After 4 months of hard cold training through winter i was feeling primed for the upcoming seson, i went for my regular run and noticed my knee felt a bit ‘funny’, the next day i tried running again and couldn’t get more than 50 meters before it felt too painful.
That was a month and about 10 physio visits ago, i can walk around without pain now, and can swim at about 85% kicking strengh without pain, but there’s no way i could ride standing up although it feels OK when i sit. Running is out of the question.
Apparently it’s something to do with the VMO muscle and an unstable knee cap (according to the physio), it’s frustrating the hell out of me and doesn’t seem to be improving very quickly (if at all).
Has anyone got any advice or suggestions that i could try in order to get it right, anything will do 'cause i’m desperate.
cheers,
the blower.
What’s the PT guy having you do?
I’ve had a ton of PT visits in the last 1.5 years, each had a different philosophy. One would work with me for 15 minutes and send me on my way, another performed massage, and a third (the one U of M athletes use) kicked the crap out of me 2-3 hrs, 3x/week. I just posted on this in response to someone else a few days ago, so you can do a search of my posts if you want to read it.
This past winter I had a weak VMO muscle allowing my knee cap to not track properly, as well as some ITB problems. It’s all about working it out and strengthing the muscles around the knee. By far, the best way to do this is with working out with a PT or personal trainer, but if you’re motivated, you can probably do it on your own. I just sent out a bunch of stuff last week to a couple other guys if you want it, but the best advice I can give is to find a PT who works with athletes and work your butt off, there’s no reason why this has to be a problem for you.
Wow, I hear your frustration and disappointment. I was “lucky”, I blew my knee (ACL, MCL) to shreds and had no less than six surgeries in 1987. My luck came in the form of suffering a spectacular, traumatic injury. I injured it on Sunday, Had the surgery on Tuesday, was in physical therapy by Friday. That was key. While a lot of people are adverse to surgery, I say, if it is a viable option, it has worked for me. Since the surgery I have done Eco-Challenge, Raid Gauloises, 2 Ironmans, a bunch of other triathlons, about 10 marathons, 2 100+ mile running races and some other hairbrain shit including climbing the highest mountains on three continents. Don;t give up. I broke my back also and have never let it stand in my way. Don’t give up- never do nothing, always do something. You can recover. There is a way. I guarantee it. My knee was blown to shreds and it is right as rain now. Looks like hell, but works awesome 
thanks for the reply,
I’ve got about 6 different exercises all aimed at strengthening the VMO and making it work differently,
- sitting and tensing the VMO without tensing the outer quad (i don’t know the tech terms - sorry)
- ball between my legs up against the wall and squatting
- steppping off a phone book
- sissy squats (PT’s term), basically one leg squat (left) with right foot in front off ground
- forward lunges
- side on pushing out with right leg/knee against wall, left leg has all weight
Also a couple of quad exercises.
The guy i’m seeing doesn’t do much massage, more keen on exercises, although he did dig his elbow into the back of my knee and up my hammy, it hurt heaps but i think it really helped also - i’ve now got my girlfriend doing the same thing to me daily.
The PT is pretty keen for me to get some orthotics, are they really going to make a big difference?
i’m getting frustrated b/c i’ve never had a knee problem before and it seems like a slow recovery process. Especially since i’ve never been this fit (excluding knee) and was looking forward to a big season, which is starting towards the end of November.
the B.
It is a slow process. It took me several months to get back to normal, and I had some sort of pain everyday through the whole process. The problem is that it takes around 4 weeks (I think) to generate new muscle tissue. So, while you may see increases in strength and ability to do the exercises in a short amount of time, it is because your body is adapting and becoming more efficient at the motions.
Sounds like you have similar exercises to what I did, although once you get a little stronger, and as long as it doesn’t hurt, I would incorporate leg press, especially single leg, leg press. Also, any type of drills where you balance on one leg are key, as they work the stabilizing muscles.
Another thing you can try in addition to the massage you have your girlfriend doing, is to take a tennis ball, and place it under various parts of your leg. This is from The pain free triathlete and www.julstro.com. Lay on your side, and move the tennis ball all along the outside of your leg. When you find a spot that is painful, leave the tennis ball there for 1 minute, then move to another spot. This works out the knots, and loosens up the muscles that are tense and pulling the knee cap over. It hurts like hell, but gets better the more you do it, and feels great afterwards. After a while you will get a feel for how it works, and move it all over to different spots. I would recommend you go to www.julstro.com and purchase the book, lots of good tips in there. Good luck,
Jack