oooh, me knee!

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After a workout involving squatting, tractor tyre flipping and squat thrusts, my right knee is slightly swollen and tender under the lateral portion of the patella. Its not an impact injury, so I suspect that my biomechanics might be a bit off when I do split squats.

I've come about to this thought because without an impact, the knee really cant do that much wrong on its own. It's when it is put out of alignment by other structures in the body- either the one below it - the ankle/foot, or the one above it - the hip - that problems are caused. This creates pain in the knee - which is only the effect- not the cause (as I may have mentioned in a previous note).

So, I have iced the offending knee (well, the patella tendon), had a cold bath after the workout, which is now becoming a habit, smeared ibuprofen gel around the area to assist in anti-inflammation, and have spent the last couple of hours with my legs above the level of my heart. Yes, this is the PRICE protocol- protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation.

Having been doing wall squats for warming up for the past few weeks makes me think that normal squats is not the issue here. The split squats are showing up a weakness/inbalance in the way I squat through one of my knees. I suspect that this is due to tight hip rotators, perhaps pulling my knee out of alignment. This is only a theory, and once the inflammation and pain has gone, I shall look into this in a lot more detail, to find out where I'm going wrong, and what I can do to correct it. (I suspect that the answer will be long slow split squats emphasising exact form). Lots of effort, but there are no real benefits to trying to cheat.

Am I being a drama queen? After all, its only a little pain in the knee after a bit of a hard workout.
I don't think so. I only have 2 knees, and it's a bit hard to run/work/walk/live with only one, and if my body lets me know that it needs a break with the signs of inflammation and pain, then I shall listen to it, and take care of it in the best way possible.

Tomorrow is meant to be a recovery day- which would mean 100 TGUs with no weight. I'm a little concerned about putting weight on my knee for the get-up, so I may change it for another recovery workout which will focus on body weight and flexibility.

Listen to your body, give it rest, let it recover properly and it will last you a life time.

Tim