Fitness is primarily aimed at health improvement. However, it also happens that training leads to negative consequences as pain and injury. A common problem is pain in the knees, which can cause injures during the training process.
How to avoid these problems?
People often begin to do fitness in one day and immediately with a large amount of training. Their joints and tendons are not ready for this. But it is precisely on them that the greatest burden falls. When a person overloads the body, various inflammatory processes can begin – including in the tendons, ligaments, periosteum. It is better to find a specialist for several training sessions in order to determine the initial amount of training with him.
Knee problems are found in those who exercise too often or without following the correct technique. The reasons that lead to it can be quite a lot.
Initial problem
One of the main causes of discomfort and pain in the knees after training is flatfoot. This is a problem that can cause a number of other violations. After starting jogging, knee pain can appear quite quickly if you are not prepared for a training session based on your health condition. It is necessary to consult with an orthopedist, undergo examination, and at least make insoles that will serve as support for the arch of the foot. Only after that it will be possible to move on.
Run
Pain in the knees is one of the characteristic problems of runners. The reason may be incorrectly selected shoes. It is a mistake to think that you can run wearing any sneakers. It is not in vain that there are brands on the market that specialize specifically in running shoes. The wrong running technique can also bring troubles, although running is quite a physiological activity. You must remember also that when running you need to land not on the heel, but on the arch of the foot. Plus, you don’t have to immediately strive to overcome long distances. First, you can not run at all but walk, for example, 2 miles, so that the body begins to “prepare” the functions necessary for the load, “turn on” the energy supply system and utilize “waste” from energy production.
Exercise Technique
Running is not the only type of physical activity, after which pain in the knees may appear. One more possible reason is the technically incorrect execution of certain exercises.
Technically complex multi-joint movements are the most traumatic: the more joints and muscle groups are involved in the movement, the greater the risk that the technique of the exercise will be impaired. Such exercises give the best training effect, but if a beginner performs them, the risk of missing important nuances and getting a negative result is very high.
Secondly, you need to know the technique and follow it. When people squat with a round back and knees, which go much beyond the projection of the foot, gets a lot of stress, and the tendon, ligamentous apparatus is overstretched. Often mistakes are carried out with lunges (especially plyometric lunges with a change of legs in the jump, lunges to the side with a strong load on the cruciate ligaments), leg press (a person can incorrectly choose the weight for the exercise and blocks the knees when doing it).
How to avoid knee problems?
An unusual activity we should start with a small load and with the simplest exercises, within 3 weeks or a month to let the body understand what will happen to him. Adaptation to a greater extent is required not by the muscles, but just by the tendons and ligaments. Flexion and extension, abduction and adduction of the thigh, which involve all the larger muscle groups and joints – these can be movements at the start. The next is leg press sitting, leg press lying. At first, working with the simulator is safer: making technical mistakes is not so simple, given that there is already a given range of motion. After that, you can proceed to free weights: classic lunges, lunges back and squats if you do not have contraindications to them.
As for fitness, in which the risk of knee damage is lowest, you can try the following activities:
Mind Body (yoga, Pilates). These workouts allow you to feel good about your body, as the exercises in them require control. The risk of injury in such conditions is minimal;
Water training. While in the water, the load on the joints is minimal, so such exercises are safer;
Stretching Imagine: a person is engaged in running and during the passage of great distances takes tens of thousands of steps. This is a few tens of thousands of contractions per muscle group. Without recovery, such a load leads to spasm and the appearance of trigger points. Stretching helps relieve tension so that muscle hypertonicity does not affect joints.
Fundamental rules
Remember that the most important thing is not to allow doing exercise through pain. What starts to hurt needs to be treated. This is a protective reaction of the body, a signal to report a problem. It takes time to recover. Taking a break, it is best to visit a specialist – a doctor, so that, if necessary, undergo treatment. Ignoring the symptoms and continuing to work out is not an option. The condition may become chronic.
If knee pain is caused by age-related changes, then it must be borne in mind that arthritis, arthrosis, and other similar diseases have severity levels. The higher it is, the more acute the problem is. However, movement is a must. Bone growth zones in men close at about 24-25 years old, in women – at 18-21 years old. After this age, bones and cartilage receive nutrition only thanks to working muscles. It is only necessary to choose a suitable intensity load that will be beneficial and not harmful.
Recommendations against knee pain
- In order not to aggravate the situation with pain in the knees, it is important not to make movements that are not physiological appropriate for this zone. If there is discomfort in it, you do not need to bend your legs, sit on your feet, creating pressure on your knees. Everything should be as anatomically and natural as possible;
- Add massage to your workouts. These are restorative measures, just like the periodization of classes: the body must have time to rest;
- Establishing nutrition is another supportive measure: it is important to include in the diet foods that are beneficial for joints and ligaments – containing glucosamine and chondroitin, which are chondroprotectors.
