jogging with an old knee injury...

Question
When I was about 14 I pulled the ligaments in both my right and left knee, over the course of 11 years I have re-injured them about 9 times, I am currently loosing weight and have reached the point where I really need to start exercising regularly if I want to proceed with a regular weight loss.

It has been about 4 years since I have had to go to a therapist for my knees and hoped you might be able to give me some pointers about exercising (hoping to jog and possibly skate on my quads again)

Thank you

Hannah

Answer
Hannah:

Nine injuries to the ligaments in your knees over 11 years is very ominous.  It might be possible for you to run safely and successfully, however, with your extensive knee problems, it would be critical to analyze your stride, posture, and foot impact.  It would also be worthwhile to critically analyze and select the best shoes for you.  All of these things are difficult to do in this type of forum.

Running is a enjoyable and fulfilling activity with many benefits, however, as with any activity, a risk/reward analysis should be done.  Nothing in your question indicates that you have a deeper connection to running and desire to make a return to this sport.  From what I read, it sounds like running is a means to an end for you - as part of a weight loss program, as well as helping you to skate.  (Roller skate?  Skate board?)

If this sounds about right, then then I would actually recommend an alternative form of exercise therapy for you.  As you know, a weight loss program requires both careful diet and proper exercise.  In your case, you might be better served with a high-intensity metabolic style workout.  These workouts involve a combination of aerobic internal-style training with anaerobic strength exercises.  Many people are able to make significant improvements to their body composition (increased lean muscle mass and decreased body fat) with these programs, WITHOUT running.

A metabolic exercise program will engage all of the muscles in your body, not just your legs.  But since your legs are the issue, let's focus on them here.  First of all, you are going to need to find some anaerobic exercises that will work for you.  The best all around exercise for your legs is called the squat.  This exercise looks simple enough, but it is very easy to do it incorrectly.  Mark Rippetoe wrote a book called "Starting Strength" in which he devotes over 50 pages to this one exercise.  I was able to improve my squat form considerably after reading Rippetoe's book, and I've been doing squats for over 20 years!  Another great exercise is called the deadlift, and it is also covered extensively in Rippetoe's book.

Check out this book and study these two chapters carefully.  See if it is possible for you to do these exercises with your condition.  (Of course you should use extremely light weights as you are learning the correct form.)  If these exercises are not going to work out for you, there are alternatives, such as step-ups, shelcs, etc.

Your developing good leg strength is important for many reasons :

- reduce your risk of further knee injuries
- increase your ability to partake in skating
- increase you lean muscle mass and help burn fat

The last reason, losing weight, is a surprising outcome improving your leg strength.  Voluntary muscles are like engines : they burn fuel to produce movement.  And just like a small 2-cylinder motorcycle engine burns far less fuel than a large 8-cylinder truck engine, larger/stronger muscles increase your basal metabolic rate by an impressive amount.  This doesn't mean you need to develop giant body-builder style legs (which is not ever going to happen unless you take anabolic steroids) - it just means that you need to increase the percentage of your body made up of muscle tissue compared to fat.  When you do this, your clothing sizes will shrink and you will develop an attractive feminine figure.

The other aspect of metabolic workouts involves interval training.  Intervals are short-burst high-intensity activities.  Although it is possible to perform intervals by running, you can achieve the same results with many other activities, such as biking, swimming, and even swinging heavy ropes.  Check out this video:

Heavy Rope Swinging

It may not look like much, but this exercise is exhausting.  I'm a big guy (6'3" and muscular build) and swinging heavy ropes like this for 30-45 second intervals, repeated 3 to 5 times, is enough to make me feel like a little old lady!  So what I want you to take away is that running is NOT the only way to lose weight.  Nor will running do anything to develop fast-twitch muscle fibers (associated with strength rather than endurance).  Look up "metabolic workouts" - there are 'zillions of 'em - and try one out for a month or two.  You will make much faster gains with this type of program than you would by running alone.  As your strength and body composition improve, you might decide to take up running someday for the pure enjoyment of it!

Good Luck!