Edit: I love this community so much, thank you all for trying to help!
Try cycling. Much easier on the knees.
I did pivot to cycling. But once my knee is already shit, even cycling often makes it worse. So I pivoted to swimming. Swimming was fine so far, but just now, my knee started hurting after a few laps, which inspired me to vent my frustration through this meme.
I kept getting injured swimming so my doctor insisted I need to do gym too, apparently it helps strengthen your body to avoid injuries.
Aw man, gyms are expensive. Hope I can get somewhere with calisthenics.
Fair, if you have space it can be worth investing on a few weights and maybe a mat, can do a lot with very little!
You can go very far with calisthenics, but I found it's much harder to get into. There's an additional skill level required to perform the exercises, and the progression is much more visual (for example "cannot do pull-ups -> can do pull-ups"). That can be a bit disheartening while still in the "can't" period. You have to start with easier variations of moves and change them up as you progress towards the "real" exercises. With weight training the only thing that really drastically changes as you progress is the number on the plates. But calisthenics definitely are the way to go IMO, it's much better for you, gives you a nicer looking body, more mobility and flexibility and more real world uses. Maybe just add a bit of weight stuff early on just because it's easier.
Calisthenics can definitely help build muscle, especially if you're a beginner. And while gyms can be expensive, you can get more than your money's worth from a planet fitness. It's 10 bucks a month and 30 bucks once a year. Pretty reasonable if you actually use it.
Yep, I used to always get “random injuries “ until I started lifting. Now, I only get scheduled injuries. Lol
Are you swimming with a waterproof knee brace? That may help your endurance to build back up strength.
Have you seen a fysio? Often early knee problems have more to do with the flexibility of the surrounding muscles.
You could try becoming a Skyrim guard
Lol just throwing this out there, I have a terrible shoulder from swimming. If you feel any weird popping or discomfort REST and see a PT or swimming coach to work on form.
Do swimming, too. It’s even better on the whole body
Even just walking at a Brisk pace is better. In fact if you're not actually sprinting there's no real Health difference between jogging and walking quickly other than the aforementioned less pressure on the knees
Fuck, that sucks!
Idk why but you saying it like it is improved my mood just now
Sometimes we just need someone to acknowledge that our situation is shitty. It can be downright therapeutic. Jumping straight into possible solutions is obviously a helpful thing to do, but sometimes it's important to grieve a little first.
Same here. I switched to cycling.
So did I, but it still makes my knees worse when I do it. As of like an hour ago, apparently even swimming does.
How do you handle elevation gain? I ask because I can climb mountains like a champ but for some reason running kills my legs and I'm terrible at cycling. It doesn't even need to be a mountain, as a steep hill does the trick. Keeping a steady pace up a hill gets my heart rate to a place similar to running, and it usually stays pretty high for the descent as well. It doesn't hurt my joints nearly as much as running or biking.
I'm actually saving up for some climbing gear, I'm in the middle of the alps! I think I'll be starting with via ferratas, there's dozens near me. Any tips?
I haven't done any climbing that requires ropes/helmets yet, so far I've been sticking to trails. I moved to a mountainous area 2 years ago.
Going uphill is the easier part, it just requires cardio. Going downhill hurt my knees when I first started, but that pain went away over time. Downhill always seems to be harder for people once they get past the cardio requirement for going up.
Investing in a good pair of adjustable trekking poles makes going downhill a lot easier on your joints. Cork handles are expensive, but worth it if you use them a lot. Shortening them for uphill and lengthening them for downhill also helps.
Another great investment is a high quality ultralight chair! I have a Helinox ground chair which is shockingly comfortable and only weighs 17 ounces/482 grams. Being able to relax and enjoy the view before descending adds a lot to the experience.
I tried switching from running to cycling for my daily cardio, but lately I'm wondering if I'm just not built for cycling. I'm so bad at it.
