Working around a knee injury

[pegkerr]

I'm limping today. I Did Something Bad to my knee about a month ago during a class when we were doing spin kicks. I do not like spin kicks, I do not do them well, and apparently I did not do them properly, because I've been getting a low-grade "there's something wrong here" warning every time I squatted. A pain on the left side of the right knee joint.

I have been not pleased with the weight gain of the past several months, which I attribute to eating too much due to stress, stopping bicycling because of the weather and not attending as many karate classes due to scheduling problems and depression. I had dropped pretty much all weight-lifting and stopped the 100 pushup challenge, too. I thought about it hard over the past month and decided to refocus and kick it back up a notch after the new year. I joined a boot camp team on Sparkpeople.com (5 - 30 minute cardio workouts a week and 7 - 10 minute videos working various body parts with weights), and I went back to sparring class on Saturday for the first time in quite awhile.

The sparring class went quite badly. Very, very badly, in fact. The sensei's object was for us to fight without breaks, to practice coping with exhaustion. Periodically, he'd tell us to do something like drop and do fifty pushups and fifty crunches and then get up and start fighting again. I couldn't do it without continually hyperventilating. I'd do a bout, then lose my breath, sit the next fight out, go in and start fighting again and then hyperventilate again, and sit out the next one. It was so frustrating. I knew exactly why I was doing it, too; I was tensing up and using too much energy and exhausting myself, even though I was telling myself, breathe, relax, breathe. The rounds just kept going ON and ON and ON. "Drop and do another set of pushups." Halfway through class, I started to cry, which only infuriated myself further. I hate, hate, hate it when I cry during sparring class. I wasn't crying because I was getting hit (although I was) but because of my utter frustration with the breathing problems.

But I was stubborn. It really embarrasses me and I usually quit when I get to the point I start crying, but this time I tried to push through it. I HAVE to learn how to pace myself through sparring, I HAVE to be able to increase my stamina. I HAVE to learn not to quit when it gets hard if I want to get my black belt. Everyone else was soldiering on, and I didn't want to be the one to quit. I took breaks to gulp water, wipe the tears from my face, and then would put the helmet back on and get back in. After half an hour of fighting, I turned to face yet another opponent, and my body just gave up. I swayed, overcome with dizziness, and landed down on the floor. Sensei hauled me out into the lobby and gave me water. Dammit, dammit, dammit. I tried to console myself by reflecting that I had tried very hard and was really, really stubborn to have fought as long as I had, but I was still mad and embarrassed as hell. Great. Once again, the only one in my class who apparently can't cut it.

Needless to say, I didn't stay for the kickboxing class afterwards.

On Sunday, I did about forty-five minutes of cardio, low impact aerobics, using a video I've done before. I did stretch before and after.

Today, I can barely walk. I've been icing the back of the right hamstring, but it's clear that I'm going to have to start doing the rehabilitative exercises that cloudscudding gave me again.

What am I going to do for cardio until this heals? I've been dinking around with this injury for a month, and now it's so bad I can't even walk at a cardio level. I went down into the office gym this afternoon doing my break and tried various options. I wondered if I stood on the injured leg and kicked with the good leg, whether I could get my heartbeat elevated enough, but even that hurt the injured leg too much. I tried practicing with my bo (stickfighting form), but that aggravated the knee, too. Finally, I resorted to boxing combinations (jab, punch, hook, uppercut) and horseback riding punches. Those are going to get really really old if it's the only option I've got for cardio.

I had promised myself that I'd be diligent about going back to karate with the new year, and I want to, but I don't think I'd better try sparring tonight. Am mad at/with myself for missing karate again, and very frustrated. The boot camp video for today is lower body, annoyingly, and I don't think I can do that, either.

Other suggestions for cardio with a knee injury? I can't even walk at an aerobic pace. No access to a swimming pool, so that's out, too.

Comments

[lilisonna.livejournal.com]

Do you have access to an elliptical machine? I've found that a good knee brace will let me do the ellipticals without too much problem. Failing that, try doing completely stationary katas. It's tricky at first to not move the feet, but the hand (and limited hip) focus should get your cardio up sufficiently if you push it.

[alabastard.livejournal.com]

Do you have access to a rowing machine? The legs are involved, but with little pressure. I have old worn knees that protest every so often, usually in winter, and I can always row. Does the leg hurt even at a walk?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

It does hurt when I walk. As I said, I'm definitely limping.

Hmm. Not sure where I could get a rowing machine. But there's an elliptical machine in my office gym which I have access to, and I've used it before. I stopped several years ago because it absolutely bores me to tears and I got involved with karate, but it might be a short term solution until the knee problem clears up.

[alabastard.livejournal.com]

Some gyms have them, I used to have one at home as I used to row for fun and wanted to keep up the training.

Ellipticals with a soundtrack are not as boring, you could make yourself some good mixes on mp3 or cd, I find it's night and day.

It may be a good time to work on your upper body via some weight training, which can do wonders, even if you can't do lower body right now.

[lilisonna.livejournal.com]

Yeah. In general I dislike ellipticals (boring and they make my feet hurt) but they are easier on the knee.

[wintercreek]

On the "bored by the elliptical machine" note, I just wanted to point out that, for me, audiobooks on an iPod make a world of difference for boring exercise. YMMV, but since you can probably get them for free from the library it might be worth a shot.

