Fell On Ice And Messed Up My Knee

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dot2trot lifiting weights

My trainer eliminated the squats and lunges from my last set today to give my knee a break.

The pain in my right knee is back with abandon. During my weight training today, every squat and lunge hurt like hell. It was during the 2nd set of my routine my knee hurt so much that my poker face gave way. Deidra, my trainer, asked “What’s up?”

Time to ‘fess up.

It started exactly one week ago when I fell down the stairs at the little Love Shack I call home…Well, “fell” isn’t the right word. It was more tripping and doing the splits at the same time.

I was about 4 steps from the landing when I tripped and completely skipped those remaining stairs and landed up right on my right foot (my left leg was still firmly planted 4 steps away).

I stuck the landing, but it was a hard landing. My knee took the full force of my weight. It hurt like hell. I limped my way into the gym to meet with my trainer. We decided on just an upper body workout to rest my knee and leg.

The next day I felt fine. I kept my normal routine on Thursday and Friday – spinning and yoga classes. And I took the weekend off because my body didn’t want to do anything. But other than some minor morning stiffness (pretty normal for me), my knee felt fine.

Flash forward to this morning. I crossed paths with some black ice while walking to my car to go to the gym. I landed on my knees. The pain in my right knee was exquisite. And just like the Scott Farkus Affair, a tirade of obscenities poured out of me.

After my workout I ended up taking 800mg of Ibuprofen, elevated the knee and put it on ice (oh, sweet irony).

The swelling is down some. And it no longer hurts (that much) going downstairs.

The 5K training is out of the question for the next few days. But not spinning tomorrow? I don’t know if I can give that up. Ugh! Damn you black ice!

 

Small Victory: Push-Ups

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I actually did push ups today.  I did my plank pose and then 5 push-ups during yoga.

Yes, both the plank and push-ups were the modified versions, but the fact I did them is what counts. In about a week, I’ll try the non-modified plank pose. But for now, I’m sticking to my knees.

Baby stepping one step at a time.

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Namaste! Knee Pain Gone But Yoga Still Kicking My Butt

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Image courtesy of Ambro and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Image courtesy of Ambro and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

My knee feels great. No more pain, swelling or tightness. The 3-week break from walking, the yoga and a liberal application of ice did the trick. This afternoon I plan to test the knee with 30-minutes of yoga followed by a 10-minute walk at a moderate pace.

The yoga workout is full body, so I’m thinking that the more intense stretching (compared to my stretching before the injury) is what the doctor ordered for my knee.

If all goes well, I plan to walk 2 more times this week. If no pain, then I’ll see about bumping to an every other day schedule – but keeping to a moderate pace. I want to wait a couple of weeks before I start thinking of speed again.

Plank Pose Is Bane Of My Existence!
I’m still not able to do all of Level 1 on the Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga DVD – damn you Plank Pose! But I am getting better. I’m still on my knees for plank, but now I can do the modified sideways plank.  But full plank followed by push ups…I’m just not there yet with the upper body strength. My goal is to do the full, non-modified Plank section of the DVD by the end of next week.

Modified 30-Day Sit Up Challenge
After pleas from some family members, I decided to do a more modified version of the 30-Day Sit Up Challenge. So yes, it is still challenging, but I’m not running the risk of injury. Instead of increasing the number of sit ups by 5 a day, I’m doing the same number each day for a week and add 5 for the next week. This week, it’s 10. Next week, that number will bump to 15. I’m also breaking them up in to sets, taking a short break in between for water and stretching. I’m getting a workout, but no pain or Charley Horses.

 

Yoga Kicked My Butt…And I Liked It

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Stretching isn't the same without my yoga toe socks!

Stretching isn’t the same without my yoga toe socks!

I woke up to a very tight right knee.  That means one thing: YOGA TIME!

I popped in my Yoga For Beginners DVD. For some reason this morning, I’m not very patient. This DVD just wasn’t doing it for me. The first five+ minutes consisted of me lying on my back breathing. Why did I have to get out of bed for that?

I know meditation is important in yoga and I actually enjoyed it during class. Perhaps I was just anxious about my knee and wanted to start stretching. So I popped my other yoga DVD, The Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga.

I’ve never watched the show and didn’t know what to expect.

The DVD allowed me to customize my workout, so I could select sessions to play back-to-back. Awesome! I decided to try the 5-minute warm up and Level 1 (20-minute core session).

Even though I followed the guy doing the sissified version, this routine kicked my sorry, not-so-little ass.  It’s  amazing how much flexibility I lost since May! I met my match during the Plank Position. I was so worried about my knee I didn’t realize my wrists were as week as kittens.  It didn’t matter that I did Plank on my knees. My wrists couldn’t handle it. Then Trainer Bob got all psychotic on me and added push ups to the Plank Position. By the time the last Plank set rolled around, I just dropped into Child’s Pose.

My body trembled during each pose. I always feel nervous when that happens. To me its a sign I’m doing the it wrong. Shouldn’t I be  smooth like everyone on the DVD?  Thankfully Trainer Bob said that the shaking means your muscles are feeling the burn.

Overall, I loved this DVD, at least the warm up and Level 1. Truthfully, Levels 2 and 3 terrify me so I’ll wait before attempting those. I’ll do today’s set 4 times this week.

Only one little glitch with the workout. Spider, my evil overlord cat, was in the room and bit my ankle during of all things, Downward Dog Pose. Little bastard! I promptly kicked him out and continued.

Since my butt got kicked this morning, it’s time for a low carb breakfast – Eggs over easy served on asparagus with a side of crispy bacon. Yum!

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Can A Walker Get Runner’s Knee?

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Ugh! Fingers crossed that the knee is just a bit sore and that this isn't in my future!

Ugh! Fingers crossed that the knee is just a bit sore and that this isn’t in my future! Image courtesy Ambro and FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’ve heard of runner’s knee. Is there such a thing as walker’s knee? Or is it all the same thing?

This morning I felt a sharp pain during my walk. I slowed my pace and the pain dulled. I toyed with turning around and going home, but the pain went away. I chalked it up to age and weight and continued walking, but decided to just do 2 miles and not the scheduled 4. On the way home, I stepped off the curb wrong and sure enough the sharp pain came back. Again it dulled and disappeared after about 50 steps.

When I got home I decided to rest my leg. After 30 minutes, I felt great and decided to run my errands for the day – grocery shopping, cleaning the house, prepping all my veggies for the week. I only had one mishap with the knee. While carrying groceries from the car I lost my footing and fell on the walk leading up to my house. Both knees gave the concrete step a love tap, but it wasn’t too painful.

Now I’m sitting down for the first time since that morning sit and the knee is throbbing.

Great.

Good news is that it doesn’t hurt going up and down the stairs. With all the walking, plus my weight and age, perhaps my knee is feeling a little overused. I don’t think I pulled, sprained, ruptured or imploded anything.

I plan to take it easy the rest of the day – it’s a beautiful day out so I plan to go outside, drink ice tea (curses you 30-day No Alcohol Challenge!), and read with my leg raised. If my knee behaves, I might treat it to a nice ice pack to boot!

Tomorrow, instead of the 5-mile walk, I’ll do a muscle workout and give the knee a rest. With any luck, I’ll be back to my old self by the weekend.

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