less is more, but more sometimes more needs to be MORE

I have mentioned my knee and its pains, before. Almost 2 years later, and lots of strength building, it's doing a great deal better. I have days when I don't think about my knee at all. I count this as a "perfect" knee. I do have a pain in the top of my leg... See picture for where the oval is, and one of the muscles up there is sore. I work this area a lot, and it's better, but when it gets "hurt" again, my knee hurts worse.


What I've learned about my legs in the last few months is that I need to roll my IT bands less, rather than more. They get tighter and tighter when I roll them everyday. When I only roll on Zumba days, or days when they are unbearably tight, they seem to do better. On the more side of things, I need to do exercises that strengthen my thighs a lot. Strength building exercises are very important for those of us, ahem, not in our twenties anymore.


My current workouts (note this is an ideal week and the ones with asterisks always happen, the others happen most of the time):

*Monday: Pilates Reformer working all major body parts in an hour; Tap class (1 hour)
*Tuesday: Zumba (CRAZY, Intense Cardio)
*Wednesday: Pilates Reformer focusing on core only
Thursday: Dailey Method (crazy, great isometric workout and stretching)
Friday: Zumba (A good class, but not as crazy and fun as Tuesday's class)
Saturday: A fast walk, 30-40 minutes, but only sometimes--probably once a month and/or Dailey Method
*Sunday: Nothing or a Dailey Class depending on what happened Saturday. (I like to do one Dailey class on the weekend)

I need to work in time to do weight machines. I need to make sure I get two Zumba classes in each week. In the fall, I'm hoping to do a strength building class on Fridays, but the problem is there's the Zumba class BEFORE the strength building class. I don't think I can do both, but we'll see.

Dailey is good and gives me a whole body strength building class. It's not weights, it's more similar to yoga or pilates in how it builds muscles. I really like it. It makes my back and knee feel better. My knee has felt significantly better since I started Dailey. Do you have any aches and pains? What makes you feel good? I haven't taken ibuprofen for an ache or pain in about 1.5 years. I count this as an exercise success!

Okay, and now off to my favorite Zumba class!!!!!!!!