Ok I don't know if there are threads on this already...i searched for awhile and didn't see any so here it goes.

I am currently working at a healthy diet and weight training. I am trying to become tone and lose some body fat as well. I"m 5'5" 135 lbs, not sure on current body fat because my calipers measure about 22 and my scale says 29...so somewhere in there. I"m 22 years old and was an athlete growing up but have had many injuries that have impeded my ability to keep that a constant in my life.

With that background I am looking for any injury advice. I am having trouble not letting my injury be an excuse to get off my track. I've been working hard for about 6 weeks now, despite a knee injury that even the doctor can't seem to diagnose. But i am at a standstill because i can't really do any cardio without pain. I can weight lift and control my eating of course, but i'm losing motivation with the injury.
I was thinking of trying swimming cuz i think i've tried everything else that most ppl do for cardio but i have too much pain.

Suggestions anyone?!?!

Julie

It sounds like you are healthy enough to train.
SOmetimes we can't always do our favorite exercises due to injury..
Don't get discouraged..just train with what you are able.
Last year I hurt my right deltoid and could not train upper body. After 3 weeks off a friend told me to train my left side hard while my right arm healed. I did so and had some awesome workouts with my "left" side.
Just do what you can do.
SOme injurys you can train with..if you find an angle that does not hurt.
Other times you have to lay off the injured area completely. Each injury is different.
I always try to train with an injury. Once it really cripples up I lay off it.
THis past year I hurt my hip very badly on April 6th squatting. I couldn't walk (over 20 feet) for 2 months, but did leg press every 5 days any way. After each workout I packed the hip in ice. I often iced it in the morning as as well. I massaged it with a wooden dowel twice a week.
It did not seem to make it any worse (the training). Slowly my hip healed. By August the leg was 75% healed and I started light squats again.
Some injurys you can work with, some you can't.

Have you talked to a physical therapist about this? They are pro's on the subject.

"Some injurys you can work with, some you can't."
This is what scares me. I have been trying to work with it with little success. You are right though, I could focus on my other leg. My biggest issue is the lack of cardio I am getting. It is much harder to lose fat when you have no cardio to help you out. I saw my doctor last week and he sent me back to physical therapy, which feels like my home! Maybe they will have some advice, although sometimes I think they don't know much more than I do. I guess nobody knows exactly how an individuals body will heal. Thanks for the advice - i def won't stop working out completely!

It will depend on the extent of the injury, but I used to lift light weights for my back just to stretch the muscles out a bit every day. Eventually it went away, but that was because it was a muscle related injury (and I'm on some Prescription anti-inflammatories for it). If your knee hurts because of a bone injury, there's not much in terms of "at-home" exercise you can do for it.

A friend of mine has had wrist problems when working out because he broke it playing soccer when he was younger. It still hasn't gone away. Some injuries we just have to live with unfortunately :( He hasn't extensively looked into getting it fixed, nor tried therapeutic exercises or similar.

Hop on a zero impact machine, like a bicycle or an elliptical and see if it's the impact causing the pain. If it's the actual motion causing pain, you may end up having to rely on swimming. Jogging is pretty hard on your knees. There's a lot more shock in that impact than most people think.

Oh yeah, tried good shoes?

To expand on the good shoes. Have you got shoes that are good for you. I get knee pain if the trainer dosent suit me as I overprotenate. Expensive or recommend by a friend dosnt make them right for you. If you can get a pair fitted by a dedicated running store they will ask the right questions.
Also Sorbothane insoles seem to reduce the impact stresses significantly for me.
Widers

You might find that some MSM/Glucosamine helps with joint pain too. If it doesn't, you're only out a few $$$ for the cost of a bottle. My wife swears by it, and so do several people she knows.

Thanks for all the responses guys - i really appreciate it.
Yeah i've had injury problems in the past but its even harder when you are so dedicated to your health and fitness. As far as my shoes go - they are a descent pair of new balances and i also have orthotics, but I am very highly considering getting fitted for new ones cuz it has been about 8 years. Maybe they have worn down (even though they aren't suppose to).I am hoping as summer comes to an end i can see if part of the problem may be that i wear sandels a lot during the day which prolly isn't helping my injury any. I am currently in therapy...they are working me pretty hard - low impact - but hard nonetheless. I just have the eary feeling that something is really wrong. Hopefully they can help me figure that out.

I did some elliptical today - and i'm having slightly more pain than normal now. So its not even the impact it seems. I still have not tried swimming but i'm thinking anything would bother it at this point so i'm prolly gonna stick out this month doing just as my pt says and see what happens.

I am curious about the glucosamine that someone mentioned. I had bought some and started taking it but then i asked my doc and he said he believes that glucosamine only really helps arthritis. And he doesn't think my problem is arthritic. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

Needless to say...i stopped taking it. It'd be nice if i knew the source of my problem though. Sure makes it hard to work at recovering!

Thanks everyone!

julie