Wonky spinning knee

[LilJen]

I've been working on camel spins since about August. So this is a fairly new thing for me and not something I spend tons of time on (what with MITF, jumps, other spins, and dance). However, in the last few weeks, my spinning knee has really started to bug me. As in, just beneath the kneecap feels, well, wonky. Like it might just give way. Somewhat painful. A couple of years of working on sit spins haven't had this effect.

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong to cause the knee to feel this way? Or is this just ordinary post-40 aches and pains? I do cross train (weightlifting 3x/week, some cardio on a reclining stationary bike and the elliptical) so I don't think that overall strength is an issue, but it's possible that there's some isolated weakness somewhere.

[davincisop]

I'm no expert but it might be the muscles on either side of your kneecap. There's a side step excercise you can do at the gym with a resistance band around your ankles. A trainer might be able to demonstrate for you.

Otherwise is your weight differently balanced? That might have an effect.

[LilJen]

Hmm, I'll have to try some lateral stuff with my own resistance band.

I'm a little hyper cautious about it as I come from a family of bad knees (I am the ONLY one to have never needed surgery! We had ACL tears/blowouts galore; of course most of us were Alpine skiers and soccer players, and both sports are notoriously hard on knees.)

[irenar5]

As I am learning with overuse injuries, they sometimes show up later than the events that directly contributed to their development.  It may not be the camel spin itself causing the issue, but all the cumulative pressure on the knee from ALL the prior spins.

I ice my knees after sessions and it helps a lot.  I also second band walks- they not only help with better knee cap tracking, but also with glut medius (which is so important in single leg stabilization).