knee, general safety, books, tips?

[Colleen]

Here's a link to the original thread on taping shoes for aerobics:

http://205.214.68.83/vbulletin/showt...ghlight=carpet

I've been doing this for a long time, and I've never had any problems. I place the tape in a vertical line down the sole of the shoe only in the ball area (not on the toe and heel areas). This leaves part of the shoe sole on either side of the ball area uncovered, so I still have some gip in that area. I can still do pivot turns very smoothly on the carpet, but there seems to be enough traction on either side of the tape to prevent sliding. If you were to place the tape in a horizontal line across the sole, you could indeed slide. If you try using the tape, walk around and cautiously try some moves before you do an actual workout to make sure that it feels safe.

Working out on concrete floors can also cause knee pain, even if the concrete is covered by carpet. Is your floor concrete? Some VFers use foam mats on their floors to absorb shock. The mats have been found at Home Depot, Costco, and Sam's (and perhaps other places as well). You may be able to find similar mats online. This would also solve the problem of working out on carpet, because the mats are smooth! I don't have the mats, so I can't tell you anything else about them. You should be able to find some threads discussing this by searching for "mats" in post titles from the General Discussion and Equipment forums.

[gaki]

hey thanks for the really great tips, colleen! I think I will try that tape idea thing, since it got such good feedback on that original thread. I am working out on carpet, not concrete, so maybe i dont need the puzzle locking squares yet that come up in discussion threads.
i was wondering if i should get those big plasticly office mats they use under chairs, over my carpets. hmmm.. anyway I will try the tape thing first.. thanks!

gaki