What can I do to strengthen my knee joints?

[justinc1089]

What can I do to strengthen my knee joints? Every time I start doing cardio to burn off more fat, after about 1-2 weeks my knees just start falling apart, and I have to wait 1-3 weeks for them to heal. One time I even had to wait 1-2 months for my left knee.

Lately I've been doing 30 sets of 1 minute of jump roping, with 1 minute of rest between sets. I've been doing it on concrete, but I wear good tennis shoes. The only other place I have to jump rope would be in my yard on the grass, but I feel like I would hit the rope or catch it on the grass or something.

I just don't understand why I keep having so much trouble with my knee joints. I'm 23 years old, and never had problems with my knees while playing soccer in high school. I feel like the amount of cardio we did during practice was about the same as what I try to do now.

Is this just a normal thing that happens as you age? Am I just going to have to settle for doing less? Because this seems ridiculous. I really don't get why my knees can't take even a half hour of cardio 4-5 days a week.

I tried eating a ridiculous amount of fat and fish oil pills, and while it does seem to help my knees heal slightly faster, it did not solve the problem.

I'm at a loss for why I can't seem to do the amounts of cardio I see suggested everywhere, so if anyone has any idea what my knees' problem is, or what I can do about it, I'll love you forever for helping me to get my abs cut lol.

[preston_jep]

Try doing leg extensions those helped my knees. I have broken both knees so they are always sore but leg extensions seem to help me.

[Retoaded]

have you seen a doctor?

[JJones1090]

Hi,

First, sorry to hear about your issue. If it is a joint problem, which it sounds like it may be, there are a few relatively inexpensive supplements that can aid in joint lubrication: chondroitin and glucosamine. You might give one of these a shot. Another thing that might alleviate some of the strain on your joints is purchasing a quality knee brace. I wore one of these for some time while pitching due to pain in my knee when pressure was applied to the joint on my push-off leg. That being said, pain is an indicator of a problem and it might be smart to take it a little easier on your knees...after all, you have to live with them for the rest of your life. It can be common for athletes and those who actively use their joints often to experience greater wear and tear. It's unfortunate, but hopefully those solutions help you. Extended rest may be the ticket also.

Good luck

[Detrus]

Try proper running form. The idea is to avoid using the heel. Aim to land on toes. Same idea for jumps.



I can't imagine running with bad form, my knees would kill me and I'm 26. I started having knee issues years ago. I'm sure it's normal if you're doing it wrong.

[k9pit]

a few things nothing 100% definitive as far saying this will work for you, but just suggestions from what's helped me from experience

my knees used to give me issues sporadically. The following helped (collectively)

Foam rolling IT band
Strengthening the VMO (teardrop) muscle via Single Leg, Leg Press
Upping Water intake. Especially if you take caffeine based pre-workout sups. Especially when cutting.
Doubling Fish Oil intake (I take Flameout which is expensive but it helps me).
Super Cissus and Glucosamine with MSM(Bodystrong brand is the only that I feel a difference) or Animal Flex
Getting Potassium/Sodium balance in order
Upping Calcium/Vit D/Magnesium uptake.
The pronation of your feet can make a difference.

[TBU720]

First of all plenty of people lose bodyfat without cardio or with very little cardio. You DONT need to run for hours on end...

Second of all, knees will hurt if you have weak leg muscles. How much can you squat? If its not at least 1.5x your bodyweight then you definitely need to work on leg strength.

Also "good running shoes" sounds very suspect. Are you sure you know what youre talking about? A lot of what people has been told is a good running shoe over the years has been basically proven to kill your knees.

Also it would be helpful to understand where exactly in the knees the pain is located.

[justinc1089]

First of all plenty of people lose bodyfat without cardio or with very little cardio. You DONT need to run for hours on end...

Second of all, knees will hurt if you have weak leg muscles. How much can you squat? If its not at least 1.5x your bodyweight then you definitely need to work on leg strength.

Also "good running shoes" sounds very suspect. Are you sure you know what youre talking about? A lot of what people has been told is a good running shoe over the years has been basically proven to kill your knees.

Also it would be helpful to understand where exactly in the knees the pain is located.

My squat is not that high yet, so I agree with you on that. Getting stronger legs is a good idea.

I don't run at all anymore, but I ran a lot back in high school when I played soccer and tournament paintball. I'm jumping rope right now for cardio, 1 min on, 1 min off, for 30 sets.

I don't know for sure my shoes are good running shoes, but I have a couple of different pairs of Nikes I wear when doing my cardio, and when I was talking with a football player at my university about knee issues I was having then, (he felt like it was runner's knee even though I wasn't running then either), he asked me about my shoes, and after I told him I wore the shoes I had on, he said he thought they were good shoes. And my other pair is even better I think, which I wear more often.

The pain is to the outside of that thick tendon or whatever it is below the knee cap. Kind of like on top of that shin bone. I don't know the names of that stuff, hopefully you know what I'm talking about. If not I can look it up if you really want me to since you went to the trouble of trying to help me out!



Also, to another poster, I think leg extensions is a great idea as well. I was already thinking of starting to do those.


And to the poster who posted that video about proper running form, thanks, it was a good video. Back when I was in high school I never even thought about running form, but the funny thing is, I had shin splints a LOT after our practices! Now days when I do run which isn't too often, I always think about landing properly not on my heels. I'm trying to work on my running form to save my poor weak puny knees lol.

[justinc1089]

a few things nothing 100% definitive as far saying this will work for you, but just suggestions from what's helped me from experience

my knees used to give me issues sporadically. The following helped (collectively)

Foam rolling IT band
Strengthening the VMO (teardrop) muscle via Single Leg, Leg Press
Upping Water intake. Especially if you take caffeine based pre-workout sups. Especially when cutting.
Doubling Fish Oil intake (I take Flameout which is expensive but it helps me).
Super Cissus and Glucosamine with MSM(Bodystrong brand is the only that I feel a difference) or Animal Flex
Getting Potassium/Sodium balance in order
Upping Calcium/Vit D/Magnesium uptake.
The pronation of your feet can make a difference.

What's a foam rolling IT band?

I can't drink more water than I drink already. I literally run water through my body all day on the days I workout. Rest days not as much though.

How much fish oil do you take a day? I was taking I think 1 gram a day, although honestly I don't do it every single day. I upped it to 2 and a half to 3 grams for a few days after I did my last cardio workout, when my knees started hurting.

[ChairManMao82]

in addition the postsabove, it would probably be benificial if you took a joint health supplement or a multivitamin if you currently arent.

[DJAuto]

Try wrapping them as well.