1. Reduce the load
Mountaineering with a heavy backpack is undoubtedly an arduous task for your knees. Reducing your load is not only good for your muscles, but also can reduce the pressure on your knees. Being overweight will increase knee strain, including your own weight and the weight of your luggage. So when climbing a mountain, the weight of the backpack should not exceed 1/4 of the human body weight. At the same time, you can pack your backpack strategically: put heavy items at the back of your backpack and make it closer to your back, which will make you feel more comfortable during climbing, instead of tilting your backpack to one side and making you lose your balance.
Please be careful when going down the mountain.
Try to end your mountaineering trip where you started to go downhill. In layman's terms, try not to go down the mountain, especially on extremely steep roads! If you want to go downhill, please walk at a steady and slow pace and keep your knees bent. The faster you walk, the greater the stride, the heavier the burden on your knees, and the greater the impact. In particular, don't run and jump down the steps, which will easily cause knee injuries.
3. Choose a hill with a gentle slope and take an S-shaped curve.
Try to choose a gentle slope before climbing the mountain; If time permits, it is best to plan a suitable route according to your own situation, climb sideways or in an S shape, and don't go up and down directly.
Wear comfortable shoes.
Hiking shoes or hiking shoes can provide good support for the arch. If you feel the heel slip when going uphill or downhill, you can add an insole to your shoes to prevent foot friction or blistering. However, the shock absorption effect of most hiking shoes is far less than that of other sports shoes. You can make up for this cushion by upgrading the insole. When your feet touch the ground, your shoes can help your knees "absorb" a certain impact, so that you can better protect your knees when climbing. At the same time, your hiking shoes must be fastened in the most comfortable way and as tight as possible. Then keep your toenails neat, not too long, so as not to cause discomfort when your toes touch the front of your shoes.
5. Learn to use trekking poles
Studies have shown that climbing with trekking poles can reduce knee pressure by 25%, especially on downhill sections. In order to make the best use of your trekking poles, first make sure that they are adjusted to suit your length. When using a trekking stick, your elbow should be at a 90-degree angle. In the downhill part, you need to extend the length of your pole, preferably with a wristband, which can transfer more weight to your upper body more effectively and redistribute the load to your arms and shoulders. At the same time, protective devices such as knee pads or muscle effect stickers can also provide external support to some extent, alleviating the discomfort of your knees.
6. Warm up and have a proper rest.
You can warm up properly and move your joints before climbing the mountain. You can also stretch your muscles and ligaments to warm up. You can poke and rub the lower edge of your knee with your fingers to promote the secretion of knee lubricant. In the process of climbing, you can stop and have a rest from time to time. However, it should be noted that knees are more likely to catch cold than other parts of the body at rest, and can be covered with a coat at this time.
How to recover from knee pain in mountain climbing?
1, coated with safflower oil to relieve
After climbing the mountain, you can apply safflower oil to your knees, which helps to speed up the blood circulation of your knees and quickly relieve your knee pain.
How to do it: pour safflower oil on your palm, then cover your knees with your palm, and then rub it with your palm to promote the absorption of safflower oil and enhance the effect.
2. Hot compress around the knees
Hot compress helps to speed up the blood circulation around the knee, accelerate the rapid decomposition of lactic acid around the knee, facilitate muscle recovery, and quickly relieve knee pain.
How to do it: Just cover your knees with a hot towel. You can also take a bath. Adding vinegar and safflower to the bath water is better, and it is also beneficial to relieve the whole body fatigue after climbing.
3. Rest in time.
After climbing the mountain, the knee hurts. It is advisable to let the knee rest after using safflower oil or hot compress, so that the tired legs and knees can get effective recovery time.
How to do it: avoid walking for a long time or carrying heavy loads on your knees again. If you need exercise, you can take a short walk after the rest to help you recover.
4, hot water soaking feet to ease
My knee hurts after climbing the mountain. After you come back, you can soak your feet in hot water, which will help relieve knee pain. Soaking feet with hot water can also help speed up blood circulation, improve the nutritional supply of knees, effectively accelerate the decomposition of lactic acid, and help the painful knees recover quickly.
