Barefoot training lead to knee pain?

mskraemerspeech

Hi friendships,

I only started seriously working out about 3 weeks ago and before then it was super sporadic (like intentional cardio twice a month). haha. I've always been relatively active though.

I started doing the 30 day shred 5 days a week and some other cardio 2-3 days a week. When I do the 30ds I'm in my apartment, barefoot on my carpet.

Here's the thing: my knees have been hurting lately! Never had an issue before. I'm on level two of the shred and there's some jumping, squat thrusts and plank jacks, which are particularly harsh on the knees. Could it be because I'm barefoot? Might be a super dumb question but I really have no idea. I'm 25, and I have about 25-30 lbs to lose. Should I put sneakers on in my apt (ugh)?Should I cut down on the shred? I don't want to! I feel like I've finally found my "thing" and I look forward to it!

Advice me!

rybo

Its more likely because you are working out a lot more and not because you're barefoot.

mskraemerspeech

Its more likely because you are working out a lot more and not because you're barefoot.

Thanks! So, keep going?

maroonmango211

I also work out barefoot at home and completed 30 day shred recently like this (now almost a month into body revolution, also barefoot). I agree with above poster it probably has more to do with increasing more jump training than ever before and doing it regularly. That being said, joint pain is nothing to ignore, if it continues to get worse or if you already are aware of real damage or problems with your knees, being barefoot could make increase injury. I had some knee and ankle pain when I increased my impact but gradually it lessened especially when I started to stretch out my legs a lot better than the workout dvd provided.

batman12

It's gotta be because of the new training intensity and plyometric pressure on the joints. I train squats and lunges outside and I do it barefoot to actually prevent injury/pain.

Ferrea

Back when I was doing the 30-day Shred almost everyday (couple of years ago), I started getting some pretty gnarly foot pain while doing it barefoot on carpet, so I started wearing shoes. It definitely fixed the foot pain, but I did have some knee pain develop later on.

You could test out wearing shoes for a few days and see if your knees feel better. Shoes could give you more stability, which would help reduce wobbling that could strain your knees.

Also, you could take a few days off to let your body recover, then go back to it. I've read that your muscles/bones/tendons usually take longer to get used to high impact cardio than your heart and lungs. So, even if it's feeling easier in terms of your heart rate and breathing, your legs could still be getting used to it, and taking a little extra rest time could help prevent an overuse injury.

krawhitham

I do barefoot running, and I only have knee pain when I exert myself over and above what I should be doing.

You should do less intense workouts, lose the weight, but you can keep working out in your apartment barefoot.

People get injuries when they do barefoot running/workouts when they jump into them too quickly.

I've been a runner my whole life, but I only did walking workouts for 3 months straight before starting to jog in my barefoot running (Vibram) shoes. It takes a while for the body to adjust.

mskraemerspeech

Thanks all!

bcmom_1980

Can you keep going, but just decrease range of motion? Sometimes I feel like I repeat back the stuff she says during the workouts, but it's all true. Decreased range, while maintaining good form. You can always "press the up button" and increase your range or intensity when you're ready, but going too hard with poor form will result in injury. I tweaked my bad hip doing yard work one day and had to seriously dial it back, but I never stopped working out. A couple days I had to do yoga instead of a circuit training workout, but make sure you are listening to your body. I like all the fitness blogs that say don't listen to the fitspiration that tell you never to stop (you know the ones, puking is okay, collapsing is okay, quitting is not), that there is a difference between the kind of pain you feel from a good workout, and the kind of pain you shouldn't feel because something is wrong. If your knees hurt even just relaxing, I would take a break (when my hip was that bad those were my yoga days, just stretching as much as I could handle). Good luck!

mc_hudd

I would suggest trying it with shoes & see if there's any difference. I haven't been working out very long either & was originally doing it in my socks. I've started doing more strenuous moves, which has caused me to have some pain in my ankles (I've always had weak ankles). I started wearing shoes this week & it has helped a little. Not sure if it will help with your knees, but can't hurt to try. Although it is annoying to have to wear shoes, I'd rather do that than cause some kind of major damage. Good luck!