I live near mountains and will do hikes where I gain 3,000 feet in elevation and burn 2.5k calories, enjoying every second of it, but for some reason I can barely bike up a small hill.
Underdeveloped muscle groups maybe?
The more you ride a bike up hills, the easier it will start to become. But if it feels like too much of a wall to ride up the hills around you, you could look into swapping out your chainrings or cassette to get lower gearing so the hills aren't as much of a challenge.
I told my rheumatologist, „don’t worry, my dog keeps me busy!”. My dog is now on biologic treatment for osteoarthritis while I’m waiting for mine for an autoimmune arthritis XD
That's so frustrating!!!
I'm in a similar boat, where my joints are really whiny and won't let me run nearly as hard as I'd want to. I found a lot of daily stretching and sleeping with a pillow between my legs helps a lot. Still, my knees or hips wake me up more frequently than I'd like.
Also some strength training can feel like a cardio workout and actually strengthens the muscles around your treacherous joints.
Sorry to jump into solutionising... This one just really cuts close to home.
No reason to be sorry!
Good point, I might just switch to calisthenics for a little while. And yeah, I do need to stretch more!
Are they really fucked up or do they just hurt a bit? Slight pain is not necessarily a sign of permanent injury and will most likely go away with activity. Even if it is an injury, the best course of action is to keep moving the joint. Joints don't have active circulation and so they need the movement to heal.
https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/pain-in-training-what-do/
GP said it's almost certainly that the tendons are inflamed. He said this type of thing usually heals in about 2 weeks, but it's been two months. It's extra scary, since I've had tendonitis in my entire forearm for almost 5 years now and nothing has helped.
Thanks for the resource!
Have you tried slow high volume eccentric movements? 30+ reps, 8 second eccentric, very low weight.
Is the accessible caption showing up? I made one, but can't see it anywhere after posting.
I was just today wondering how to view alttext on Lemmy, and if people were actually using those here. On Mastodon I've gotten into the habit of reading alttext and I like that. Although I can see, it gives extra information about the intention of the OP. But apparently I can't view them here (at least in the Voyager app).
Hm, I don't see it either.
I like walking more. I can listen to radio recordings / streams longer while doing it.
I have a fucked up knee too. some days i wish i could hack it off and strap a table leg to the stump.
Holy shit. This is what’s wrong with me. I was working and taking 15,000 steps a day and now I’m staying home with the kids and getting no exercise other than the anxiety of running back and forth between them.
Same. I switched to skipping (jump rope) and haven't looked back.
I can't do cycling either, and I have other issues that make swimming not possible.
When I was able to go, I had a great physical therapist. She had good advice on how to apply kinesio tape.
Can't do physio rn, insurance covers a set amount, which is usually enough, but since I live in an expensive city, there'd be a co pay I couldn't afford.
I'll look into kinesio tape! Maybe there's online resources that'd explain how to apply
I hope it helps! I had to stop going myself for other reasons so I get it.
Make sure to have some sort of oil on hand to remove the tape if you mess up. That stuff stays on for a while, like days.
I recommend jump rope if running tends to hurt your knees, ankles, or shins.
I got into running when I was younger and messed up my foot lol. It's hard. I do yoga now.
*cries in ehlers-danlos*
Probably not as good as walking/running...but the elliptical at a gym could really do the trick with very little knee pressure.
I ran a lot when I was younger; had to stop because of a knee injury, too. It never stops sucking but hopefully you can find something better on your knees that still helps you.
The fact that running reduced your symptoms is absolutely awesome, it's never been as effective for me. It's proof that you CAN beat this, that things can change. That is the ULTIMATE win. You've got this!
Do cycling.
Is swimming an option?
Yes that's what I've been doing these past few weeks, but during today's laps, the knee pain worsened :(
That sucks!
FWIW I get knee pain when I don't stretch. I'm not saying that's what is happening with you, but maybe physio or stretching would help?
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