Practice: soak your feet with hot water before going to bed every day. Pay attention to the water temperature of about 40 degrees Celsius and soak for 15 minutes. You can add safflower to the water to help strengthen the effect.
How to protect your knees when going downhill?
1. Don't run or jump down the hill. Slow down and be careful. Rushing down the hill is the most fatal to the knee.
The correct way to go down the mountain: the center of gravity is slightly lower back, the center of gravity moves before the front foot stands (instead of hitting the front foot down), and one foot should always be supported on the ground.
2. Use the trekking pole as the main buffer support when going down the mountain. Because of the great impact on ankles, knees and lumbar vertebrae when going down the mountain, it is suggested to support the road ahead with trekking poles when going down the mountain, just like walking on four legs, with two hands stretched into two legs. The key is to put the force in place, so that the vibration force can be shared on the wrist and arm, which reduces the impact on the lower limbs, so the trekking pole can also reduce the fatigue of the wrist and arm.
Ten Suggestions on Preventing Knee Joint Injury
1。 Don't take part in outdoor activities too often, give your knees a time and opportunity to rest and adjust your body. Pay attention to the signs and sounds of knee strain.
2。 Take part in outdoor activities, without systematic weight-bearing training, and don't overload. Equipment materials are not necessary, as simple as possible, and it is best to use one thing for multiple purposes. It is suggested that the weight-bearing action should not exceed one third of one's own weight.
3。 Learn to walk on different terrains and slopes with correct footwork. In fact, this seemingly simplest hiking exercise is also very technical. Every step of going out to participate in activities and hiking should be taken seriously and treated scientifically, and it can usually be taken seriously as a kind of "leg work".
4。 Reasonable and correct use of knee pads and trekking poles can reduce the pressure of body and equipment weight on feet (especially knees and ankles) and cartilage wear. It is recommended to wear a bound elastic bandage to protect your knees when going down the mountain. The adjustable elastic bandage is convenient for adjusting the tightness. When going downhill, adjust the crutch slightly to support and share the impact of gravity on your feet conveniently and effectively.
5。 Knee joints can be massaged frequently at ordinary times, especially in Zusanli, Yanglingquan, Yinlingquan and Xue Hai. It is recommended to massage the main healthy acupoints of physiotherapy knee joint before going to bed.
6。 Appropriate calcium supplementation, it is recommended to insist on drinking pure milk or yogurt every day. We can refer to the athletes' experience in sports training and nutrition and health care, maintain scientific and reasonable nutrition supplement at ordinary times, add correct exercise habits, choose the exercise that suits us, persevere, and let nutrition supplement and physical exercise achieve results at the same time, then we will have a strong body.
7。 Strengthen the strength training of the left and right muscle groups before and after the knee joint, and protect the knee joint cartilage from wear with the strength of the muscle groups. Especially the quadriceps of thigh and triceps of calf.
8。 For the injury of knee joint, it is necessary to prevent it early, and it is too late to take care of it if something goes wrong. You can actively put a "bone pain patch" on your knee joint the night before the activity and before going to bed, especially camping in a dark, humid and cold environment, which is very helpful for the protection of your knee joint.
9。 The foot has three layers of cushioning protection; The innermost first layer of stockings is the kind that many girls wear; The second layer of "coolmax" elastic protective socks in the middle, and the third layer of "coolmax" elastic socks on the outermost layer or wool nylon blended socks with strong thickness. Through the thickness of the multi-layer socks on the sole, the impact and wear of cartilage on the knee joint are buffered and reduced.
10。 Warm-up exercise is recommended before activities, and stretching and preheating of legs, knees and ankles are essential; After returning from activities, especially after many days of hiking, you should massage your feet and legs every night to promote blood circulation and carry out necessary care and maintenance in time; If you feel unwell, it is recommended to consult a doctor in a regular hospital as soon as possible.