Knee Osteoarthritis and erg training

[emccorm]

Team, my first post.....

Have recently restarted rowing training after the best part of 15 years on dry land. Over the last few years ive developed an arthritic left knee as a result of wearing my cartiliage away over the years. As a result, i am very restricted in my weight training regime. Cant squat, cant power clean, cant do anything really that requires any sort of explosive drive when i am standing vertically. I am wondering if anyone has any tips on leg strength development for the purpose of rowing faster and harder using just the erg or a bike. I can ride as long as i dont get out of the saddle. I am a 7min 10 sec 2k rower now and want to get to 630 in 2011, will be a lot easier if i can get some muscles back in these legs of mine. Any tips and or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. cheers, ed.

[gregsmith01748]

Hi,

I am not an expert, but I am a fellow Knee arthritis victim. I was diagnosed in October, but was in tough shape for a few months prior. At the time of diagnosis, my knee was very inflamed. The Doc drained it and gave me a cortisone shot into the joint.

Since that time, I have been pampering it. No running, Aleve twice a day, and Glucosamine Chondroitin (Doc says: Probably doesn't help, but it doesn't hurt). I travel a lot for business and it is stiff and sore after long flights, so I am now avoiding putting stress on it right after travel. I was doing some weight training before being diagnosed, but not since.

The good news is that my knee feels better now than it has for a year. I am maintaining 80K to 120K meters a week on the erg and at least not getting slower.

As to your specific question, I went a different way. I am using the WP and hoping that the balance of Low Rate, distance and intervals provides enough stimulus to maintain or improve the power and strength in my knees. The way I look at, the erg is providing a far greater range of motion than just about anything else, and a gradual build of pressure instead of a shock. My plan is to stick with this at least until after the CRASH-Bs at the end of Feb. After that, I might seek some expert guidance and add a bit of weight training. If I do, I am thinking get advice from a real trainer will be in order. When I was doing weights last time I think I did a lot more damage than good.

[emccorm]

Thanks Greg> its not a lot of fun thats for sure. For the last couple of years ive ben wearing whats called a Bledsoe Thruster. Its a brace displaces weight through your knee and as a result, i can walk around without the fear of limping for a week. if you arent aware of these braces i can thoroughly recommend u google them and ask your specialist about whether it will make your life more manageable. The erg doesnt hurt me it seems. Ive been slowling and gently doing light 45 degree leg presses wearing the brace and i am not getting any swelling or pain yet. I am extremely worried about doibg more damage cause next step is a knee replacement, which for me, at 32years of age, would be problematic.

Lets hope the pointy heads in the medical science world find a way to reattach/regrow cartiliage or a suitable replacement sooner rather than later. Running used to be the most therapuetic thing in my life. ive not run in 7 years. planning to replace that joy with some OTW sculling soon.

Cheers and thanks for the reply
Aussie Ed

[TabbRows]

Aussie Ed,

I have slight menicus tears in both knees. I reinjured one knee two years ago trying to increase weights on squats and lunges while keeping up a relativley heavy erg and OTW training schedule. As a result, I can't really push more than 22-24 SPM without feeling the pain in the knees afterward. Lunges and leg raises/ham curls or definitely out as knees get crunchy. And that becomes my guidepost, if the knees creak/crunch or there's a level of pain just beyond some slight stiffness in getting up and down, I back off.

For me, glucosamine/chrondroitin was a waste of $. Black cherry juice and Omega fish oil tablets seem to help but they also function to help on other things, cholesterol (fishoil) and general muscle recovery (BCJ). I spend a lot of time doing other things to assist in strengthening the muscles surrounding and supporting the knees. Aduction/abduction machines, 1/2 squats bodyweight only, isometric quad and hamstring excercises, stretching, use of resistance bands, etc.. Seems to help. Theres a whole host of these exercises on the web. I can erg and OTW at ratings under 24 for a good distance (15k @20-22 on the erg for example) but nothing note worthy in terms of time. On good days, I can push a steady 165-170w for long periods and feel like I'm doing about 75% MHR. On occassion I can slip in an interval set of 500m pieces at 26-28. But then I do a set or two of the resistance bands and stretching afterward and usually follow it with a restday. No PBs or hopes of 2K age group placements in Crash Bs but good steady exercise and plenty of technique focus, which helps a lot OTW.

