You've probably heard people in your steps aerobics class complaining that knee pain always invades their workouts. Or your mother says that the front of her knees hurt when she takes long car trips. Women can avoid these and other common achy-knee problems by heeding these pieces of advice.
1. Keep your quads in shape
The most common type of non-traumatic knee complaint in women ages 30-50 is pain in the front of the knee, according to Patrick DeMeo, M.D., director of Sports Medicine at Allegheny General. "The most common cause is usually a loss of quadriceps muscle function," he says. When this large muscle in the front of the thigh weakens due to underuse, the knee is under more stress. The resultant pain is usually worse when walking downhill or down stairs, or sitting with the knees flexed for a long period. The prescription for many people is rehabilitation of the quads through very specific leg extension exercises or riding a stationary bike. "Women are at higher risk than men for knee injuries for reasons we can't explain," Dr. DeMeo says. "If you have the muscles around your knee in relatively good condition, you lessen the chance of injury."
2. Warm up properly before exercise
Overuse injuries, such as tendonitis at the kneecap and where the hamstring muscle attaches to the knee, are common maladies characterized by very sharp pain with activity. flexibility exercises before and after a workout are crucial to preventing overuse injuries, but they must be the right kind of exercises. "Stretching should be done statistatically," Dr. DeMeo says. "That means a slow, sustained stretch that you hold for 10-15 seconds." Bouncing while stretching can actually make the muscle contract instead of relax.
3. Gradually increase your activity
"In women especially, it is not uncommon to see stress fractures in the knee and lower leg from overuse," Dr. DeMeo says. A runner who suddenly increases her mileage or an inactive person who begins a running program on a heard track or in the winter when the ground is hard is at risk for this type of injury. Runners also should make sure they have a pair of well-padded shoes that are properly fitted, and should put no more than 500 miles on a pair of shoes.
4. Cross-train
Doing one type of exercise exclusively may lead to knee injury. For example, step aerobics puts five to six times your body weight in pressure on your knees every time you step down. Instead, try cross-training to prevent overuse injuries. A good cross-training routine might include walking or jogging varied with time on a stationary bike or ski-machine, and swimming.
Last Updated: February 04, 2009