It’s very common to experience knee or other joint pain after exercise. Knee pain is especially common after running or other high-impact activities to compress the knee joint repeatedly. The best solution to combat this is to run on softer surfaces such as a padded track or grass. For bicyclers try raising the seat or standing when you pedal up hills.Knee pain can be a sign of serious injury to the knee joint, so seek medical attention if it does not improve quickly or is intense.
Pain in the knee can often result from improper exercise form. For example, performing lunges where the knee drops beyond the toes of the front foot. This puts stress on the knees. Likewise, performing squats where the knees do not travel in the same direction as the toes are pointing can produce similar pain or with enough load/repetition it can become a serious injury.
Always drop the backside when performing squats, and watch that your knees stay over top of your feet. If you look down and see your knees but not your feet, that means you need to lean back more. For lunges you need a wider foot position.
Cardio kickboxing has been another fairly recent trend in aerobic fitness. While it is a great activity for getting in shape, it is commonly taught by untrained instructors. Many gym programs, such as the popular Body Combat promote kicking and punching at the air, in a “mock fight.”
Never kick or punch with any degree of force unless you have a target to absorb that force. By kicking at the air hard, the force travels through your joints when you reach your maximal range of motion. If you want to learn to kick hard, you must have a soft target to take the impact. Always kick pads/bags, never air. You can kick softly at the air and stop yourself before your leg is fully straight.
Many other activities can product knee pain, including walking. This could be a sign of arthritis or just simply overuse. There are a wide variety of symptoms and causes of knee pain, as well as simple remedies. For more serious injuries such as ligament tears (ACL tears are one of the most common) surgery is often required.
Take care of your knees. If you experience minor pain from time to time, you might try a glucosamine HCL/chondroitin supplement to help reduce inflammation and promote tissue/cartilage recovery. Try to ice the injury and if necessary take ibuprofen as a temporary measure to reduce the inflammation.
