In august I start Fire Academy and that means I’ll be running cross country 3-4x a week for 2-3 miles each day.
Question is…Is there anyway for me to protect my bum knee while I’m out there each day.
Currently I don’t do any running at all because of the stress on my knee from the pavement.
Would the use of Rehband knee sleeves help protect my knees from the constant jarring of the running?
What kind of knee problems do you have?
Good Luck, thats alot of stress to put on from doing nothing.
There are a ton of knee articles on here, your best bet is to look at them take some of the principals but not all and use them.
As far as gear, what has helped me most are the quality patella(ones with the holes in them) sleeves. I find that most bum knees come from the bad patella tracking. When it tracks bad a slight swelling happens and it causes it to track even worse, creating the snowball effect. Unfortunately the tracking generally stems from other issues, either foot position, increasing milage to quick, or muscle imbalance.
Immediately after the runs put ice on it, the next day massage the knee caps around. If it doesn’t hurt try lateral forward and backward step ups starting at a height and weight that doesnt hurt. Moving up to a height of about the knee.
Are you taking Flameout? If not, take it. It helps with inflammation and other joint aches.
It will definitly help. You can also look into MSM/chondroiton.
I just saw this advice from an author on one of Dan John’s newsletters. Looks interesting(and basically free).
Have you considered your shoes. I only lift with chucks to keep my feet flat. When I lift with tennis shoes my knee hurts the next day. I’m assuming the same thing happens with everyday shoes, so I ordered Nike Frees. I’ve had them for maybe two weeks and they’re great. I got the 7.0 Trainer versions, but I later learned that the lower number means more flexibility. I think I read Nike may come out with 3.0’s, which I might try out sometime.
I can’t find it now but I read a great article on why shoes are bad for your joints. From what I remember, he said that your body initially feels too soft a blow from the cushioning from shoes and underestimates the reactive force necessary. Our shoes make it worse still since the cushioning acts as a spring and further damages your knees and increases the risk for other injuries. He stated that going barefoot was the best available option as we have evolved for it. Then he said companies are beginning to realize this as Nike and some other company are bringing shoes like Nike Free out, which are steps in the right direction.
Anyway, I got mine for $65 including shipping off eBay. Not bad I thought for a ‘cutting-edge’ shoe. My strength on my bad leg has improved as well, along with my overall gait.