So being a young guy (21) and looking forward to a long life of tri’ing, is there any benefit to take those joint supplements that are designed for the old folks? I see them on sale every once in a while, and wonder if that would perhaps extend my knee’s life…
Anyone use these?
glucosamine/chondroitin? gave me the worst gas EVER. after clearing one too many rooms, i got off that stuff. some people have had a lot of luck with it though.
you’re 21. extend your knees’ life with good running form, good positioning on bike, stretching, massage, gym work, diet, etc.
some people say they have no benefit from the supplements, others swear by them. I fall into the swear by them category - ~5 years ago I blew out my knee (ACL rupture, mcl tear, both meniscus torn) after many years of punishing them playing soccer, bump skiing, lifting way too much weight, etc - at 24 I was told I had the knees of a 50yr old. At the suggestion of my ortho I started taking glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM suppliments and have noticed a good bit of difference. I have run out a couple of times and wondered if they were actually helping me, so I stayed off for a while - bad idea for me. Without the supplements, I can only run once a week on a soft surface otherwise my knees just hurt too bad to run. With the supplements, I can run 4-5 times a week and not have any knee pain. The MSM is also a key ingredient for me, without it the supplements still helps, but not nearly as well.
I was skeptical, but figured I’d try a bottle and see. I currently take Flex-a-min. It seems to work. I have very little knee pain after my long runs anymore. It takes a few weeks to get into your system to begin working though.
I’m a card-carrying rider of the Glucosamine bandwagon. Heard enough affirming sotries I figured what the hell, I’ll try it and see… Seemed to make a marginal improvement in chronic swimming shoulder and bum knee, but the skeptic in me realized maybe it was subconsciously just wanting to feel like it was working so I wasn’t totally convinced. A few months go by, and my joints started bothering me more noticeably than usual. Took awhile to put the pieces together, but I eventually figured out my old joint pains came back about a week or two after I ran out of the pills. Ta-da! Been taking them ever since, and I generally feel like it’s turned back the joint clock about 5-10 years (of course, there are still other muscle/tendon issues, but…). I don’t have a particular brand preference since I don’t keep religious track of what I’m taking when, just get whatever’s on sale and take 1 or 2 (do read the labels though, cuz they can vary quite a bit in the active amounts per pill) with my meal whenever I can remember it.