Knee Strength

[jbcs16]

yes, much looser without the fin, but more fun to ride once you can control it.

I only wear the knee brace to wakeboard, but I am 33 and don't play sports as competitively as I used to. The only other thing that I wear it for is playing tennis or racquetball where you make a lot of quick lateral movements and stop and start. But I don't play either of those very much now. Not because of the knee, just don't have the time or people to play with that I did during college. I teach middle school PE so I am all the time playing basketball, badminton, floor hockey, volleyball and stuff like that with the kids. the knee holds up just fine without the brace for recreational activities. You never really get back to 100% after a reconstruction with or without a brace. you can get close, but it is never like it was before the injury.

[wakechick13]

TheHebrewHammer, Thats not nessicarly true...becuase my friend messed up her knee playing soccer and is getting to play again but doesnt have to wear a brace.

[wakechick13]

jbcs16, It doesnt hurt for just everyday activities? Yeah middle school p.e. is a lot of movemnt.

[jbcs16]

not really. there are days that it swells some and gets sore. but nothing bad enough to keep you from doing everyday activities. it does hurt to go down steps that are steep like bleachers or something. going up is fine, but down is not so fun. same with walking down a steep hill. not sure why.

[wakechick13]

Well thats good. Probably because you put more weight to balance yourself while goimg downstairs.

[Wakeboarder3780]

I read through about half of this then started skimming. The only thing I would like to add is part way through you got the opinion that you shouldn't worry about knee injuries. While I agree with the idea that you shouldn't constantly be fearing injury, you should also be taking steps to prevent it if possible.

From the few posts I've seen from you, you're pretty fired up and want to ride hard. I don't know how you're built but I can absolutely guarantee you that overall focus on strength training is going to do you wonders. I went from 175 lbs about 3 years ago to 210 and rising. I notice a huge difference in my durability when riding. While it's certainly still possible to get joint injuries, I feel nearly invincible when I'm out there and it's a great confidence builder.

What I would push you to do is start seriously focusing on strength training. Most girls think being fit is being toned and not pudgy. You're signed up for a contact sport. You need some muscle to prevent injury and ease pain when you take spills. Try to change your workouts into an actual body building routine where you focus on gaining muscle. You don't need to look like the hulk but you should certainly try to gain some serious strength.

As far as stance goes it looks like you got a lot of advice. The one thing I would mention is that as your stance gets wider, the more you should duck out your toes. If you are an avid gym goer the easy way to tell is do squats. Even if you have no weight and put your feet a little narrower than shoulder width and make your feet parallel (ie not ducked out at all) if you squat down (legs to a 90 degree angle) you should feel pressure in your knees (this is hard on your knees, never do this with a lot of weight).

You might not realize you feel the pressure until you take your stance out to a shoulder width stance and duck out your feet a fair amount. Now squat down to 90 degrees. If you don't feel a drastic change I'd be quite surprised. Now what you want to do is find the ideal combination of width and duck (angle). If you are already used to squatting you already know your power position. For me it's shoulder width and ducked out a fair amount. I've squatted over 600 lbs this way and my knees feel great afterwards, zero pain.

It bothers me that you say you feel pain afterwards. I dont think that's normal and I would certainly try to make that go away. If it helps, burning sensations are typically felt if you tear something. It's possible you might have torn something earlier in life and it's being aggravated by activity now. If you really want to be in this sport long haul, IMO you'll want to get those knees feeling a lot better than they currently are. Best of luck.

[wakechick13]

Wakeboarder3780, I am very fired up to ride its just that I personally dont have enough knowledge to teach myself. Its hard to find someone that will take my serious interest in the sport seriously...people look at this small teenaged chick and dont want to take the time to teach me everything. Thats why I highly, highly value all of yalls comments and advice. I am not scared to be told off at what im doing wrong and i value criticism.

I have a 5"4' and125lb chick. So gaining strength and muscle will really help with your riding??

As for the squats, what do you mean to duck out?

Yeah my pain is usually after I ride. It doesnt burn, its more like a needle sharp pain that starts lower knee and shoots upward. I know I havent torn anything. I will need to find out ways to truely build up that strength.

[TheHebrewHammer]

Yes, bulking up can make you more resistant to some of the hits you're going to take while riding, but don't neglect muscular endurance. This is also extremely important. The ideally conditioned wakeboarder can maintain a powerful grip on the handle and excellent stability in the neck, shoulders, and back even after hours or days of riding.

This kind of endurance will ensure that your form and posture don't break down due to fatigue, and this will go a long way toward preventing injury. It will also just make riding a lot more fun. No one likes to be exhausted after one set.

