Joint care

Re:Joint care (fitchick77)

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:31:39 GMT

I started this thread in September (the 26th to be exact) and it is now almost December. I just AGAIN want to thank everyone for their responses and advice. I am still taking the Fish Oil (2 1200 mg capsules a day after dinner) and I feel great! I have an issue w/ my ankle most recently, but I think that is almost 100% better thanks to the fish oil and wrapping it before plyometric exercising.

I hope this thread has and will help others suffering from similar pain!

Re:Joint care (fitchick77)

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:38:52 GMT

Update: I have been taking the two capsules of fish oil everyday since I started this thread and am AMAZED how much better my knee feels (and all my joints). I started doing walking instead of the plyo type cardio I had been doing and I think it helped to "baby" my popping knee too. Much better! I wouldn't dare miss a dose!

I may try the tumeric extract at a later date. I think when I go to the health store near my town I'll see what they have to offer. They seem to have a nice selection and I'm sure they can offer some advice too. Thanks so much everyone and I feel so GREAT!!!

Re:Joint care (Basilisk)

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:36:30 GMT

fitchick77

I'm not familiar with turmeric extract. Where do you get it and how did you come to start taking it?

Hi, Turmeric is widely available at specialty vitamin stores in the Herbs section- it generally comes as a powder inside a capsule although I have seen liquid extracts as well. It is much more concentrated than culinary turmeric, though I love the taste of that so I cook with it all the time. (If you like Indian food you like turmeric.) I take a 300 mg Curcumin standardized extract capsule twice a day, sometimes 2 caps at a time, and you can take more as it is very safe.

My sister has been in retail supplement and vitamin sales for many years so she recommends things to me and has helped me a lot with my health & fitness issues regarding nutrition.

Re:Joint care (fitchick77)

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:04:31 GMT

I'm not familiar with turmeric extract. Where do you get it and how did you come to start taking it?

Re:Joint care (Basilisk)

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:27:34 GMT

I do take supplements, including turmeric extract, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory. Regardless of this my knees do pop a lot, even tough there is no pain most of the time, and I still get cartilage problems that are painful at times. I am nearly 53 and I have pretty bad arthritis in my knees, but I really think it would be a lot worse if I did not take supplements.

For me, it as not only quad work but hamstring exercises that have stabilized my knees. I have done Leslie Sansone videos with kickback moves and lateral work, and also hamstring curls, hip/thigh adductor and abductor exercises on a gym machine. My knees were once so weak and wobbly it hurt to even get on an elliptical machine, and now I can do wind sprints on one. I credit my many hours of walking videos and carefully increasing knee work in the gym for this.

Re:Joint care (katie)

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:10:51 GMT

Hi MLB, Wow, great info!! I"ll check these things out and also pick Collage's brain about what they recommend. I do get a little confused about DVD's branded as being "instructional" over "fitness". It seems as if the two should overlap but I've a lot to learn. Hope you had a great night at the theater! -katie

Re:Joint care (mlb)

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:41:43 GMT

Kate,

It's tough with BD dvd's....it wasn't until recent years that you could find good BD dvd at prices comparable to fitness dvd. The dvds were produced in limited quantities by dancers for dancers....and without a mass market....prices are higher. It wasn't' until Jillina and Suhaila and others teamed up with Miles Copeland for the Bellydance Superstars tour that you started to see quality mass marketed ones. Most of the dvd I own or are familiar with were produced before Mile's Copeland BD superstars.

I studied bellydance from a live class.   I was really into it more for the art form and creative expression than for fitness. So my bias and purchasing of BD dvd's leans toward technique or choreography.   Of those two....I used the first category the most...those that demonstrated a large variety of moves and variations..and show how to layer moves over other moves for complexity. Later on I did purchase some video's for fitness...but by that time...I was already had a facility with the dance that I could improvise to any style of music, so following a BD fitness dvd was boring to me.   So I stuck those to back of the shelf and instead just found music I liked and lost myself in it for an hour or so and when I finished really felt I good a good mind body workout.

Here are a few of my favorite technique ones:

Absolute Beginning Bellydance with Delilah, also
Delilah Bellydance Workshop Vol's I, II, II

Delilah is wonderful and inspiring lady and dancer from Seattle. These are instructional....rather than fitness or choreography. But they are so much more than just showing how to do moves. Delilah is truly inspiring to watch and to listen too. She talks from the heart about the art of dance and what it means to dancers on a personal level.   I came away with so much more than mechanics. From these it was the beginning of a journey where I would learn to listen and feel the emotional content of music and then be able to tell a story or convey emotional content through movement.   Her website is Visionarydance.com.

