My Knee Hurts :(

I haven't done 30DS yet but have you tried icing it/heating it? Or even wear a brace for a bit during every day things to give it a bit of support? I'd say give it a couple days of rest before trying to do 30DS again just so you don't hurt it again. Maybe someone else that's done 30DS can give you more insight, sorry!

I know exactly what you mean. My doctor has told me not to do squats or really anything that puts a lot of stress on my knees. I don't know your full situation but I had an injury in high school and have had fluid on the left one ever since. Literally, EVER SINCE. I have developed arthritis in that one the worse but I have it in both. It is frustrating because that needs to be strengthened. I would suggest going to see your doctor about it. I see a rheumatologist about mine. Best of luck to you!

You might consider aquatic exercise for a while. It has helped my knees a great deal.

Hello there

Pretty much in the same boat, and I've been modifying 30 DS with good results. So I have included what I am doing here in detail in case it helps.

I have an illiotibial band injury from over running ages back and so it has been aggravated by running lately. I have been doing 30 DS on and off for the last two months and the ITB injury has made me cautious. Basically, I have to be really careful with my hip and thigh, so that means no squats either. So, when the leg started playing up, I took a week off and did plenty of rest, ice, compress, elevate until I could feel it calming down. I also massage the affected area gently every day.

Interesting, the week I took a break and just rested I lost 3 pounds, no problem. I had been ding 30 DS 5 days a week for 2 weeks at that point. People often comment doing 30 DS that they see the real results at the end, when their body catches up. But prior to that and since I have been losing a steady 1lb a week. So I was terrified when I thought I couldn't exercise either, but it worked out ok because I had been doing that thus far. I did do a little bit of free weights on my arm, but froma seated position that week and no more that 15 minutes time. Used weights as heavy as I could manage though.

Now I stick to level 1 30DS and modify like this:

Warm up- I do punches rather than jumping jacks, and am very careful with hip and knee circles. the punch combination I do is punch, cross, hook (repeat) and I don't sink down, I go pretty fast with a lot of force behind the punch and twist a lot in the upper body to use as much muscle as I can there. I was doing punch, cross, hook, elbow but found the leg twisting needed to swng my elbow round wasn't exactly helping- wasn't making it worse but was stopping my leg getting better.

Circuit 1, strength- press ups are fine and I do a modified version of the dumbell row from circuit two as the alternate. I use a heavier dumbell, lean over from the waist (keeping my knees soft but no more bend at knee or hips than just not locking them). I find this works bes t when I brace myself against a piece of furniture (basically shove my knees up against it) so I cannot "Forget " and lean and bend forward more than I intend to.

Circuit 1 cardio- a combination of punches and a modified jumping jack. Basically, stand on one leg and swing both arms up but only one leg out, do five times each side and then switch. I tend to only do one round of these per cardio circuit as I don't want to do anything that aggravates my leg, but it is nice to get a bit of variety from the punches. I guess you could try doing it only ever standing on your good leg.

Circuit 1 Abs- no need to modify any abs circuit. When I first started modifying I tried using abs exercises as swaps for strength circuits, it did work well but as my leg got better I have gone back to moves from the strength section.

Circuit 2 Strength- same as circuit 1
Circuit 2 Cardio- same as circuit 1
Circuit 2 Abs- as dvd

Circuit 3 Strength- 4 sets of chest flies, but with a heavier weight and without a break in the switches or if I want to push myself and keep heart rate up alternate that with push ups, which are the hardest exercise in the whole thing for me.
Circuit 3 Cardio- as circuit 1
Circuit 3 Abs- as DVD

I've found it has really helped to be able to still work out alongside Jillian and the two girls in the DVD and although it probably isn't burning quite as much as the original routine, I'm still in a good pattern. I still do upper body weights 3 times a week as well to supplement and I am looking into lower body exercises that focus on the glutes (strengthening glutes can be one way to avoid repeating ITB injuries) that I can do on the floor from next week. I have an appointment with a physio next week, so I will run those by her before I start doing them. I also do a little bit of yoga (forward bends, down dog, modified sun salutations) to help with flexibility, maybe twice a week for 15 minutes. I have also upped my just general activity a little bit too, enough so that I can think of myself not as sedentary but lightly active. I find I can do short bursts frequently and my leg is fine, rather than long sessions all at once, which really set my leg off.

Hope this is helpful- thought detail would be helpful, hence the long post!

Wow my doc told me something else.
Squat is good, one of the best things for a knee, when done right. In rehab I did leg press until the weight was enough I could start doing air squats. I did air squats until it was safe to use the bar. Then went up from there.
He said not going all the way down on squats is worse for your knee because you are stopping in a bad spot. All the way to parallel is best. But if you are using too much weight and don’t have the technique right it is not going to work and you could hurt yourself. And this was for a major injury not just knee soreness.

This was years ago but I am at it again. I took a fall of about 10 feet and messed my knee up again, snapped the ACL. I different doc gave me the same recommendation. Full range was hard but it has helped me a lot. Knee pain is less now.

I would say rest until the pain is gone then start back with much lighter weight and don’t push yourself like crazy. Build up slowly and strengthen all those muscles in your knee.

Wow my doc told me something else.
Squat is good, one of the best things for a knee, when done right. In rehab I did leg press until the weight was enough I could start doing air squats. I did air squats until it was safe to use the bar. Then went up from there.
He said not going all the way down on squats is worse for your knee because you are stopping in a bad spot. All the way to parallel is best. But if you are using too much weight and don’t have the technique right it is not going to work and you could hurt yourself. And this was for a major injury not just knee soreness.

This was years ago but I am at it again. I took a fall of about 10 feet and messed my knee up again, snapped the ACL. I different doc gave me the same recommendation. Full range was hard but it has helped me a lot. Knee pain is less now.

I would say rest until the pain is gone then start back with much lighter weight and don’t push yourself like crazy. Build up slowly and strengthen all those muscles in your knee.

Yeah, I tried the modified squats, where you don't go down as far, and it hurt that way too. So I figure it's gonna be all or nothing till I figure out what's wrong. Also, not doing the exercises at all, even if it's because I'm hurt, makes me feel like I'm copping out, or giving up. Which is not a good feeling.

Modified squats are not good for your knee unless you are barely squatting at all.
I don’t know what this plan you are doing is but if you are going all out in a hard workout before you’re ready it could hurt you. You strengthen your knee more going all the way down. Maybe you can’t do as many reps but it is better for your knee.