Knee-ding a solution

Monday was my first personal training session after about eight months on my own. I must say, I'm a bit sore. She definitely kicked my butt.

I'm still concerned about my knees though. I stopped personal training last summer because the program they offered at my gym was not truly personal; it was designed to accommodate four women at a time doing essentially the same thing. There were a lot of squats and lunges, things that required using my knees to a large degree in ways that would later trigger a lot of pain.

I had hoped that the 80 pounds I lost would allow me to step back into this program and finish my membership (three months left!), but after day one, I'm not sure this will work. I told my trainer that my knees were an issue, squats and lunges were the biggest culprits for aggravating my knees (I have arthritis and was in a car accident seven years ago). However, she had me try exercises like stair stepping and later, squats. While I could do the exercises without pain at that moment, the pain came later.

Sitting in my car, dripping with sweat, I felt a hot pulsing sensation in my knees. Placing my hands on my knee caps, I felt the heat radiating from them. That can't be good. When I got home, I went to take the three small steps up to my porch and felt that twinge of pain that I used to get after working out. Not a good sign. Later that night, standing up from my chair, I felt that twinge of pain again.

The last thing I want is to damage my knees. I'm just getting healthy and I want to stay that way. I'll be talking with the trainer at my next appointment today. If I keep having trouble with my knees, I may not be able to continue with this kind of personal training program.