Fitness Mama is teaming up with Premier Protein to welcome their Human Charging Stations to Sacramento! We are SO excited and want to give all of you Mamas a head's up on this! What's a Human Charging Station? And where in Sacramento will it be at? Details are at the end of this post!!
But firstly, a lot of you ladies have messaged us about knee pain possibly due to running. Instead of emailing you all individually, we'll just put this up here.
One of the biggest issues that many people have with running
is knee pain. Other issues that I hear
include: 'I can't breathe when I run', 'Running gets too uncomfortable', 'I get
so tired so quickly'. Typically if you
stick with running long enough, these other issues will resolve on their own as
you get used to running. But that knee
pain is something else isn't it? That
one is tough.
First and foremost, IF you are experiencing knee pain,
please see an MD about it and get it checked out. Knee pain can be due to MANY reasons that
only an MD can properly assess and diagnose.
The pain may be caused by something more serious.
For this post, I'm specifically talking about my experience with runner's
knee.
I do not have the answers to cure everyone's knee pain and
I'm not suggesting you follow what I'm about to list below. What I can do, is tell you guys my
experience.
Early in my 'running journey', I experienced knee pain on
and off. At first it feels like a warm
throbbing in the knee during a run, not really outright pain or even
discomfort. Then as you run more days,
the pain gets worse and then it takes longer and longer to heal. It typically got worse when I was about to
break plateaus and was pushing myself.
Knee pain is NO joke. It is
painful.
Also, I felt like I couldn't
'trust' my knee. I always had this fear
that if I stepped down a step, my knee would give out and I'd fall on my
face.
But I LOVED running.
LOVED. I was/am obsessed. And I wasn't about to give it up. Which meant I had to find some answers to
this knee problem. My love for running
pushed me to research everything online for HOURS and I tried everything: KT Tape, braces, different running shoes,
etc.
Out of everything I tried, I feel like only
three things helped me:
1. Strength training and cross training. Your leg is made up of several different muscles. When you are running, you are constantly using the same leg
muscles...and you aren't using ALL of the leg muscles equally. Which can only mean that the muscles you are
using during running are super STRONG while the rest are not. The muscles that are surrounding your knee
are no longer pulling things equally, causing that muscle to pull on the knee
cap. The pain is caused as the knee is
shifted in ways it is not supposed to and the inside of the knee gets inflamed. This is a simplistic explanation but basically
I used weights to strengthen my other leg muscles so that not one muscle is
stronger than the others. I used leg
weight machines and leg exercises similar to those found here.
2. Foam Roller and also active isolated stretching. I learned that I needed to stretch. Like seriously schedule days I have to stretch and not skip. And I learned I need to stretch all the muscles in the WHOLE leg. Not just the ones you think you are using
during running; it's all about equal strength and flexibility in the whole leg.
3. Changing my
running form. This change came last for
me because who the heck knew that I needed to be taught how to run?! The best running form for me is described here, specifically, the foot strike part. I also talked about it a little in this blog post and provided pictures. I was a heel
striker which is not good for my knee. I
still do sometimes feel that warm throbbing in my knee every now and then BUT
when I consciously try to fix my form, that warmness never escalates to
outright pain. And this goes with every
little start of pain that I might feel.
Right when I start to feel even a hint of discomfort (and I've felt it
all...Achilles heel, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, hip pain etc.), when I focus on
my form, the discomfort never escalates. Changing my running form is something I'm still working on but ever since I've been focusing and consciously trying to change it, I've been injury and pain free.
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| March 2012 Davis Lucky Run. Trying to smile for the camera at the finish but I ran the last 1.5 miles of this race with terrible knee pain and at this point was feeling like crying. And LOOK at my left foot!! You can kind of see that I am, in fact, landing on my HEEL. #oops #liveandlearn |
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| Billy, Christelyn, Me & Grace. The Lucky Run was also the first race Christelyn and I ever did together! Other than the knee issues, it was a great event! |
If I could add one more thing that helped me: patience. It is so so so hard to sit back and
heal. Or to wait until you strengthen
those leg muscles. I think this goes
with anything in life....hang in there, have patience but be persistent in
trying to find answers!
Fitness Mama is all about focusing on positive energy, eating healthy and having fun with your workouts! Luckily, Premier Protein, who also promotes all of the above, will be coming to Sacramento to help fuel you busy mamas with #GoodEnergy!!! Their brand new Human Charging Stations (8ft replica of the Premier Protein shake bottle) will be all over Sacramento for the next few days. Come and visit them to get FREE samples of #PremierProtein products at the following locations at these dates and times:
Thursday, 10/3
•Location: Gallegos Square 11th Street between J and L Streets
•Time: 9:00am – 5:00pm ***********Both Christelyn and I will be at this station from 12-1:30-ish!!*****************
Saturday, 10/5
•Location: Inside the Galleria Mall
•Time: 11:00am – 4:00pm
Sunday, 10/6
•Location: William Land Park – Urban Cow Half Marathon/5K Sponsor Booth
•Time: 7:00am – 12:00pm
....And an extra Fitness Mama Insider scoop:
In addition to the free Premier Protein products you will be getting if you visit, Premier Protein is ALSO giving you another opportunity to win other prizes! If you come down to visit any (or all!) of the Human Charging Stations, take a picture with the 8ft tall shake bottle, post it on Facebook and tag it with #GoodEnergy and #PremierProtein. This will be your key to more free stuff! Bring the whole family and have some fun with the pictures!
Christelyn and I would also LOVE to meet some of our Sacramento area readers! So if you see us at any of the Human Charging Stations, be sure to say hello and we can have ourselves a mini meet and greet! But beware, you know we are all about that Instagram life so you might find your picture on @fitnessmama_ later. #justsaying :) So flex those muscles and we can't wait to see you there! Make sure to follow us on Facebook for up to the minute details and times for when we'll be at the sites on Saturday and Sunday!
Who's in?
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| Thanks #PremierProtein for the yummy products! |
Disclosure: This post was partly sponsored by Premier Protein but the opinions and photos are 100% of Fitness Mama's.
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