Preventing Injury - Tips and Tricks - and do Knee Braces Work?

[Ricka]

*correction (from the title) , I meant to ask about knee sleeve, not about knee braces.

Hi everyone.

I would love to enjoy exercising for long, long years to come.
I think there are basic things that can prevent injury, for example, proper technique (posture) during exercise, staying hydrated, getting enough rest, stretching, not doing too much of the same type of exercise for too long, etc etc.

I am starting to think additional things I might be able to do.

One of the exercises I'd love to start incorporating soon is step aerobics. I am planning not to do this back to back, other than that, I read someone mentioning wearing knee sleeves during step aerobics helped.

Has anyone tried wearing knee sleeves during workout for long term? (I do not mean wearing it all the time, I mean wearing it during workout time and used it for couple years, or more.) If so, do you think it helps prevent injury?

Also, if you are one of those pro exercisers who have been exercising for long time, do you have any tips about how to protect one's body so he/she can exercise for long years to come? I would love to hear your tips.

[bfit]

I don't think knee sleeves prevent injury or even support the knee that much. When I had a knee injury the physical therapist told me that those elastic knee supports don't really do much good even for most injuries. My understanding is that the best way to protect your knees is to do exercises that strengthen the muscles around the knee joint, do exercises with proper form, don't do exercises that cause pain in your knees, and try to avoid being overweight because extra weight puts stress on your knees.

[dutchgirl]

I've had more knee injuries than I care to admit and have had numerous stints in PT. All of my PTs have never suggested using knee sleeves on any ongoing basis. The best prevention is to continually work on strengthening the muscles around the knee.

[Aunt Famous]

Yo, Ricka.

I think that the very best advice that I can give is the simplest: If something hurts, stop. If you wonder whether you should be doing something, you shouldn't. If you think "I can train through the pain," you can't.

I am 48, and I have a bad left foot (stress fracture in 2001, injury from a long hike on the AT with my son in 2014), creaky knees (cheerleading in saddle shoes), and a degenerative spine condition and scoliosis. A few weeks ago, and after exercising for DECADES, I changed my routine to address minimizing my back and recurring foot pain instead of aesthetics, a first for me. I box, do Pilates, and occasionally throw in a total body workout. It has been working well for me so far. I feel much better.

I do not know how old you are, but I will suggest here LOW IMPACT. I repeat: LOW IMPACT. I will also note that at my age, I am beginning to see real limitations in my flexibility, and I have to work on that actively now. You mentioned posture -- yes, that's so important. I spend a lot of time working muscles to help me stand up straight.

And if you're having knee problems, don't forget to work your hips. Floor work, band work, Pilates are great for that. Knee sleeves, not so much.

Your chatty fellow vidiot,

AF

Check out my blog at www.typeALC.com

[Ricka]

Aw thank you everyone. You are awesome!

Low impact sounds fantastic to me too. it seems very friendly for long term exercise.
Do you have a recommendation for training fast twitch muscle with low impact exercises? Or do you recommend not training fast twitch muscle?

[little bird]

i don't know your age, but I would say limit step aerobics to 1-2 times a week. As I have gotten older, I limit it to once a week.

[bfit]

Another thing about step aerobics is not to use a step that is too high. I use just the base of the step without any extra risers at all, and that's high enough for me.

[ncl]

I concur with Aunt Famous about working to improve your own issues and I would also add to that to work opposing muscle groups. I feel like some workouts that focus on aesthetic emphasize abs and chest, for instance, but don't do much for the back and doing the front side of the body without the back is going to change how you stand and move and possible lead to injury.

I also stretch more as I get older and do more yoga.

I do some high impact but more in bursts, not in sustained fashion.

[Alan]

Take the extra time to start slowly and build up your body before increasing the intensity of any type of new exercise. This is sometimes referred to as "base building" and is generally advised because the body's aerobic system adapts more quickly than the musculoskeletal system. As a result it's common to push too hard and injure oneself even when a workout still feels easy.

[Ricka]

Thank you for advice and ideas! I will be focusing some more about conditioning exercises to help build muscle to protect the joint, and also incorporate some cross training as I get ready to start step aerobics. I am excited to get started.