2008: The Year of My Epiphany

I turn 39 this Sunday. One of my personal goals is to approach my 40th year on this planet in the best shape and health ever--not just strong. And to do that, I have to seriously address some infrastructure issues: my poorly tracking patellae and tight IT bands. Fate shipped me (by mistake--really!) an entire case of Kinesiotex tape; I thought it was probably a sign that it was time to invest in myself and stop being my own worst patient. I have no desire to undergo a lateral release; it is time to hit it hard and from every angle and plane of movement.

This Capricorn has to look further than the sagittal plane (is that a pun?), and two-legged, barbell squat movements. Lots of accessory joint movement and pronation/supination to address at and below the knee.

So, I'd love to hear from you if you've had good results with any specific approaches to this problem or you know of any success/horror stories with lateral release surgery. It is time to put in the quality time.

Comments

Jen's Gym at Crossfit Watertown, CT said…
I'm assuming you've done everything possible to avoid the surgery? Having just come off a surgery I would be the frist to say it's a hard road!

As for your B-day..I'm right behind you and have the same plan! Lets do it right!
5:05 AM
Tom Brose said…
happy birthday!
8:03 PM
Anonymous said…
Tracy,

Just remember it's not the age, it's the milage and the maintanence.

I will do whatever it takes to avoid any more surgery on my right knee.

My ITB's have also given my problems when I combine heavy lifting and too many miles on the bike.

Have you tried massage with a foam roller? When I remember to massage the ITM's on a regular basis, they feel much better.

Have you ever heard of an exercise called "Walts Special"? I found it on the Sports Injury Bulletin web site.

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0168b.htm

I have found this also makes the ITB's feel a lot better.

One other thing I have found that helps is using sensory inhibition to get the ITB's to relax. Tighten the opposing muscle group, (The hip adductors) and the ITB's will relax. I used this on a long ride once when both ITB's were killing me and almost immediatley they quit bothering me.

For the knee cap tracking:

What about the exercise Peterson Step Ups? My right knee cap always feels much better when I perform these at least twice per week.

Keith Sutorius
10:02 AM
Tracy Fober said…
Thanks Jen, Tom and Keith!

Hey Keith, who is Peterson? I like those. And I'm working on getting Walt's Special. The foam roller is a staple for me.

I appreciate your time and suggestions. It is always good to have input from a variety of sources so you don't get in a rut.

-Tracy
6:55 AM
Anonymous said…
Tracy,

Glad to hear that you are working on Walt's special. Your knees are going to thank you.

Everytime I do them, it takes about 10 - 12 reps before I get the movement correct. Mostly having that hip pushing out far enough.

I have no idea who Peterson is.
I found Peterson's step ups on Charles Poliquin web site. Some of his ideas are too hard core for me, be he does have some great info.

Every time I talk to another cyclist about knee pain, I mention what my routine is. They hardly ever seem intersted in learning these simple knee stabilty exercises.

Keith
10:39 AM
An experiment in improving health and fitness through minimalist philosophy said…
Tracy,

I'm going to see you speak at the NSCA convention and really enjoy your site! I wanted to mention the Egoscue Method to you if you haven't already heard of it. I work for them right now as an Exercise therapist and i also compete in strength athletics and, in particular, olympic weightlifting. Their focus is on postural alignment and movement dysfunction and they use posture as a way to tell which muscles are facilitated and which aren't (in particular, the deep intrinsic postural muscles that become less facilitated as the peripheral muscles start to become the compensatory prime movers). I know it's helped me out a ton and my training has never been better because of guys like Pete Egoscue, Ida Rolf, Vladimir Janda, and all those guys that look at the body as one piece in addressing movement dysfunction. I believe what affects the foot will affect the shoulder and vice-versa, instead of the common allopathic reductionist approach of just treating symptoms and the site of injury.

Let me know what you think if you have already tried some of the Egoscue stuff, if not, i'd love to talk to you about it.

-Charlie
12:53 PM
Tracy Fober said…
Charlie,

Thanks for the note. Look forward to meeting you in July. I have not studied any Egoscue stuff, but I'm familiar with Janda. Of course, I'm always interested in good info.

See you in Vegas--we might be the only two in the room! LOL

-Tracy
7:43 AM
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