[wakechick13]

TheHebrewHammer, Muscular endurance will help with things such as form, posture, stability, grip, ect? So will this also help you endure longer periods of riding? Because right mow after a solid week or so of riding Im tired and physically worn out.

[TheHebrewHammer]

[wakechick13]

Yeah I can only ride for a couple hours a day before Im done.

What does tendonitis do??

[TheHebrewHammer]

It's an inflammation (swelling) of your tendon (s). I get it inside my elbows. That's called tennis elbow, but we like to call it cable elbow

It's really painful and it makes it just about impossible to hold onto the handle. If you massage the area effectively, ice it, take an anti-inflammatory medication like advil, or just wait a few hours, the pain will start to subside.

I don't know of any permanent damage done by tendonitis. It's something that can ruin your day of riding if you don't deal with it properly, but as far as I know, it's not a long term thing.

[wakechick13]

Lol! I think that name fits good.

Yeah that would ruin your day. Hey but now I know what to do if that ever happens to me
But I never have problems with my elbows hurting...its usually stomach, shoulders, and knees.

[TheHebrewHammer]

Your stomach and shoulder pain should ease a bit as you get stronger and develop better form. Not sure about the knee pain, though.

[wakechick13]

Stomach and shoulder should ease up??

I hoping that maybe if I build up around my knees that it will ease just a little.

[wakechick13]

Stomach and shoulder should ease up??

I hoping that maybe if I build up around my knees that it will ease just a little.

[TheHebrewHammer]

It's hard for me to predict that because I've never really had knee pain, so I don't know what it's like. There are many potential problems that could be causing your knee pain. If you have some kind of internal structural deficiency, like cartilage damage, then building up your muscles isn't going to fix that.

[wakechick13]

Yeah thats true...I just dont know what to do for it...

[TheHebrewHammer]

If changing your stance doesn't work, get it checked out by a doctor and find out what that actual problem is.

[wakechick13]

Okay I will have to try changing my stance....

[wakechick13]

Thank yall sooo much for all the advice! I highly appreciate it.

[Wakeboarder3780]

the term "ducked out" or "ducking out" your stance is used to describe point your toes outward. Here is a simple example. Take the narrowest stance possible, your feet right next to each other standing on the carpet. If you make your feet touch each other, your feet are parallel.

From this position to "duck out" your stance, point your toes outwards. If you do it correctly, your heels should still be touching and your feet should now make a V shape.

Now do the same thing but starting with a wider stance. If your feet are parallel and you squat down far enough that your knee makes a 90 degree angle (this is the proper squat) you should feel pressure in your knees.

Now duck your feet out a bit. Repeat the squat. It should feel better. Keep experimenting with different degrees of ducking out. You should find a happy medium where you dont feel any pressure and you feel "powerful" and not limited. This should be your riding stance.

As for strength versus endurance. I would just suggest doing any sort of strength training. I train for size only (body building) and I have great power with less endurance. I notice no negative side effects other than getting winded after my set gets long. It doesnt negatively effect me though because it's time to get out anyway when this happens. I already take half hour sets my buddies dont want to see me riding for an hour.

I agree that what you're likely feeling is just normal pains from doing exercises you arent used to doing. I also agree it sounds like you have shin splints. Again, work on strengthening your body (your whole body) and those will be a thing of the past.

If you have absolutely NO idea what to do, bench, squat, and deadlift are 3 simple exercises you can start with. Deadlifts are extremely good for building strength. Use a diamond bar instead of a straight bar if you can because it's easier to prevent bad from in dead lifting. If those exercises scare you, do ANYTHING where you are weight training. Anything is better than nothing. If you don't have access to a gym being younger, start doing wall squats. If you dont know what this is, google it. Then do pushups, then do ab workouts (youtube is decent for this since it's hard to mess up ab workout form, but be careful of form videos on other lifts, any chump can make a youtube video). You can get a great workout without a gym.

[Wakeboarder3780]

Oh yeah i forgot to mention. You asked if strength training really makes that big of a difference in riding. I used to be 175 average build. fast forward 2 years and I'm 210 (not fat either). Putting on that much extra muscle the difference is astounding.

Not only for taking falls like hammer mentioned (which by the way there is a night and day difference, I don't want to jinx myself but I swear I can't get hurt now *knocks on wood*). I've taken some nasty falls and being stronger really helps weather the beating.

