1. Keep it Simple

When if comes to lifting weights, you don’t need to overcomplicate matters — at least, not at first. Once you become an advanced lifter, you can focus on more difficult lifts and rep/set schemes, but for now, simplicity is your goal. Focus on lifts that target your major muscle groups first, such as your chest, back, and legs. You can then narrow your program down to smaller, stabilizer muscles. Here are some easy lifts for each major area of the body:

Chest: Bench press, incline press, decline press, pushups

Back: Seated row, bench pull, cable row, lat pulldowns

Legs: Leg press, squats, knee extensions, hamstring curls, calf raises

Arms: Biceps curls, triceps pushdowns, shoulder raises, dips

Abs/Core: situps, weighted crunches, Russian twists, back extensions

2. Aim for Balance

Hit each of these areas of the body every time you go to the gym to promote balance. When you get some experience, you’ll want to focus on one are of the body during one session and then allow one to two days of rest while your focus on other areas. But for now, pick one or two exercises for each major area each session. If you focus only on your chest muscles, for example, it’s easy to develop a hunched posture that places excessive pressure on the thoracic spine.

3. Warm Up and Cool Down

Always start your workout with at least 10 minutes of cardio before you lift to get your heart rate and body temperature up. Mix up the cardio as well. Jog one day, bike another, and row on the third. I can’t tell you how many people I see in the gym who don’t warm up before working out, only to complain of nagging tweaks and aches in their bodies later on. You know you’re sufficiently warmed up if there is sweat dripping down your forehead.

Also, cool down following a lifting session by stretching. This helps initiate the recovery process and can improve the elasticity of your muscles. Perform about two to three separate static (holding the position in one place) stretches for each major body area. Hold stretches for a minimum of 10 seconds and repeat.

4. Use Machines

I never recommend machines to anyone except absolute beginners, but for safety and learning purposes, start out only using these helpful pieces of equipment. Machines typically have pictures of the muscle groups they target, making exercise selection fairly simple, and they come with a significantly lower risk of injury. If you want serious results, you’ll have to forget about machines later on, however.

5. Progress Slowly

There’s no need to rush it. Focus on the quality of your lifts versus how much you are lifting or how fast you are progressing. Start out by performing two, nonconsecutive weightlifting sessions each week. For the first month, focus on very light weights and don’t worry about increasing the load. Just perform each lift slowly and with an even tempo, making sure to use a full range of motion.

First Week Program

Here’s a sample program to get you started for your first week:

Session 1

10 minute jog on treadmill

5 minutes of dynamic stretching (arm circles, leg swings, windmills, toe touches, torso rotations)

3 sets of 10 reps of: bench press, lat pulldowns, leg press, dips

10 minutes of static stretching

Notes: allow 2 minutes of rest between sets, 3-5 minutes between exercises. Use about 50-60 percent of your maximal load for each lift.

Session 2

15 minute elliptical

5 minutes of dynamic stretching

3 X 10: Incline press, seated row, squats, decline press, calf raises, weighted crunches

10 minutes of static stretching

Notes: allow 2 minutes of rest between sets, 3-5 minutes between exercises. Use about 50-60 percent of your maximal load for each lift.

Photo of Kelly Starrett of MobilityWOD

If you’ve been building muscle for a while, you have probably had your share of injuries by now. We all know how much injuries suck. They hurt like heck and prevent you from doing all the things you love to do. The great news is that a lot of exercise related injuries stem from mobility issues. Digging deeper into this, mobility issues are often caused by scar tissue and muscle adhesion. Any guesses on where these things come from? That’s right, physical [and sometimes mental] stress.

If you just go on exercising everyday without taking care of your muscles and fascia, sooner or later, you’re going to injure yourself. If you’re not already doing so, I highly recommended that you add soft tissue work, active stretching, and some static stretching into your fitness routine.

Every human being should be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves.

I recently found a really awesome body maintenance site called MobilityWOD. Kelly Starrett, DPT, (the blog founder) created the blog to help athletes (yes, you are an athlete too!) with their mobility problems in order to prevent injuries. The blog is nicely done with every post being a video demonstration of ways you can fix specific mobility issues. I highly recommend doing a search on his blog for any painful areas of your body and following his video tutorials to see if it can help you alleviate your issue. Make sure you use the techniques at your own risk and, “stop if you think it’s gonna hurt you, your spine is going to come out your throat, or your face goes numb.”

