Ouch my Aching Knees!

this might sound simple, but i've heard that you can put stress on your knees if you sit to closely to the steering wheel. lol

Jumping jacks CAN be quite sressful on your knees. Especially if you are not doing them with proper form. Something to keep in mind when working out is the softer and quieter you are the better your form is. That goes for running, jumping rope, jumping jacks etc.

Check your form. If your form is great, make sure you're not hyperextending or locking your knees (at any point in your day). Otherwise take down the intensity for a while. Increased activity can cause temporary knee pain. Continued activity with temporary knee pain can cause serious damage. Ice it, stretch it and monitor it.

Great job with the workouts!

I'm currently laying on the couch with icy hot on my right knee and alternating hot and cold! It doesn't hurt AWFUL but its enough to make me go OW! OW! when I walk. I've recently started running. I have good shoes and I'm taking it easy but when you go from little activity to 100% more activity you are building all kinds of muscle.

I did a little research tonight because of my achy knees and this was a link I found with interesting info. I know you aren't running but are working out a lot:

http://askville.amazon.com/knees-hurt-bit-running-wrong/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=8696353

The first answer was the most interesting to me. The bottom line was that you have to build muscle. I have fibromyalgia and arthritis so I am totally babying this because I want to be able run like a horse some day...without worry. But I know this is from my first two weeks of running!

I hope this helps! )

I had horrible knee pain after I started running (walking and jogging a bit haha) a couple weeks ago.

It hurt even when I was laying in bed or walking around.

I got some good running shoes.

I also stretch throughout the day for a few minutes and before/after my runs a bit.

Pain is gone!

I'm not doing JM, but I do Zumba and Kettleworx. I modify something if it is not comfortable to my knees. On the Kettleworx jumping jacks I move my hands normally but my feet jog in place instead of jump. Seems to up my heart rate just fine, which is the point of doing them in this program. I also have a disc problem that I have to watch, so I don't have any problem modifying. Hope that helps!

Watch your form! You've already been told about being softer in your landing for jumping jacks and such, but you also have to watch your form on squats and lunges and the elliptical too. Never let your knees go past your toes. And don't go down lower then 90 degrees on them because that puts shearing forces on the knees and can cause an injury. Also check to see if your elliptical is set for your stride length. While they promote ellipticals as great for your knees, they are only great for the knees if they match your stride length. If they don't, then you are putting some unusual forces on the knees that again, can aggravate or cause injury. In my 15 years in the gym business, I've only ever found 1 elliptical that I could get adjusted to be comfortable for my knees. Granted I've had 2 knee surgeries and 2 other knee injuries so my knees are easily irritated by movements outside my normal gait patterns, but it is a common problem in the gym to feel uncomfortable with the movement.

As for strengthening them, I highly recommend leg extensions, leg curls, both full range of motion and 30% range of motion. The normal leg extensions work the quads, the leg curls work the hamstrings, the 30% leg extensions focus on the insertions of the quads, and the 30% leg curls focus on the insertions of the hamstrings and popliteus muscle in the back of the knee. The 30% will require very little or no weight at first but as you build up with those weights, you will see drastic improvements in your knees abilities. Like I said, I've had to rehab my knees 4 times from various car accidents and injuries from falls. With those exercises, I am able to teach step aerobics, kickboxing, whatever I want, and even squat 300 pounds for endurance with no knee pain. Just remember to always watch form and progress slowly to heavier weights.

You might try taking glucosamine. I started about 2 week ago and have notice a big improvement in my knees.

Also when you do yoga, make sure when you go into warrior poses that your knee tracks directly over your ankle. If you feel unstable back off some, but never push your knee past your ankle. Alignment is so important when it comes to preventing any kind of injuries. I would also try lower impact moves while doing cardio.