Good luck with your training and as my physio says, if it starts to hurt or the knee gets crunchy while rowing/exercsing. STOP.

[henry88]

Better let the pain in your knees be reduced to a nominal level, than you can start rowing because it may get worsen.

[kayakr]

You might try an elimination diet and back way off on protein. Going vegan did wonders for my toes with noticable results in less than 7 days. I'm happy to trade steaks for the ability to ski all day. http://www.drmcdougall.com/res_arthritis.html Try cosamine ASU with a low inflammation diet before giving up on the supplements. I'd suggest not doing anything more than light rehab level work if you're taking NSAIDS and steroids since there are studies indicating they don't prevent or may worsen progression. These are very powerful drugs and can't tell what's happening with them. Damaging yourself further in the name of exercise can be a very hard lesson to accept and live with I know. You might focus on higher RPMs and endurance rather than low times and strength. Anything that does not make you feel better should be a sign to back off. Spinning on a bike makes my knees feel great. For challenging activities like XC skiing (XC shuffle for me) I modify my technique, equipment and speed to minimize stresses and then just go and go. Preserving a capability is a huge win compared to losing it. Don't forget your rest days.

[Cyclingman1]

I have a couple of thoughts on rehabbing knees, being an ex basketball player years ago who could hardly walk.

Cycling has to be best knee rehab activity ever. Course if things are too bad, then all bets are off.
I would be totally amazed that diet has any impact of knee health, including supplements. Bill Rodgers won the Boston Marathon several times on a diet of cheeseburgers.

[kayakr]

Diet may not work for everyone, but in my case I can say for sure it was way better than 500mg naproxen sodiums even just for symptom relief much less recovery. I could barely walk a 1/4 mile and now I wear out my teenage kids walking all over paris or other cities on trips. That's why I suggest a trial. 1 week is a small price to pay for the chance it helps. In one of the RA studies it was noted that 50% of the patients had stuck with a very strict diet after 2 years. Apparently that was the 50% who responded, as this is a good response rate. A quick diet study is the movie "forks over knives" which shows people beating diabetes with food and also very sick CHD patients still alive 20 years after their traditional doctors told them to go home and get their affairs in order.

[kayakr]

Another surprising idea is that relearning to walk may help you. Through orthotics and the book "painfree" I have releared to walk from toes out to feet parallel. The book explains why this is better for joints although the muscles take quite a while to get used to it. After doing the exercises in the book I could easily walk 2x as far and walking is not really exercise anymore because I'm using so much more bone to support my motion. "superfeet" are a descent generic orthotic if you don't have foot issues.

[mberry]

Aussie Ed

Welcome to the effects of a life well lived ... dodgy knees! Rowing and skierging at least let you continue to train. My specialist was horrified at the amount of rowing and skierging, as well as weights I was doing. After some experimenting, I found that playing over 60s cricket [especially bowling] hurt my knees the most, and cutting that back [at 62] reduced knee pain significantly.

Speaking of specialists, they expressed concern that I was doing sets of 5x6 squats, for example. They then paled when I mentioned that rowing meant doing over 1500 reps an hour [that got a special mention in one report]. It is important to find a specialist who also trains.

I have found that explosive work places the most stress on knees [eg sprint rowing and skierging, heavy weights, cricket]. Managing that is crucial. They now think that my arthritic knees might last another 10 years without surgery. But eventually, disc cartilage will get worn down eventually [in the back too]. Doing some weights, rowing, skierging seems to maintain muscle mass, if not the same level of strength. I seem to have more spring in my step than other guys on the golf course my age, just not the younger ones. Go figure!

Regards
Martin [make that Aussie Martin]