Falls aside, you will be more agile, you will be more powerful, you will have faster reaction times. This means in riding wakeboard I also noticed, more saves (less falls), more height on my jumps, longer manuals, etc. And longer riding times per set. If I'm learning a new trick I can literally go all night. I've gone for hour plus sessions before just learning a 360. I mean look how dark it is in this video when I landed my first 3. I rode LATE (i tried for over an hour before i landed this, crashed every time):
http://vimeo.com/28694227

[wakechick13]

Wakeboarder3780, strive to build muscle?? I have ate it multiple times that led to me stopping for the day...beong stronger helps you with those Im guessing?

Wow that is pretty dark. I have never ridin that late before. Congrats on the landing though!!

[TheHebrewHammer]

May I be the first to say, wakechick13, if you have no lifting experience, DO NOT bench, squat, or deadlift. You can hurt yourself very easily and not get much benefit from these exercises if you do not learn the proper technique. This is especially true of squatting.

I was into bodybuilding up until last year. I was in the gym almost every day for about 6 years, and I can't tell you how many times I saw newbies doing wrong/dangerous things. No one is born knowing how to work out. It takes responsible instruction and diligent practice.

If you want to get serious about weight lifting, get a trainer or someone very knowledgeable to work with you for several weeks and make sure you're doing everything right.

I think you'd be better off just doing bodyweight exercises for now. Squat and lunge, but without any weight. Do pushups and especially pull ups. Work your abs. As with weight lifting, you'll see much better results if you learn the correct techniques, but at least you won't be likely to hurt yourself if you do these exercises wrong.

Finally, most guys at wakeboarding camps will tell you that half an hour is too long for a set. If you ride that long, your strength and concentration will start to wane. You'll be less likely to learn anything and more likely to get hurt. Furthermore, you'll be able to get in a lot more ride time over a day if you take breaks and keep your sets to about 20 minutes or less.

That said, Wakeboarder3780, A+ for determination and congrats on the 3! I remember taking 5 sets in one day when I was trying to learn that trick.

[wakechick13]

TheHebrewHammer, oh I know not to push myself. I know what my limits are and when I reach them. So just doing those excerises w/out weights will be good?

My sets are usually 10-15 mins long and do about 3 usually. It just depends on how Im feeling.

[Wakeboarder3780]

Thanks hammer. As for what you're saying about lifting, I agree with part of it. You shouldn't do any exercise if you don't know the proper technique. However, you can research all of that online before you ever enter a gym. Proper form is typically well documented online if you do enough research.

That being said I disagree with staying away from the exercises I listed. They're phenomenal exercises to be doing - especially deadlift which has the most negative connotations because a lot of people do the form improperly and hurt themselves.

If you want free advice from someone who's paid a trainer for 6 months (ask me what the bill on that was yikes), and learned a little more than he knew before the biggest things I learned about the exercises I listed above are:

Deadlifts - use a trap bar (or diamond bar) so your back starts in a more vertical slope. This takes 90% of the bad form worries away because it makes the exercise much more beginner friendly.

Bench - Only take the bar down far enough that your elbows make a 90 degree angle. Anything more is putting a large amount of strain on your shoulders. If people want to make fun of you for "not going all the way down" you can explain to them that when they go for their max and they arch their back all super high to make their chest higher, they only go down to 90 degrees anyway - you should aren't putting your body in a contorted shape. Stupidest thing you can do IMO. A couple 2x4's screwed together placed on my chest ends up being the right height to get 90 degrees.

Squat - The ducked out stance as previously discussed and the number one thing people do wrong is not going down far enough. If you aren't going to make your quads parallel to the ground don't even waste your time on the exercise.

[TheHebrewHammer]

Ya, I know there are excellent tutorials online, but I just get a little worried about newbies doing these lifts because so many people do them wrong. You can definitely teach yourself the correct form, but seeing it and doing it are two different things and it just seems like most people lack the dedication and focus it takes to train themselves to do these exercises properly.

[wakechick13]

Wakeboarder3780, thanks for the knowledge. See I would have never known any of this!

[wakechick13]

TheHebrewHammer, yeah see thats probably me...Inhave a tendancy to push myself a little too hard and have a short attention span...

[TheHebrewHammer]

[wakechick13]

TheHebrewHammer, So basically I dont need to push myself and just gradually get better...just like riding. If I really focus then I know I could because thats what I do wakeboarding.

[TheHebrewHammer]

[wakechick13]

TheHebrewHammer, Okay...I get it now...I just have to dedicate myself to it and I could probably do it.

[TheHebrewHammer]

No doubt! Just about anyone can learn to lift properly and build the kind of body they want if they're willing to put in the time.