Enjoy and as always report back in the comments section with your results!

Stretching can be good or bad, depending on when you stretch.

Stretching before physical activity has been shown to decrease muscular performance by as much as 28%, with this effect lasting as long as one hour following the cessation of stretching. This decline in muscular performance is attributed to neuromuscular inhibition and decreased muscular contractile force, both of which can actually decrease joint stability and increase your risk of injury during athletic performance. In lieu of stretching, warm-ups should be active and continuous. These “active warm-ups” should be sport-specific, and target all muscle groups and ranges of motion needed for the impending physical demands.

Photo © Jason Patel

The long-term effects of stretching are more beneficial than the short-term effects. Stretching after physical activity can help increase or maintain flexibility, which may decrease injury risk and increase athletic performance. So keep doing your Yoga, just not as a warm-up.

Stretching Tips:

-Stretching should NOT be performed before athletic performance or vigorous athletic activity.

-Stretches should be performed using a static hold, or PNF techniques (contract-relax, hold-relax). Stretching should be performed slowly and held at the perceived point of tightness.

-For improved flexibility, each major muscle group should be stretched 4-5x 20-30 seconds.

-For the best long-term effects, stretching should be performed daily, or at least 3x/week.

The information in this article was adapted from an article by Duane Knudson in the Strength and Conditioning Journal, titled, “Program Stretching After Vigorous Physical Training” (Volume 32 – Number 6 – December 2010).

There is somewhere around 640 skeletal muscles in the human body.  Skeletal muscle is a complex network of muscle fibers, connective tissue, nervous tissue, and blood vessels.  The connective tissue forms a framework of support by surrounding individual muscle fibers, bundles of muscle fibers (called fascicles), and finally the individual muscles that are made up of these fascicles.  Another type of connective tissue, called fascia, plays an integral role in how muscle functions.  Deep fascia separates neighboring muscles from one another and allows for these muscles to glide smoothly past one another as they contract.  Superficial fascia separates muscle from the overlying skin, and also allows for smooth movement of contracting muscle.  Dysfunctional fascia can increase the likelihood of suffering a muscle strain.

Each muscle fiber  is composed of many sarcomeres, which are the contractile units of the muscle.  When a muscle contracts, tension is created in these sarcomeres and this tension is controlled by the Central Nervous System. Muscle strength is affected by the number of sarcomeres present in a muscle, as well as by neural recruitment of muscle cells.  Muscle length is also a byproduct of the number of sarcomeres, with an increased number of sarcomeres in alignment corresponding to increased muscle length.  Muscle strength and length imbalances can increase the likelihood of suffering a muscle strain.

Factors That Increase the Likelihood of  Suffering a Muscle Strain

A muscle strain is defined as damage to some part of the contractile unit caused by overuse (chronic injury) or overstress (acute injury).  Strains can be graded as mild, moderate, or severe.  Several factors contributing to muscle strains were mentioned under The Anatomy above.  Here is a list of the aforementioned and some additional causes:

• Dysfunctional joints above or below the injured area: if motion is limited in one area, the body will compensate and increase the demand on adjacent structures and tissues
• Dysfunctional fascia: if the fascia does not allow for smooth sliding and gliding between neighboring muscles and other structures, adhesions and scar tissue can develop
• Poor flexibility: this can be due to muscle length or fascial adhesions (scar tissue)
• Overstretching: stretching a muscle beyond its ability to recoil and return to its resting length
• Muscle strength imbalances: strength differences between muscles or muscle groups that are meant to oppose and control one another’s movement

There are other factors that can contribute to or increase the likelihood of a muscle strain, but we will focus on these five as we discuss both the rehabilitation and prevention of muscle strains.