Mesmera's Garden
Zambra Mesmera - GypsyBellyDance
These are technique, both show lots of different moves and variations. Only available from her website I think.

IAMED- The International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance....has a good selection of DVD's, and many of the ones I've looked at are very good for teaching technique.  My favorite ones are by Ansuya.  Ansuya is the professional dancer in the Kathy Smith BD workout. The productions quality is good on the technique DVD's I've seen. However...some of their offerings of live performances have poor production quality.  Not sure if they offer any that are fitness type.

Jillina - I have the three of hers that are offered by Collage. These are mainly choreography....with instruction on some of her signature moves. I enjoy these. These are better if you have experience with BD already.

Amira Mor - Belly Dance Your Way to Energy.
This is a choreographed routine that takes quite a bit of floor space. At the time I was using this tape I found it really fun, easy to learn, and gave a cardio workout.

My only recent purchase is one I got off Amazon called "Pop Lock and Shimmy" by Michelle Joyce. This is an intermediate/advanced level drum solo instructional. I like this one, lots of content...good instruction and production quality.   I noticed she has other titles available for beginning level and some appear to be technique and other more fitness type. I'd look into her tapes, some of hers have a clip available to see if you look through the amazon reviews.

Re:Joint care (katie)

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:05:18 GMT

Hi MLB, Thanks so much for checking out your bellydancing DVD's for me! I think more fitness oriented. I've been watching recently Shimmy on Fit tv and doing some of it. I really enjoy horsebackriding and think adding this to my program might help me be a more fluid and balanced rider. I've checked out what Collage has to offer-read reviews but haven't been able to decide which one to go with. Thanks again!

Re:Joint care (w.o.w.)

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:58:35 GMT

Excellent Fitchick! I hope that all goes well, and I will look forward to hearing about your progress!

Re:Joint care (fitchick77)

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:29:52 GMT

W.O.W.-thanks again. I have started taking the two capsules of the fish oil after dinner and we'll see what happens. I also did Michelle Dozois {your Best Body Circuit}7820^ on Saturday. I still did the atomic lunges, but I was just careful to be more on point with my form. No pain!! Thanks a lot and I'll let you know in about a month if I am 100% better

Re:Joint care (mlb)

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:47:51 GMT

Hi Katie,

Was just checking in and saw your message. I'm taking a teenage girl to the theator tonight so short on time. (I'm a school mentor and also a "big sister" in the Big brothers Big sister program.) But tomorrow I'll look through my DVD's and tell you which ones I have liked. I've got a couple of idea...but need to dig them out for the correct name. Are you looking for instructional or more fitness orientated?

Re:Joint care (katie)

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 09:50:09 GMT

Hey MLB, I've been looking for a bellydancing DVD. I'm a beginner and don't want to do lots of spinning. Do you have any recommendations? Fitchick, looks like you've got lots of ideas here. I take a fish oil capsule in the morning and at night. I get "Arthritis Today" from the Arthritis Foundation and they say for people with Osteoarthritis, 2000 mg a day. It apparently prevents inflammation instead of suppressing it. HTH

Re:Joint care (fitnessbuff)

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:32:34 GMT

I take only glucosamine (and not any chondroitin) in a liquid drink form, not tablets. The tablets did upset my stomach, but the drink does not. I think it does help with general creakiness, but I don't have arthritis or anything like that. My father-in-law took glucosamine and chondroitin for arthritis. He said at first it seemed to help a lot, but then the effect sort of wore off.

Re:Joint care (w.o.w.)

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:32:54 GMT

Hi Fitchick,

Ballet exercises! Any of the dvds that incorporate ballet moves, like battements, developpes, rond de jambe en l'air.... are great. To name two, {Element Ballet}7905^ (very intense quad work), and {Reach}7509^ by Kari Anderson (fusion of ballet and other disciplines but also heavy on the quad building.) I would also recommend the BONUS SECTION of Lotte Berk Method {Hip Hugger Abs}7085^- it is an ab workout, but there is a very intense exercise in the bonus section where you lift your legs off the floor while your hands are on the floor (near your crotch), and you REALLY work your quads (and abs!) to the point that you want to scream! It is intense!!!