[joy0823.livejournal.com]

I use a wheelchair, so I've had to get pretty creative with my exercise. I know you said no swimming pool, but do you have any access to a hot tub? Sitting and pumping or cycling your legs under the water can be great cardio. Also, check and see if your gym has a hand bike. Not sure what it's actually called, but it's basically a seat with a crank attached that you turn with your arms, and the resistance can go as high as you want. If neither of those options is feasible, get some light hand weights (1-2 pounds, or bottled water/canned food in a pinch) and move them like you're doing curls, but much faster and with one hand going up while the other is coming down. I think of it as running with my hands, striking at the ground above my head, but that might not make sense outside my brain. Good luck!

[volkhvoi.livejournal.com]

You can't cut it? Say again?

You fought, while injured, until you nearly passed out. Did anyone else fight until they passed out? No, they didn't. Because they didn't push themselves to that point. You did. Pat yourself on the back.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Sensei did say I probably did push myself too far, and I should take it easy for the rest of the day. We had a good conversation afterwards addressing the problem; he said it does take a while to figure this stuff out (breathing right while you fight).

[aome.livejournal.com]

Could you talk to your sensei about recommended alternative exercises? He might have some ideas - I'm sure he's dealt with this in the past.

As far as your stamina - I hope you give yourself a break, rather than berating yourself for being "the only one" who struggled. I'm sure many many people over the years have struggled, and that Sensei's seen it all. Also remember all the things you do in your Other Life, and recall that many of the people you train with do not share quite as many burdens. Your limit will expand, the more you practice. (On the other hand, if the faintness continues - please consider a doctor?)

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Well, sensei and I did talk about it afterwards, and yeah, he made all the points you made. Which is why I'm really trying not to be too hard on myself. He did say that yeah, I probably did push it too far; I explained why I did. He told me to take it easy the rest of the day, go home, eat and re-hydrate, and I'd probably want to take a nap, too. We talked about the breathing problem, and he said it's difficult to learn, and it's probably going to take awhile for me to figure it out.

All the other people in the class (except one, Mr. Stratton, a black belt) are about twenty year younger than me, and it's probably not a coincidence that Mr. Stratton stopped to talk to me about it after class, too. He's fifty-three and has lots of boxing experience, and so we talked about that, the breathing/stamina thing and the age thing. He, too, told me that it takes a while to learn.

That also helped.

You know, I think I wouldn't be so frustrated over what happened Saturday if I wasn't dealing with the injury today.

But maybe I'm kidding myself!

[satakieli.livejournal.com]

For the particular knee injury I had that stopped me from running, the right solution turned out to be a stationary bike. (The upright kind.)


Things the trainers kept suggesting that didn't work (for me) included:

The reclining type of stationary bike hurt pretty badly, which was funny because I think they're marketed as lower impact.

Running in the pool seemed to twist the knee in an unfriendly way. (Not running on the bottom, but scissoring one's way across the pool using a running motion.)



I hope you find something that works for you soon. Good luck!

[avylou.livejournal.com]

I just finished a first bout of physical therapy due to a pain in the left side of my right knee. I'm in much worse physical condition than Peg, and based on the x-rays of my knees, the docs and PT were amazed I wasn't having more pain. Therapy involved building up my "deconditioned" (such a nice way of saying "fat and completely out of shape!")quads, by doing step-ups and step-downs on a progressively higher step (up to 8 inches), and by using an upright stationary bike. I think they said the recumbent bike was supposed to be better for back pain.

[eal.livejournal.com]

As a household with three knee surgeries between the two adults? We'd suggest stationary bike or elliptical trainer. I would lean toward the stationary bike because it takes the weight off the knee entirely and that's what it really needs to heal.

Make sure you rest it, use ice, and do the rehab exercises religiously. They will help, but you have to give it time to heal.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

That totally sucks. :-( I feel for you.

I discovered the joy of weightlifting over the summer. It's wonderful and, when done correctly, very safe. Low impact for those joints plus as an added bonus it builds lean muscle that burns fat like CRAZY. Women don't get bulky muscles, either (unless you really push it or take steroids) so it's a nice way to look good.

Building core strength is so easy to do and you can still do it with a knee injury. One of those inflatable workout balls is all you need, and just do some crunches. My trainer says if you have to choose between cardio & weightlifting/crunches, go with the muscle-building exercises.

I haven't done any bike-riding for months because of the weather, but I'm still losing fat & getting lean, just with the crunches & some upper-body lifting. It totally works & doesn't hurt.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I have done weight-lifting for years myself, but I stopped about a year ago: a combination of just no time, what with all the karate classes, and recovering from gall-bladder surgery. Once I got out of the habit, I just let it slide. This is one of the things I'd intended to get back to with the new year.

[irinaauthor.livejournal.com]

Power yoga? You can easily modify poses for any injuries you might have and it burns about 500 calories an hour.

Would you like a free exercise bike?

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

We have a nice one in the attic that is in good condition except that it is missing a pedal (how that happened is hard to explain. How does a pedal disappear so completely AFTER the bike is in the house? All I can say is that equipment that is not used degenerates. Entropy.)

Anyway, you can have it for free if you want it.

Sympathies with the injury. Once you've found an exercise routine that you love, there's nothing worse than an injury that forces you to sideline it. :-(

Okay, maybe there are a few things that are worse, but it's really really frustrating.

Re: Would you like a free exercise bike?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Thanks, but no thanks. Absolutely no room to put the thing, and frankly, I've had an exercise bike before and never had the inclination to use it. But I appreciate the thought!