I had not really thought about the muscles might be affecting the kneecap but I did recently see a story on the news that girls knees are very susceptible to knee injuries because they are slightly different angles than boy’s knees.

They suggested rounding out exercises for girls rather than just one sport, to strengthen girl’s legs into womanhood.

I had problems with my patella when I was younger due to overtraining – you see I wanted to join the Navy and become a S.E.A.L. and thought jumping into lots of running would be the ticket.

I just ended up inflaming the tissue under both patella’s and did not get accepted into the service from the Army doctors.

Your advice sounds like it makes sense – that perhaps it is partially the patella position? And balancing the muscles as you suggest is the ticket?

I’ll try this in my workouts as it is kind of maddening to be able to bicycle and hike but not jog.

Thanks for the advice!

I’ve got a bit of a background in the martial arts also. Running into a couple of guys from San Jose who were spreading their style of Kenpo in Indiana after I already had a black belt in Tae Kwon Do did a lot for me!

I once heard something about 10 pounds for each degree of black belt, but fortunately, with all the cardio, etc I do, I’ve managed to avoid the weight gain.

At any rate, you mentioned knee pain. I had Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome when I first began running. It really stopped me in my tracts. For me, leg extensions with low weight amd high reps balanced out my quads, and got the patella to track straight which totally eliminated the pain! I hope this is helpful for you.

Yeah I’ve got it pretty lucky out here. Last Sunday I went for a couple hour hike and then rented a rowboat at Santee Lakes and got in an upper body workout.

Hopefully it will be springtime before you know it!

S. Monkey