Hope some of these help! And once you are feeling stronger, and you are sure of your form, you can start to do more lunges and squats.

Please keep me posted on your healing process. I really think you can take care of this and it will go away.

Best of luck.

Re:Joint care (fitchick77)

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:22:53 GMT

Thanks to all and I think I am going to try some of what I've heard here. W.O.W., what other ideas for strengthening the quads can you suggest?

Re:Joint care (mlb)

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:27:36 GMT

My knees went bad at age 40. Diagnosed with arthristis. Had some popping...but mostly what they call crepitus.   I was in pain all the time....lost muscle and range of motion in the legs.  I had been thin when it started...but without exercise I put on weight. I became crippled up and disabled for about 3 years. I was really, really scared and disapointed at my prospects for the future.

I took Glucosamine and Chondroitin and saw wonderful results. First time I tried it...I took only the glucosamine, but took it erratically, a tablet one day...and none the next....never the recommended dose or for a long enough time. Then my knee surgeon encouraged me to take Glucosamine/Chondroitin....and this time I took the full dose EVERY DAY. In about 4months I had dramatic improvement and could start rehabiliting myself....I had huge muscle atrophy, esp my right leg. To this day....I still avoid high impact....why press my luck?

Eventually I was feeling well enough to learn bellydancing and flamenco.   I'm 54 now....pain free with full mobility and good leg strength....and guess what...I am STILL DANCING!!!!!  What a beautiful gift for someone who was terrified of the future at 40.

Currently I take a liquid combination of Glucosamine/chondroitin/msm, plus vit C and fish oil.  Don't ask me what brands, that's not really that important...as many brands have a similar formulation.   I'm pretty sure Collage doesn't want this forum to turn into a place where peeps are here to hawk products they are sell. Hopefully I'm not crossing a line by mentioning the generic suppliments I use.

Re:Joint care (w.o.w.)

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:29:16 GMT

Hi Fitchick,

I take two capsules after dinner. This does the trick! It is really amazing how much it helped me. I hope it does the same for you. And, again, strengthening quads is key- there are other ways to do this besides lunges. Let me know if you want some ideas for that.

Take care and good luck!!

fitchick77

How much fish oil do you take? It seems I've heard this before, but haven't begun the regimen. I assume it is best to take it with food? I've been exercising since 04 and I think you're right. I think somehow I did my lunge wrong and it caused this to happen. I haven't really done more than a few lunges since and I've been taking it easier with my cardio. I really want to fix it and prevent further problems/pain so that I can get back to my plyos and more intense cardio I miss.

Re:Joint care (katharine)

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:08:51 GMT

I've been using glucosamine and chondroitin for 8 years. They have sorted my knees and I can jump, lunge and do anything I like now. I have found that it works for about half the people who try it. You need to give it a two month trial at adequate dosage. If you are 8.5 stones or under the dose is 500/400mg three times a day and higher if you are heavier.

Re:Joint care (fitchick77)

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:58:45 GMT

How much fish oil do you take? It seems I've heard this before, but haven't begun the regimen. I assume it is best to take it with food? I've been exercising since 04 and I think you're right. I think somehow I did my lunge wrong and it caused this to happen. I haven't really done more than a few lunges since and I've been taking it easier with my cardio. I really want to fix it and prevent further problems/pain so that I can get back to my plyos and more intense cardio I miss.

Re:Joint care (w.o.w.)

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:52:45 GMT

I will also vouch for fish oil! It has helped my knees. I have never had popping sounds, but you also mentioned a bit of pain, which could get worse over time without proper intervention. I was having some knee pain and found a few things quite helpful! Doing more squats and lunges with proper form (getting the form right is trickier than it seems- your weight has to be over you heels for squats with your butt sticking out as though you are going to sit down, and evenly distributed between your legs for lunges) has helped strengthen the muscles in my quads, which in turn has helped my knees. When I started to do more lunges (when I bought Jari's {Ripped and Chiseled}7900^) I realized my form was not correct on the lunges (even though I have exercised for years and years! but just had never done so many lunge reps all in a row), and I noticed some knee pain. Since then, I have corrected my form, strengthened my quads, and have added the fish oil religiously, and no more knee pain! I hope you find your solution to this and nip it in the bud. HTH!!!