So I’ve continued skipping for 10 minutes or so at home and I’m really enjoying it. It feels great to get outside and have 10 minute to myself. Cardiovascularly I feel I could go longer but I’ve noticed some knee pain which has curtailed things a little.
I feel a little frustrated because I was so excited about the prospect of being able to get some decent cardio at home. However, I need to remember it’s still early days. N is only 12 weeks and I’m still recovering.
I’ve been thinking about ways to minimise the pain whilst continuing to exercise. I’m going to try not skipping on consecutive days. I also think I need new shoes. I bought my current pair of running shoes in 2022! The soles are fairly smooth now. I think it would help if I had a little more cushioning.
I’ve also started skipping on foam gym mats that we have. I’ve definitely noticed an improvement from just doing that. I used to skip for long periods on a concrete garage floor without any after effects. How times have changed!
I have already been doing some basic strength exercises. I am going to continue these and focus on the lower body. I’m hoping that this will help to take some pressure off the knees which I’m guessing are working harder than they normally would pre pregnancy. My routine involves some squats, clamshells, glute bridges and lunges.
Finally, I’ve looked at some supplements to see if there is anything that can help or that may help in the future as I get older. I think the evidence for a lot of these things is quite variable and mostly weak. Ultimately a good diet and strengthening exercises are probably the key to solving this problem. From what I can tell there is most evidence around omega 3 fish oils without much evidence of harm. I’m going to try this in addition to all of the above and see if there is any improvement.
