Knee Health and My Fitness Career

This seems a good place to discuss knee health from my background as a fitness professional.  I have spent 12 years teaching fitness classes...all kinds:  I have taught low impact, hi/Lo impact, step, double step, body conditioning, yoga, stretch and flexibility, power pump (a barbell class), Zumba, Latin dance aerobics, Pilates (mat and reformer) and even a few spinning classes.

I also spent 6 years as a personal trainer, working with bands, balls, machines, bars. Many of my clients were people who were in a rehabilitative process with knees, shoulders and elbows. I did my best to work with Physical Therapists and doctors in these cases. Several of my clients had joint replacements.

I have studied, taken classes, and self-educated, and here is what I know: women's knees are more likely to break down than a man's. There are many reasons, and you can find that all over the web. But here's what I really want to say: my knee did NOT break down because of my fitness regimen! 

It broke down because arthritis runs in my family, and sometimes you can't fight genetics. According to my doctor, the years of doing weights and especially step exercise probably saved me from having them break down sooner. I was fortunate that my mentor taught me to step up correctly, using the glutes and not the knees.

So please, ladies, learn how to take care of your knees!

• If you do step aerobics, learn to do it properly
• Strengthen your hamstring muscles, which tend to be weak in women
• Be very careful on elliptical machines...take a look around and notice how many women drop their knee inward when on these machines.
• If you are doing squats and lunges, be sure your form is correct, get a professional to check your form.
• If your knees hurt, or if you twist or fall on your knee, take it seriously and see a doctor.

The one thing I will always wonder is if that little twist which I thought was just a muscle pull (on vacation, not in a class) was the beginning of the deterioration. I will never know because I did not have medical insurance and thought I couldn't afford a doctor. I do wish I had made the effort to get medical advice at the time. I wonder. What an x-ray would ave shown?

This twist/pull happened about 2 years before I began to have enough discomfort to seek the advice of an orthopedist. And when I did see one, the diagnosis was 8-10 years of pain management, and full knee replacement .... And here I am, 4 years after that diagnosis...with a partial replacement. So, did that injury start it? We will never know. The genetic tendency was already there, and perhaps the twist was a result of the beginning deterioration. Cause? Effect? It doesn't matter! 

The beautiful thing is that technology offered me a minimally invasive repair to my "trashed" joint. And the years of fitness are proving a true benefit in my recovery!! All those step classes have helped me to navigate my stairs with very little difficulty. Life is indeed good.