's so that could be a huge issue in and of itself. But good to have a direction, plan and moving forward. Also using a herbal tincture on my knee, and all the surrounding muscles, it contains Wintergreen Oil, Botanical Menthol, Habanero pepper, Arnica flower, Calendula flower, and St. John's Wort flower. I highly suggest this mix, I've found it literally works miracles and when applied before a sauna can be crazy intense! 

 

I'll be keeping the same routine for the rest of this challenge and then start lifting on the next one.

 

Good idea on seeing a Chiropractor. I'll have to start researching what to look for and try to find someone who I could do a visit with.

[UberTumbleweed]

Thanks the update!  What great news.  I've dealt with some nasty knee pain in my past, too ("post-traumatic" arthritis in my teens and a lot of bad noises when I took up running).  And it can totally be overcome.  I'm really glad you're doing better.

[Rooks]

Glad to hear things are improving!  Hope it keeps getting better.

[BarefootViking]

Yeah, if you are wearing FiveFingers or any other minimalist shoe you really have to watch your gait until you learn to walk mid or front foot.  Hitting on your heel in them is brutal!

 

As a side note, I have been dealing with a wounded foot and since I started mowing down Turmeric/Papayin pills the inflamation seems to be easing up.

[cline]

WOOT!  Glad to hear it!!!  Rest.... a magical thing!  Knees are really tricky.  Mine is still wonky.

[Vector]

Knee pain is often helped by doing the "foot drills":

http://files.meetup.com/445445/footDrills.pdf

Doesn't fix all problems, but it has helped most people I've given it to over the years. I cycle them in to my training Avery few months to keep things happy.

Glad they are feeling better!

[Michael_Blacksmith]

I thought I would add a little progress report since I have been silent for a while. Things are going good, I have been working the knee, still doing bodyweight squats, just not as much, and while I do feel a bit of tension, it isn't painful. A few of the things that I learned about myself, I don't know how helpful they will be to others but...

 

My muscles are super tight! And not in a good way, so in addition to using rollers and balls to hit painful areas, I have started doing yoga as well, which just reaffirmed how tight they really are. I think that loosening them, and toning them will help the function better, which should make for a happy knee.

 

Tracking tracking tracking!!! I have noticed that while my tracking is improving, I spent 5 years of athletic training screwing it all up. I was an epee fencer for 5 years and for some reason today I felt like doing some foot work and when I looked down at my legs it all made sense. My back leg, left one, the one that has been the problem child was all sorts of wrong with the knee and foot not even close to being aligned! I know that for the first year, before I sought a personal coach I was rolling my ankle while lunging, which was all sorts of horrible as well. I'm sure there is damage but I'm *still* young and I can heal and correct this. 

 

BarefootViking is right on as well, I have been hitting the ground with my heel pretty hard, something that I noticed while wearing my Vibrams. This has lead me to really focus on the way that I walk and move. I am actually doing much better when walking in the Vibrams, but as soon as I lace up my steel toes for work all that work goes away. I think that the ankle support makes it harder to get the flex that comes easily with the Vibrams, and the rigidity of the boots takes away from the tackle connection I have. But being aware is half the battle, and I'm working on it.

 

Overall, more work to do, but I feel much smarter and feel like I've made excellent progress!

 

I will take a look at the foot drills Vector, thank you for the link

[Vector]

It's good to see you doing the work! It's sometimes hard to get started on it, but sooner is always better than later. I'm dealing with a lot of old injuries, damage, and compensations but the corrections are happening and I definitely feel better than I have in years. I hear you on the boots! I am kicking myself for the 35 years I lived in boots.

Have you ever tried and balance board work? After messing up my left foot running trails (with terrible form...) I started skateboarding in parks...and totally fixed my jacked up ankles and knees. I'll be picking up a Vew-Doo board one of these days as I haven't skated in years. Good summer indoor fun. The foot drills work similar things, as does the whole "write the alphabet with your feet" thing. Slack lining would probably do it as well.