The last overuse injury I am addressing is the most common and painful in women, knee pain. Women are more prone to knee pain because of our anatomy. Women have wider hips due to a turnout of the pelvis. This makes our knee joint more unstable. Women also are more likely to have pliable ligaments and less muscle mass in the quadriceps and hamstrings creating instability. Knee pain is the one overuse injury that should not be worked through. Constant stress on the knee joint overtime can result in long term knee problems.
Prevention Tips
The easiest way to prevent knee pain is by increasing hamstring strength and fast twitch muscle fibers by performing exercises such as weighted hamstring curls, jumping rope, and walking lunges. Steer clear of overdoing seated leg curls, and deep knee bends (past 90.) Make sure your strength routine is balanced between quad specific exercises as well as hamstring specific exercises. Keeping your weight at a healthy and consistant BMI can also prevent the pain. Each additional pound of body weight adds four pounds of pressure to the knee caps, when climbing stairs it can add twenty pounds, and running it can add a whopping 25-30 pounds. If you begin to experience knee pain schedule a doctors appointment to seek treatment.
Tagged as: Anatomy, Bmi, Consistant, Exercises, Fast Twitch Muscle, Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers, Hamstring Exercises, Hamstrings, Jumping Rope, Knee Caps, Knee Pain, Knee Problems, Ligaments, Muscle Exercises, Muscle Mass, Overuse Injury, Pelvis, Prevention Tips, Quadriceps, Quadricepts, Seated Leg Curls, Stairs, Twitch Muscle Fibers, Wider Hips
