Only if you are an evil moron with no concern for future health problems :)

i'm an evil genius. I should help the evil moron, because he's evil too

Well, its the last cycle he's doing....ever. But truthfully, I don't know if he can stop.:D Besides, he doesn't want to live past the age of 50 anyways.

Knee pain..
 

Figured this would be as good a place as any to ask...

I've been experiencing pain in my knees after running for the past few months. At first this started last year, and I would only get the pain after running for a couple of hours. Now however the pain comes quicker and lasts longer. Where it wouldn't catch on until about the 5-6 mile mark last year, it's coming on around the 2-3 mile mark this year, and now the knees hurt for a few days afterwards. The pain is surrounding the knees, especially on the sides and top of the kneecap area.

I'm not sure what the problem could be; I know it's not a weight issue (i'm 6 feet tall and weigh around 178) and not a fitness issue (I work out around 5 times a week; included are at least two 5+ mile runs). Therefore, the pain kind of worries me; I love working out and don't want pain to get in the way.

Anyone have any idea what the pain could be coming from? I'm seeing my primary doctor in a couple of weeks anyway, but just wanted to see if anyone here had any ideas.

Thanks.

Re: Knee pain..
 

OOOOH! I had the same thing happen to me... I took an aerobics class that had me doing a bunch of knee lifts and stuff. And for a while there I was getting a really sharp pain in my knee (around the kneecap) and it would occur during exercise and even if i just sat with my knee bent for too long.
I went to the doctor and i was checked for a meniscus (sp???) tear... which i guess is the cartilege holding the knee. Turns out that wasn't the problem and I didn't need surgery... but I have Kaiser so everything takes forever and a day to go thru with appointments. So the knee eventually healed itself, whatever it was. I have gone back to working out, but I stick to low impact classes and cardio... like biking and dancing. My knee bugs me once in a while, but not as bad.

I had a trainer when I first joined the gym. (The training came with everything basically...)

He had me start with 3 sets of 15... and then as I got stronger, he bumped me up to 4 sets. And then added weight after.

Colin, you should consider contacting a physiotherapist. They're usually more accurate than a general practitioner. I've just finished physio on my imflammed right a.c.

Thanks for the responses; chideltjen, my dad had a torn meniscus and didn't it didn't bother him too much, so the thought of that has been bothering me a bit. the last thing i want is to have to go in for any sort of procedure. i'm hoping it's more along the lines of what you were saying.

i'll probably just get a referral to an orthopedist from my primary care physician; i work for a hospital so i'll probably just go to the orthopedists there and have them figure it out. i just wanted to see what everyone here thought about it and if anyone had any similar problems/solutions.

ksig... the orthpedic that saw me said a lot of people have a torn meniscus and don't know it. It's not that big of an injury unless you are a super athlete or something. But my MRIs came back negative and like I said, with rest and low impact stuff, it just kinda went away.

But i was told that there are two different surgeries that can be done... one is more involved and takes more time to heal than the other. most people apparently have the "short time" surgery done.

Ksig . . .

You might be over training, do you take significant time off from running? That impact can be a bitch. Try taking glucosamine and chondroitin as a preventative. Do like double the dose for a few weeks, it takes a few weeks to kick in.

Most things go away with some serious rest.

You also might want to see someone who does ART. www.activerelease.com they are now the official healers for the Ironman competitions.

Alternate your cardio. Try to pick three different types and rotate them every few weeks. Or conversely, increase the difficulty in an organized way every week.

Upper body one day lower body another day is good. Try almost no rest between sets. Like ten seconds. It will keep your intensity higher.

Get your trainer to write you up three different work outs and rotate them every three weeks. That will give you a serious edge.

Does James put his knowledge into practice?
 

Hey, Mr. Fitness, let's see some results so that we judge the effectiveness of your advice.

I don't know about you all, but this is generally the fitness routine I follow; I've seen good results from it, but it all depends on the person.

I generally do one day of two days of upper body seperated by a day of lower body, then take a day or two of rest after three straight workout days. My workout schedule is generally this:

Day 1: Chest, shoulders and abs...maybe a bit of cardio, but not long
Day 2: Heavier cardio and lower body
Day 3: Arms (biceps and triceps), back and abs
Day 4 (and possibly 5): rest


I've gotten pretty good results; I eat quite a bit, although I largely stay away from junk food. I weigh around 174 with about 8% body fat. I steadily increase the amount of weight I use every time and mix up exercises a bit, although I'll confess many of the workouts I use are suggested by "Men's Health."

As I said it's worked for me (besides the sore knees), but it depends on the person.

Re: Does James put his knowledge into practice?
 

(James munches on his Nachos and takes a big swig of his Vodka and diet coke.)

Oh no my friend I am definitely in the do as I say not what I do category muahauahahhaha .. ..

But honestly i was in pretty good shape before I went through the windshield of my car. Since then I didn't train for a couple years and put on bodyfat.

I am still much more muscular than the average but I am about 7months pregnant also so I am not sure how impressive that is. :rolleyes:

I started training again again a couple weeks ago and dropped about 15 pounds basically doing what I have suggested to yall and still eating 4000-5000 calories a day divided into 6-8 meals and excercising about 30 minutes three times a week.

I see. Well, maybe one day when the moons align and all of gc get together you can show the lasses what you got...

as for me, i'm doing one muscle group a day everyday of the week...i've been trying to incorporate a little more cardio with an exercise after i finished my workouts as well as playing more sports in addition to weights...i'm 6'1, inbetween 180-185, unsure of body fat %