Today's Workout Thread

[Thug]

I've still been on the treadmill but boy do the outside of my knees hurt! (where your hands rest on the side of your body.)

I have been wearing neoprene knee braces...and it helps but after about 25 minutes it starts to hurt badly enough I have to stop.

Am I doing something wrong... Or just have bad knees?
I don't want to slow down and I run on Zero incline.

I have good running shoes and I stretch before starting.
My hamstrings feel tight and my lower back is sore the following day.

Maybe I need to see a chiropractor to get lined up?

Thanks for any advice.... I don't want to stop but I don't want to cause any knee damage to myself.

Why are you stretching cold muscles? You should only stretch after exercise as there is far more elasticity in the muscles as they are nice and warm. Stretching cold muscles can lead to them being pulled and causing damage.

Running shoes can make a big difference but they have to match the type of feet you have. You can see what type of feet you have by placing a wet foot onto a carpet / paper and see what type of imprint your foot leaves.

Take the Wet Test: Learn Your Foot Type | Runner's World

Once your running shoes match your feet type, then you can start looking at other possible causes of sore knees.

[Chevhead]

I do a little warm up routine...so no stretching cold muscles...
I do stretch after also....

I will try the Wet Test...

THANKS!

[whoever]

Slowvyour pace, those muscles are getting to much stimulus

[Leatherstockiings]

Today's workout was a five mile trail run.

[eddy79]

Slowvyour pace, those muscles are getting to much stimulus

If you are having any trouble keeping pace the treadmill may be causing a little jarring as well from the forced movement. Then again not all muscles respond at the same speed and maybe these ones are lagging a bit

[eddy79]

Upped weight for both dead lifts and db rows

Dead lift 160, 170, 180, 190 x 5
Standing bent over barbell rows 72.5 x8 x4
Bench bent over db rows 35 x8 x4
Wide grip pull down 50 x 8 x4 done at double speed(sets not reps)

This is what I have been looking forward to since starting again. This is the weight my deadlift was at when I stopped. So about 6 months in and the weights(most exercises actually) are back to where I was. Hopefully moving forward from here.

[Thisisclog]

I've still been on the treadmill but boy do the outside of my knees hurt! (where your hands rest on the side of your body.)

I have been wearing neoprene knee braces...and it helps but after about 25 minutes it starts to hurt badly enough I have to stop.

Am I doing something wrong... Or just have bad knees?
I don't want to slow down and I run on Zero incline.

I have good running shoes and I stretch before starting.
My hamstrings feel tight and my lower back is sore the following day.

Maybe I need to see a chiropractor to get lined up?

Thanks for any advice.... I don't want to stop but I don't want to cause any knee damage to myself.

I'm not a physiotherapist, so don't take this as gospel, but it sounds very similar to what I went through at the beginning of my running adventures.

It is likely your IT band, it runs from your knee, up the side of your leg, up to your side. Basically, it is stronger than the muscle trying to pull your kneecap inward, therefore causing the discomfort in your knee, leg, and lower back.

The first thing I would recommend is a foam roller, they are cheap <$25, and you can google how to use one for your IT band, as well as your calves, as they will tighten up from running as well. Roll your quads, hams, IT, and both the glute max and glute meds(the glute med is the upper portion of your cheek near the waist, and contributes to the leg/knee pain). Foam rolling is not a pleasant experience, but it works, go slow.

To help remedy the muscle imbalance, start with the back pain. this entails strengthening your core.
- The obvious planks are good to do.

- Supermans; lie on your stomach and raise your arms and legs, hold until failure, repeat.

- Birddogs; on your hands and knees, engage your abs and extend your leg and opposite arm, alternate back and forth.

- Lie on your back, elevate your legs like in a v-sit, engage the very lowest ab muscles(this is a bit tricky to explain, not the "6 pack" abs, these are down by your pelvis, and are activated by simulating forcing a movement, if you know what I mean. This one may be easier for a therapist to explain in person.)

- Clamshells; just like the old school 80s thighmaster. to 25-50 each side.

- squats; bodyweight only, feet wider than shoulder width apart, try to go as deep as possible.


For the treadmill runs, use a 1.0 incline, it simulates an outdoor run better and is a bit easier on the joints.

As for stretching, I would do a few minutes on the bike and then some dynamic stretching before getting on the treadmill. That being said, I do use static stretching before a run/workout, but I do it in the shower, so that the muscles are technically "warm" while being stretched.

If you've managed to read this far, I would highly recommend getting a gait analysis done in order to get proper shoes. The inserts you mention are more than a pair of shoes, and there is likely a shoe out there that can help you for less than that.

the tl;dr - foam roll, strengthen the weak muscles to balance out the leg, dynamic stretching, 1.0 incline, proper shoes

[Thisisclog]

Interval run in the river valley this afternoon. 8x 500m intervals with a 2k WU and 3k CD for 13k total.

[Chevhead]

I'm not a physiotherapist, so don't take this as gospel, but it sounds very similar to what I went through at the beginning of my running adventures.
.
.
.A bunch of stuff...
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.
.
If you've managed to read this far, I would highly recommend getting a gait analysis done in order to get proper shoes. The inserts you mention are more than a pair of shoes, and there is likely a shoe out there that can help you for less than that.

the tl;dr - foam roll, strengthen the weak muscles to balance out the leg, dynamic stretching, 1.0 incline, proper shoes

Well I did read the whole thing and it sounds like you at least have an idea of what could possibly be wrong.
Heck I will try it and see how it goes.

I did slow my pace a lot today and I am trying to remember that it is good for the long haul and health of my joints.
No need to go fast and then not be able to do anything.

THANK YOU for the thoughtful response and for typing all that out!
I APPRECIATE IT!!!!

[Lazarus]

I've still been on the treadmill but boy do the outside of my knees hurt! (where your hands rest on the side of your body.)

I have been wearing neoprene knee braces...and it helps but after about 25 minutes it starts to hurt badly enough I have to stop.

Am I doing something wrong... Or just have bad knees?
I don't want to slow down and I run on Zero incline.

I have good running shoes and I stretch before starting.
My hamstrings feel tight and my lower back is sore the following day.

Maybe I need to see a chiropractor to get lined up?

Thanks for any advice.... I don't want to stop but I don't want to cause any knee damage to myself.

I would highly recommend seeing a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) physician, also known as a physiatrist, or a good physical therapist. I spend years dealing with very similar issues of tight hamstrings and lower back pain after exercise. I improved my flexibility with yoga, strengthened my core, addressed my IT band, worked on my psoas, my piriformis, gait analysis, orthotic inserts, etc. Nothing helped. It took my physiatrist about 10 minutes to diagnose that it was a very specific tightness in my external hip rotators (which are tricky to stretch by yourself). It took a few weeks of addressing that very specific problem to fix the issue that had plagued me for years. So you can randomly try one thing after another and hope you stumble onto the answer or you can get some expert help.