Signs and Symptoms of a Muscle Strain

Common signs and symptoms of a muscle strain include:

• Sometimes an audible ‘POP’ is heard
• Localized pain at the site of the tear
• Stiffness
• Pain with stretching of the injured muscle
• Pain with contraction of the injured muscle
• Swelling
• Bruising

Rehabilitation Guidelines

If you have suffered a muscle strain, the general R.I.C.E. rules apply:

• Rest: take it easy
• Ice: ice no more than 15-20 minutes with at least an hour between applications
• Compression: use an ACE wrap or compression sleeve; don’t compress too tightly
• Elevation: keep the injured muscle above heart level

There are 3 phases of healing, each with different goals for rehabilitation:

Inflammatory Phase (Acute): This phase can last from 0-5 days, but generally inflammation begins to decrease after 48-72 hours post-injury.  Follow these guidelines:

• R.I.C.E.
• Range of Motion: perform gentle movements, but not to the point to pain
• Gentle stretching: not to the point of pain
• Decrease physical or recreational activity: to prevent further injury

Subacute Phase: This phase generally lasts between 5-21 days post-injury, but is variable depending on the severity of the injury.  During this phase muscle fibers are regenerating and being laid down randomly within the muscle.  It is important to gradually resume activity during this phase to help realign the new muscle fibers into an efficient position.  Follow these guildelines:

• Stretching, with increased intensity:  perform 3 sets of 30 second holds when stretching
• Massage: helps to realign new muscle fibers and free up fascial adhesions
• Gradually resume resistance training: this will also help to realign muscle fibers, as well as increase strength
• See a Physical Therapist: they can help address factors that may have contributed to the strain, such as spine mobility, pelvis mobility, inefficient muscle recruitment patterns, etc…

Maturation Phase (Recovery): This phase can last up to 6 months post-injury for the most severe cases.  This phase should consist of the following components:

• Resistance training with increase intensity: increase intensity slow and steady
• Endurance training: emphasize muscle strength and endurance
• Aerobic/Cardiovascular conditioning: don’t forget this!
• Balance and Proprioceptive training: this could be another reason why the strain occurred in the first place
• Agility training: quick movements and plyometrics.  This should be towards the end of rehabilitation

For resistance training and aerobic training guidelines, read this article!

Muscle Strain Prevention:

Based upon the predisposing factors and the rehabilitation guidelines we can formulate some key concepts to help prevent muscle strains from occurring.  Follow these five guidelines:

• Increase flexibility: Stretching all major muscle groups before and after a workout is a great idea.  Hold all stretches for 30 seconds.  Don’t stretch to the point of pain.  Beginning a Yoga program would be a great idea, but start easy and take it slow.
• Increase soft tissue mobility: This is a fancy way of saying, “get rid of the scar tissue and adhesions in and between your muscles”.  Remember the fascia that we’ve talked a little bit about?  Sometimes stretching isn’t enough.  A good physical therapist or masseuse can help you here!
• Correct strength imbalances: don’t ignore muscle groups.  For example, work your quads and your hamstrings, your triceps and your biceps, your low back and your abs, etc…  Strength imbalance not only can predispose you to a muscle strain, but possible worse!
• Work concentric and eccentric contractions: A concentric contraction means that the muscle is shortening as it is contracting.  An eccentric contraction is the opposite; the muscle lengthens as it contracts.  The easiest example to visualize this is a biceps curl.  As the weight comes up the biceps is contracting and shortening (concentric contraction).  As the weight is relaxed to its resting position, the muscle is still contracting as it is lengthening (eccentric contraction).  MOST MUSCLE STRAINS OCCUR DURING ECCENTRIC CONTRACTIONS!  You can integrate eccentric training into every exercise.  For example, when you squat, squat slowly down to your end position (controlling the eccentric contraction) and then push up.  When you bench press, lower the bar slowly (controlling the eccentric contraction) and then push up.
• See a good physical therapist, chiropractor or osteopath: they can make sure that you are moving efficiently, and eliminating extra, unnecessary demands on your muscles.

Sukasana is translated as Easy Yoga Pose. You may be doing this pose already and not even know it is yoga! Start by sitting on your bottom with your legs crossed and bent at the knee, not straight out in front of you. Then move one leg toward your body. The other leg can lie on the floor. Sit up straight and tall with your head parallel to the floor. Be sure your shoulders are relaxed.

Vrksasana is known in English as the Tree Pose. The Tree Pose is started from a standing position with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Your hands should be in prayer position with your fingertips pointing upward. Keeping your pelvis level, bring your right foot and leg up the inside of your left leg, stopping when you get to the inside of your thigh (or until you cannot go any higher without pain). Balance. Repeat the pose with your other leg starting from the beginning position.

