Knees and Running

[ausarmy]

G'Day,

Im pretty keen to join the FFL after I have completed my service with the Australian Army. However, my knees are somewhat weak, and I'm not sure how they would take the constant running in the FFL. I'm currently smashing down glucosamine for my joints, but does anyone have any ideas, such as a particular style of running, or any exercises to help strengthen my knee , that may help?

Cheers.

[flash010]

dude dont take any advise on that here go see a pysio and they will have the answers you seek here youll get witch doctor treatment lol:)

[K9-]

flash you are of course right.
but you ausarmy can work on machines that build your legs & knees.

[flash010]

yea but you have to know the injury first as some of the treatment can do more harm than good :)

[ausarmy]

I believe the term patellal instability was the term the physio/doctor used whne I first saw them. In specific, I dislocated both kneecaps. I can run fine, they just tend to annoy me after lots of running and stuff, and as I mentioned before there is stacks of running involved in the FFL. Any thoughts?

[flash010]

if you have seen them them get a fitness instructor to give you a work out to strenthen them up :)

[joette]

yea but you have to know the injury first as some of the treatment can do more harm than good :)
You are absolutely right..I know a person whos life included downhill and cross-country skiing five days a week in the winter and playing tennis five days a week in the summer. That’s in addition to gardening and bike riding. X-rays of her diseased knee indicated that her cartilage had worn away, and there was nothing but bone-on-bone friction when she moved her knee. So surgery was the only option for her..of course this is not everyones situation. Get it checked out by a professional first.

[vegas]

yes go to a doc for a complete physical before you go. If doc finds nothing wrong then take your running slowly ie, gradually increase the per day mileage but after first two weeks running take a week off due to increased risk of stress fractures.

[Slivovitz]

I'm no expert, but have you ever considered swimming? Not sure if it'd build anything up, but at the very least it won't break anything down.

[vegas]

if you don't have a pool to swim, cycling is a perfect alternative to swimming and great for the knees.