Exercise to replace walking/preventing damage to lateral co-laterals.

[SeaCore]

Earlier at the end of last year I started going on daily walks in the morning to help improve my mental health and just to be able to move around more without losing my breath.
I kept up with it for a while but had to stop because my lateral co-laterals in both knees felt... Like they were being stretched or something along those lines. Because of this I stopped doing the walks.

Now, I swing on a swingset. Regularly and for like an hour or so. It's just a good way for me to relax my mind and deal with stress. I think both swinging and walking caused me to overwork my knees leading to the discomfort/pain. Swinging is ultimately more important to me than going on a walk. So I'd like to see if anyone has any ideas on how to substitute the walk with something else.

Is there anything that has the mental health and heart benefits that walking does that doesn't involve exercise equipment?

 

[KaraBulut]

Knee problems are something that do seem to come with get older. It's interesting that you started swinging on a swingset because of the exercises that helps push joint fluid into the space around the knee involves a "swinging" motion of the leg.

If you're having problems with stiffness and soreness in your knee, particularly if it's discouraging you to walk, you should see an orthopedist. The doctor might prescribe a short course of physical therapy to strengthen your knee and leg muscles/tendons.

Walking is a really good exercise- it's particularly important for preserving leg strength, tendon strength, balance and preserving bone mineralization. Before giving up on walking, see a doctor and work on improving your knees- it's the best solution for the long term.

 

[SeaCore]

I think it's worth noting, and I should've said this originally. But I have to do a fair amount of walking as it is. I don't drive so I have to walk to a bus stop. And I'm moving around a lot at work. So it's not that I'm getting no steps in, I'm just not setting aside extra time to do more consolidated walking.

I also do not have insurance. I would love to go to an expert! But wouldn't you agree that in lieu of doing nothing it's better that I do something? That's where I'm coming from anyways.

 

[KaraBulut]

What most PTs would recommend is swimming. The body's buoyancy lessens to burden on the knees and the resistance of the water is an isotonic exercise that has some cardiac benefits.

Unfortunately, I see that you're in a state that missed another chance to expand Medicaid last year. That's a shame. Everyone needs health coverage.

 

[Kulindahr]

Do you walk on hard surfaces such as concrete? If that's where most of your walking is, any meditative-type walking should be on uneven ground. The reason for this is that walking on perfectly smooth and unyielding surfaces lets the side-movement muscles around the knee get out of shape, which results eventually in pain; our knee design is for uneven ground, and that's a good way to strengthen the lateral muscles. There are also exercises you can do with (or without) giant "rubber bands" that provide resistance for the muscles.

I've had the knee issue pretty much ever since I lost access to a real swimming pool (one long enough that it takes more than a half dozen strokes to go a length) -- the whip kick for the breaststroke is a great exercise for the knees (you can do it sitting on the edge of a large hot tub, though it's not quite as effective).

 

[SeaCore]

Do you walk on hard surfaces such as concrete? If that's where most of your walking is, any meditative-type walking should be on uneven ground. The reason for this is that walking on perfectly smooth and unyielding surfaces lets the side-movement muscles around the knee get out of shape, which results eventually in pain; our knee design is for uneven ground, and that's a good way to strengthen the lateral muscles. There are also exercises you can do with (or without) giant "rubber bands" that provide resistance for the muscles.

I've had the knee issue pretty much ever since I lost access to a real swimming pool (one long enough that it takes more than a half dozen strokes to go a length) -- the whip kick for the breaststroke is a great exercise for the knees (you can do it sitting on the edge of a large hot tub, though it's not quite as effective).

It depends on what you mean by even ground. So in a sense, yeah a lot of the ground is even concrete but there are also a lot of hills so it's not flat ground.

What's the name of the exercise you're thinking of? If I can do it without any tools that'd be ideal!


Also Karabulut, I like the suggestion of the pool but part of what I'm trying to do is find stuff that I can do from home. There is a place I could go swimming at but how much would I need to be able to do it to sufficiently replace a daily walk? I wouldn't be able to swim daily.

 

[Kulindahr]

It depends on what you mean by even ground. So in a sense, yeah a lot of the ground is even concrete but there are also a lot of hills so it's not flat ground.

What's the name of the exercise you're thinking of? If I can do it without any tools that'd be ideal!


Also Karabulut, I like the suggestion of the pool but part of what I'm trying to do is find stuff that I can do from home. There is a place I could go swimming at but how much would I need to be able to do it to sufficiently replace a daily walk? I wouldn't be able to swim daily.

You can do the whip kick from a recliner if you have one. This guy shows fairly well how it goes -- drop heels while spreading your feet, spread feet farther as you "whip" your feet around. If you've never done it before, it will make your legs and maybe knees ache, but it will strengthen your knees even just in the air.

You can also use the old fashioned frog kick, which these guys use in a mix of three -- which can also be done from a recliner chair:

In terms of strengthening your knees, the frog kick gets a few more muscles into the act than the whip kick; in swimming terms, the whip is a speed kick while the frog is a traveling kick.


Thinking of using a recliner, you can bicycle in the air, too. Throw in a little frog kick action, turning the knees so it isn't always a straight motion (I learned recently that heavy bicyclers often have weak knees in terms of lateral motion because their knees when cycling always go in a perfectly straight action).

This guy demonstrates one we used in wrestling:

There are a couple of things you can add to that; in terms of your knees, while your leg is lifted swing your knee slowly forward and back.


I couldn't find any vids of the ones I do with the giant rubber bands; I did find this guy, who's pretty hard core with some of it:

If you've never done anything like that, start without the rubber band!
You may be able to beg a chunk of big rubber band from a local physical therapist.

Ha! I finally found a guy doing the ones my physical therapist gave me (which I've been neglecting....):

Oh -- by uneven ground I mean with lumps and little slopes so your knee has to use lateral and angled-lateral muscles. Hiking in dry sand dunes or across an uneven field are both good.

Also, the rubber bands I have are four inches wide, not these mega-bungies in these videos. I think the wide ones give better control.

 

[KaraBulut]

There's an exercise that knee PT sessions usually start with- the leg swing:

This exercise warms up the muscles in the knee and it also creates a pumping action that helps distribute joint fluid through the joint which helps reduce friction. You can do these several times a day- they can be done on the side of a pool, on a swing set or while you're sitting watching TV. Just make sure your legs swing free and don't contact the floor.

A lot of what you can do in a pool are the same exercises you can do outside the pool. Walking back and forth across the shallow end of the pool provides the same benefit as walking outside the pool with the added benefit of gentle resistance. In addition to the kicks that you can do sitting on the side of the pool, there are also kicks that you can do with your body immerses in water.

There are a lot of videos that physical therapists have posted on YouTube that will give you some ideas. The one below has a long list of different exercises, in addition to just swimming laps (which moves all of the major joints and it a lot more fun).