Adho Mukha Svansana, otherwise known as Downward-Facing Dog, will stretch your entire body. Start by getting down on all fours, hands and knees aligned with your shoulders and hips. Your back is flat. Next, bring your hands back towards your feet, raising your backside up towards the ceiling and straightening out your legs. You will look like a triangle (inverted). Hang your head, take your shoulders out of your ears and relax them (beginners tend to scrunch their shoulders towards their ears). Do not invert yourself farther than you can go without pain.

The Child’s Pose is another good stretch for your spine. Starting at Downward-Facing Dog Pose on all fours. Lower your bottom down to sit on your calves. Your knees should be spread apart. Position your arms with your fingertips pointing toward your feet, along your body, or stretch them out in front of you with your fingers splayed. Hold as long as you wish.

Cat/Cow Pose is another stretching pose. Get onto your hands and knees as if you were going to do the Downward-Facing Dog Pose. Your toes should be bent under and pointing towards your head. Shoulders should be relaxed. Drop your belly low towards the ground. It is not necessary to touch your belly to the ground. Keep your hands and knees aligned with your shoulders and hips. Next, arch your back towards the ceiling getting a good stretch. Come back to the beginning.

Garland Pose is a standing position. Your feet should be spread apart comfortably. With your back straight, lower your bottom towards the ground and go into a squat. Your elbows should be at the insides of your knees, pressing outwards. Shoulders need to be relaxed. Stay like this for five breaths.

There you have six very simple poses that you can use to relieve tension, improve balance and flexibility. They were not too difficult, were they? These poses can also serve as a perfect addition to the end of your exercise routines. Now that you know yoga for beginners is not too hard, continue your practice and consider joining a yoga class in your community. Remember to always use a good yoga mat when performing yoga. Your body will thank you.

Take 10 minutes out of your day to really focus on breathing. Breathing has been shown to reduce stress and promote full body relaxation and awareness. You can do these exercises almost anywhere, but it helps to have a quiet open space. These exercises are derived from traditional Yoga positions and many of the philosophies are the same. Below you will find a variety of simple go-to routines if you need a moment to regroup and relax, or a great substitute to a cup of coffee.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Many people use Yoga or mediation to connect with themselves and find a rhythm with their breathing. To get started with your breathing routine, sit up straight. Try not to arch your back. In this first exercise, exhale completely through your mouth. Place your hands on your stomach, just above your waist. Breathe in slowly through your nose, pushing your hands out with your stomach. This ensures that you are breathing deeply. Imagine that you are filling your body with air from the bottom up.

Hold your breath to a count of two to five, or whatever you can handle. It is easier to hold your breath if you continue to hold out your stomach. Slowly and steadily breathe out through your mouth, feeling your hands move back in as you slowly contract your stomach, until most of the air is out. Exhalation is a little longer than inhalation.

After some practice you don’t need to use your hands to check your breathing.

You can also do the above breathing exercise lying on your back. Deep breathing exercises can help you to relax before you go to sleep for the night, or fall back asleep if you awaken in the middle of the night.

Deep breathing can also be practiced in standing, sitting in traffic, or standing in a line at the grocery store. If this exercise is challenging and you feel tense or as if you are holding your breath, simply concentrate on slowly breathing in and out. Think about your chest expansion and counting your breaths.

With the deep breathing you have just learned, the following three exercises give variety to your breathing practice. Practice one, two or all three in any combination. These exercises are all recommended by Dr. Andrew Weil, a specialist in integrative medicine.

#1 The Stimulating Breath (also called the Bellows Breath)

The Stimulating Breath is adapted from a yogic breathing technique. Its aim is to raise vital energy and increase alertness. Inhale and exhale rapidly through your nose, keeping your mouth closed but relaxed. Your breaths in and out should be equal in duration, but as short as possible. This is a noisy breathing exercise. Your goals should be three in-and-out breath cycles per second. This produces a quick movement of the diaphragm, suggesting a bellow. Breathe normally after each cycle.
Do not do for more than 15 seconds on your first try. You may become light headed if you hyperventilate.
Each time you practice the Stimulating Breath, you can increase your time by five seconds or so, until you reach a full minute. If done properly, you may feel invigorated, comparable to the heightened awareness you feel after a good workout. You should feel the effort at the back of the neck, the diaphragm, the chest and the abdomen.

