I just started using my elliptical and have gone 20 minutes each time at a pretty easy pace since I am starting out. It does feel like I am doing a lot less work than when running and I am working up a sweat so that part feels pretty good. One thing though I noticed my knees feel very tired right away and throughout the workout. I guess sore really isn't the right word because they don't feel sore afterwards, just very tired during. Is this just because it is a new type of workout for me and I am not used to it or am I doing something wrong?
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Sore knees on elliptical
- Thread starter dman
- Start date
It may just be a movement you are not used to but just in case please check alignment and level to which you are bending.
Alignment, knees must follow the line of your feet to aviod potential damage. The change needs to occur in the feet if this is not happening as your knees will generally not change. Basically when your knees bend you should lose sight of your feet, if you don't move your toes across which ever way you need for this to happen. If your standing with feet at 1 o'clock and your knees go to 11, then move to 11, etc.
Depth of bend. especially when you are new to a movement any bend of the knees beyond 90 degrees will feel like a strain. If you build up steadily the tendons you are putting pressure on will strengthen, but if they are constantly sore and inflammed they will not. 90 degress or above this generally doesn't happen to healthy knees, so if you aren't bending that far and algnment is good, give them some support while the strengthen.
The activity you have chosen and duration is excellent, but if this is the first activity in a while your body will have to adapt. One other option is to split the time in half and do two lots of it, until you have built strength. Remember this exercise is putting most of yuor weight on one leg at a time for long duration, not a bad thing, but something you may no be used to.
Alignment, knees must follow the line of your feet to aviod potential damage. The change needs to occur in the feet if this is not happening as your knees will generally not change. Basically when your knees bend you should lose sight of your feet, if you don't move your toes across which ever way you need for this to happen. If your standing with feet at 1 o'clock and your knees go to 11, then move to 11, etc.
Depth of bend. especially when you are new to a movement any bend of the knees beyond 90 degrees will feel like a strain. If you build up steadily the tendons you are putting pressure on will strengthen, but if they are constantly sore and inflammed they will not. 90 degress or above this generally doesn't happen to healthy knees, so if you aren't bending that far and algnment is good, give them some support while the strengthen.
The activity you have chosen and duration is excellent, but if this is the first activity in a while your body will have to adapt. One other option is to split the time in half and do two lots of it, until you have built strength. Remember this exercise is putting most of yuor weight on one leg at a time for long duration, not a bad thing, but something you may no be used to.
Ok thanks for the tips, I will check that out next time I use it. As far as breaking it up though, they don't gradually get tired the longer i use it. They seem to feel tired immediately after I start using it, but I have only used it 3 times so far. One more question for you...when using it, should my heels stay in contact with the pedal all the time or should I be lifting them? I have been lifting my heels on the upward stride like you would do when running.
The knee is a synovial joint and is therefore lubricated by movement. If this has been lacking in your life for a while they may need some support while getting back into condition. Based on the fact they are hurting immediately I would say this is a likely issue, obviously I could be wrong.
The good news is if it this and there is no damage to the synovial membrane responsible for lubricating the joint it will soon get with the program and your knees will gain the synovial fluid you need, as long as you keep up the low intensity workload.
As long as you are moving your body with good alignment I think taking your heels off will make little difference to this activity. However this does depend if you are then forcing more weight through the other leg.
There is another poster on here jrahien who is very good on remedial activitiies. If he posts something that disagrees with my advice, trust him over me.
The good news is if it this and there is no damage to the synovial membrane responsible for lubricating the joint it will soon get with the program and your knees will gain the synovial fluid you need, as long as you keep up the low intensity workload.
As long as you are moving your body with good alignment I think taking your heels off will make little difference to this activity. However this does depend if you are then forcing more weight through the other leg.
There is another poster on here jrahien who is very good on remedial activitiies. If he posts something that disagrees with my advice, trust him over me.
I think that was the problem that this was just new for me. After about 7 or 8 times that I have been using it, the knees just feel tired for the first couple minutes then it goes away. I am still taking it easy but increasing the resistance a little bit or adding an extra 30 seconds each time, then walking on it for a few minutes to cool down. Once I get up to 30 minutes, should I stick at that time for awhile but just increase my speed or resistance? So far I like doing this. The time sure goes by fast when watching tv. I still am doing it every other day. I hope I can stick with it so I can see what kind of results I will get! Thanks for all the help on here.
Increasing intensity via time or pace is up to you. If you start getting knee pains again when increasing pace, drop back and increase time instead.
If you get a buzz out of how long you kept going for, duration is the winner, if how quickly you covered a distance is more thrilling do that.
Good to see the running is going well enough to be thinking of upping your game.
If you get a buzz out of how long you kept going for, duration is the winner, if how quickly you covered a distance is more thrilling do that.
Good to see the running is going well enough to be thinking of upping your game.