#2 The 4-7-8 (or Relaxing Breath) Exercise

Sit with your back straight while learning the exercise. Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue just behind your upper front teeth, and keep it there through the entire exercise. You will be exhaling through your mouth around your tongue; try pursing your lips slightly if this seems awkward.

Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
Hold your breath for a count of seven.
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.
Note that you always inhale quietly through your nose and exhale audibly through your mouth. The tip of your tongue stays in position the whole time. Exhalation takes twice as long as inhalation. The absolute time you spend on each phase is not important; the ratio of 4:7:8 is important. If you have trouble holding your breath, speed the exercise up but keep to the ratio of 4:7:8 for the three phases. With practice you can slow it all down and get used to inhaling and exhaling more and more deeply.

This exercise is a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system. Unlike tranquilizing drugs, which are often effective when you first take them but then lose their power over time, this exercise is subtle when you first try it but gains in power with repetition and practice. Do it at least twice a day. You cannot do it too frequently. Do not do more than four breaths at one time for the first month of practice. Later, if you wish, you can extend it to eight breaths.

#3 Breath Counting

This last exercise is more challenging and is a deceptively simple technique much used in Zen practice.

Sit in a comfortable position with the spine straight and head inclined slightly forward. Gently close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then let the breath come naturally without trying to influence it. Ideally it will be quiet and slow, but depth and rhythm may vary.

To begin the exercise, count “one” to yourself as you exhale.
The next time you exhale, count “two,” and so on up to “five.”
Then begin a new cycle, counting “one” on the next exhalation.
Never count higher than “five,” and count only when you exhale. You will know your attention has wandered when you find yourself up to “eight,” “12,” even “19.”

Try to do 10 minutes of this form of meditation.

Other Breathing Exercises

If you have a foam roller handy at home or at the gym, try this simple maneuver.
Lie vertically on the roller so that your head and your tailbone make contact with the roller. Take deep relaxing breaths. Open up your arms to either side and let them hang out. You can make snow angel motions to increase your stretch. Focus on chest expansion and loosening up the shoulders. If your head does not comfortably touch the roller, try tucking your chin to create more extension in your neck, or place a rolled up towel there. This stretch is especially useful for countering all the sitting people do throughout the day. Reverse those anteriorly protracted and rounded shoulders and gain better posture instantly!

Ever think that you don’t have time for exercise when you get home? Putting in an hour at the gym after putting in a 10 hour day at the office just doesn’t seem possible anymore, and the laundry and dishes you left in the kitchen sink are still sitting there. Before you get discouraged, let’s problem solve and find a way to work in these few exercises into your office life.
You will be doing your body a favor and preventing repetitive stress injuries. All you need to do is take a few minutes to revitalize and recharge yourself, and attack exercise while you sit at your desk!

Top 12 Desk Exercises

From the image above, the shaded regions represent the muscles that are being targeted.

#1 Lean back and Stretch your wrists and shoulders. Interlock your fingers with your palms facing away from you to stretch your wrist flexors and shoulder protractors. If you have shoulder problems you may not want to bring the arms above shoulder height.

#2 Reach arms up overhead. You can do this sitting or standing and you can go right into #3.

#3 Side Bend. You can do this stretch sitting or in standing for a deeper stretch. With arms overhead, grasp elbows and lean to one open up one side, then the other.

#4 skip. It is the same as #2.

#5 Shoulder Shrugs. Just sitting at your desk, inhale and shrug your shoulders to your ears, hold, then exhale and release your tension and relax your shoulders down to neutral. Rest your arms down at your sides. If you can throw in a good squeeze between the shoulder blades, all the better!

#6 Behind the Back Shoulder Stretch. While sitting in your desk chair, lean forward slightly and reach your arms behind your back. Clasp you hands together and tilt your head to one side, then the other to stretch your upper traps.

#7 & #8 Wrist Stretches. Similar to #2. Place your palms together and press through your fingers as your bring your palms lower in front of your chest. Pivot your finger tips downward so that they are pointing towards the ground. This stretches your finger flexors which are constantly working to type and write.

#9 Sitting Swimmer Stretch. Reach one arm up and punch the sky, while reaching the opposite arm down and punch the floor. Switch, repeat. This works on shoulder strength and scapular elevation and depression.

#10 Seated Twist. Cross one leg over the other and sit up straight. Twist slowly to the opposite side and stretch your postural extensor muscles. Your back may crack, but do not look for this to occur. Inhale with twist, exhale as you lean into it and appreciate the stretch.

#11 Seated Pec Stretch. While seated, place both your hands on your hips with your thumbs facing forward. Push your elbows back and allow your chest to open. Your lower back may extend a little, but focus on opening your chest to counter all the forward reaching and typing activity.

#12 Shake out your Hands. Revitalize your hands by shaking them out and allowing new circulation to reach your fingertips. This exercise relieves the compression on your forearms and wrists and relaxes the hands. You can make fists by clenching and unclenching your fingers. Make small air circles with your wrists.

Other Desk Exercises and Activities to Try

• Do an ergonomic assessment of your workspace
• Stand up and sit down with no hands.
• Knee extensions under your desk. Sit up tall to engage your abs and quads. Kick your leg out parallel to the floor and hold for 5 seconds. Point and flex your toes and ankles. Relax and repeat.
• Get rid of your desk chair and substitute an exercise ball.
• Sit on the edge of your chair (if it has wheels, wedge the chair against the desk or wall to make sure it does not roll). Put your feet together, flat on the floor. Lean over, chest to knees, letting your arms dangle loosely to the floor. Release your neck.
  Now bring your hands behind your legs, right hand grasping left wrist, forearm (or elbow if you can reach that far), left hand grasping the right. Feel the stretch in your back, shoulders and neck. Hold. Release. Repeat.
• Substitute walks for emailing your coworkers.
• Walk around or stand up while on the phone.
• Don’t eat at your desk

Tendonitis of the knee refers to inflammation of the tendons that surround the knee joint. In general, the patellar tendon, or the tendon that connects your patella (knee cap) to your tibia (shin bone) can become irritated when asked to meet the high demands of physical stresses and loads. The patellar tendon is necessary for knee and lower leg extension during activities such as walking, running, kicking a ball, pushing the pedals on a bike or jumping. Commonly associated with athletes or other sports related overuse injury, this condition can be associated with pain, swelling and redness. People who endure increased levels of jumping, running and impact may experience symptoms of activity that expresses itself in the knees or anywhere up the kinetic chain. There are many different types of knee tendonitis, conventional breeds you may have heard of are patellar tendonitis, also referred to as “jumper’s knee”, quadriceps tendonitis, or iliotibial band friction syndrome or IT band syndrome.

What if you have these symptoms?

There are a few proven techniques that will help you on your road to recovery, and the first thing to do is to reduce your symptoms.RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation after activity is recommended to calm the swelling and reduce pain. As noted, REST is the first and single most beneficial thing you can do for your knee once it is inflamed. Studies have shown that symptoms of tendonitis tend to disappear on a scale of weeks with rest, although elderly people and people who continued to ignore symptoms in their affected area did not heal as quickly and were more likely to progress to a chronic condition.

Taking anti-inflammatory drugs or pain relievers may also be an option to alleviate acute pain and symptoms of swelling/inflammation. In some cases people have found relief from coritsone or local anesthetic injections which tend to last up to 24 to 72 hours. In even more rare cases, surgery may be required to attend to damaged or frayed tendons.

Stretching is also suggested for specific muscle groups such as the quads, and IT band.

Cross-friction self massage or use of ointments that increase the temperature and circulation to the tissue area may also be helpful. The increase in blood flow will help speed the tissue healing and recovery time. Small vigorous semi-circular motions over the tendon and sweeping motions up towards the heart are good for increasing blood flow and encouraging lymph drainage.

Strengthening exercises such as mini-squats, wall slides or using an exercise ball against the wall can improve the strength of your quadricep muscles and help with overall balance and the alignment of forces through the knee. Exercises should be done in moderation and should not cause pain. If possible, make sure to perform exercises in a mirror and to watch yourself as you squat down that the plane of your knees does not exceed the plane of your toes, and your legs are coming down in a straight line, and not caving in towards one another.

Add support by wearing a knee brace or taping your knee may also help with painful symptoms during activity.

Overuse injuries tend to be chronic in nature and thus will most likely not disappear overnight. It is always a good idea to see a doctor or physical therapist to have them give you an individualized exercise prescription and answer any other questions you may have.