Our bodies are not like the bodies of superheroes in the movie. Everyone’s body breaks down or gets injured. It might be because of sports that we play or exercise that we execute. Squatting, running, jumping, playing basketball, skateboarding, and other sports that require our knees to work are things that are rough on the knees.
I know many skateboarders and most of them are good friends of mine. One of the common injuries they experience is a knee injury. However, at first, I did not know the reason why my friends’ knees hurt after skateboarding, but now I know and I will tell you why your knees hurt after skateboarding.
Why do my knees hurt after skateboarding? Knees take the majority of the impact force in skateboarding. Most skateboarding tricks can put a lot of stress on the knees of skateboarders, especially if you are doing a trick off a ledge or a set of stairs. Skateboarding can make your knees fatigue or worse, injure them.
If you have any issues with your knees, you have to go to the doctor to check it up. Also, if you have any knee issues, I suggest that you focus on transition skateboarding instead of street skateboarding. This is the hard reality of skateboarding. However, there are lots of things you can do to prevent your knees from getting hurt or injured after skateboarding.
These tips to prevent your knees from hurting after skateboarding are based on the personal experiences of my friends who are adept in skateboarding. However, it is still better to consult your doctor if you have any knee problems.
Why Do My Knees Hurt After Skateboarding?
I am very familiar with knee pain since I am constantly going to the gym. I do squats every time in the gym and sometimes I also jog during my rest day from the gym. That is why it is very inevitable for me to experience some knee pain.
Aside from that, I also ride my bicycle and play basketball during my free time. And every time I execute long bike rides and jump constantly in a basketball game, my knees get very tired, and sometimes when I get home, I feel the pain already.
The force you produce from jumping and landing down is higher than your normal body weight. The reason why is because you essentially are falling from the highest point of your jump. Even though you only fall for a second, you still gain lots of energy in this time.
Even a little amount of speed results in a large amount of energy that your knees intake as you land. This is very essential and inevitable. If your knees don’t absorb these impacts, you will fall off the ground and will not stand on your two feet.
Your knees will most likely get hurt after skateboarding if you try to execute a difficult skateboarding trick for a few hours. If you can count how many times you jump while skateboarding, you will understand why your knees hurt after skateboarding. However, it is very hard to count that.
These jumps that you do every time you skate put an incredible amount of stress on your knees. However, you are lucky. Why? Because there are lots of ways you can do to lessen the pain on your knees after skateboarding. Let us check the ways out!
How To Prevent Knee Pain While Skateboarding?
It is inevitable to feel some knee pain while or after skateboarding. However, if you feel some pain in your knees, it does not mean that you should start selling your skateboard and quit entirely from skateboarding. After you work very hard in the gym, play basketball for hours, or after a skateboarding session, knee discomfort is expected.
However, below are some things you can do to mitigate knee pain from skateboarding and these are the tips you should do if you suffer knee pain. These tips are very helpful to all skateboarders, especially if you are an old skateboarder or skateboarder that has a lot of history of injuries because of skateboarding.
Strengthen Your Knees At The Gym
The best thing to take off some stress on your lower back and knees and to prevent severe knee injuries is to build up your muscles in these areas so that they can absorb some of the impact force.
You need to build up your quads to support your knees and your hamstrings to help from buckling upon impact. You should be consistent in strengthening these parts of your body.
If you are a beginner and have not gone to the gym yet, I suggest that you start to go to the gym at least three times a week. The first day focuses on the legs and lower body, the second day will be focused on your back and upper body, and the third day will be focused on your abs and cardio.
During Monday, you can do these workouts:
- Squats with dumbbell
- Squats with long bar and plates
- Calf exercise
- Russian leg curl
On Wednesday, you can do these workouts:
- Planking
- Push-ups or bench press
- Shoulders
Lastly, during Friday, you can do these workouts:
- Intense cardio exercises
- Intense ab exercises
You need to consistently execute these workouts to see some progress. It is essential to begin to strengthen your legs and upper body in a way that will help support your knees. The exercises I have told you about can take about an hour to execute. Don’t forget to do short rests between each exercise.
Wear Skateboarding Shoes
If you will get some shoes for skateboarding, make sure that the shoes are tough. Skateboarding shoes have skateboarding insoles that are designed to absorb part of the impact of landing and in an impact-heavy sport, these insoles can be a lifesaver.
Some people use Vans shoes and some use running shoes. Why? Because the insoles of these shoes are great and tough! It is essential that you find a shoe that has good insoles.
Take Fish Oil Supplements
In reality, your knee is lubricated by oils and if you lack oils, then you can buy some fish oil pills to help relieve knee pain symptoms. Fish oil has Omega-3 fatty acids that can reduce inflammation, arthritis, and help restore some joint tissue.
This is researched and scientifically proven so don’t think that I am making this up. You can buy fish oils almost anywhere! You can find fish oils in convenience stores, internet shops, or malls. Fish oils are cheap and easy to take. So buy one now!
Never Neglect To Warm-Up Before Starting
This is what most people who exercise or do hard sports neglect. Your body is not instantly ready to go! You have to warm up before you start to exercise, play basketball or any sport, or skateboard.
Warm-up gradually revs up the cardiovascular system of a human being by raising the body temperature and increasing the blood flow of the muscles. Warming up may reduce muscle soreness and prevent you from having severe injuries.
Before skateboarding, you should warm up too. Most skateboard tricks are dangerous. Your body needs to perform explosive movements and these movements can cause injury if your muscle is cold and not properly warmed up. So, to warm up your body, you need to do some warm-up exercises before starting to skate.
You can warm up first before doing some hard tricks by first riding around your board while doing no skateboard tricks. Crouch down and hold a crouched position. Stretch out your legs, back, and arms first. You can also do some squats before starting. You just have to get the blood moving to your muscles.
Bend Your Knees On Impact
Every skateboarder needs this advice: Bend your knees when you land on the ground. By doing this, it helps your muscles absorb a large portion of the impact upon landing. This comes naturally to some skateboarders, but sometimes you forget to do this because you are too nervous. Get used to benign your knees on impact by doing some squats on your board.
Don’t Push Yourself To Your Limit
You should never push yourself to your limit. It is better to live or have some working knees and skate another day than to push yourself to your limit so hard, which might kill you or injure you so hard.
Your body will take time to recover and skateboarding will put pressure and wear out your knees and back. So try to skate for at least one to two hours only. Give yourself a rest day before getting back in the skatepark.
You have to listen to your body. If your body tells you that it is enough for today, then do it. If you continue to skate even though your body tells you not to do so, you can get injured and hurt your body so much. If you get injured early, you will be forced to stop skateboarding at a much earlier age.
Know How To Fall Properly
This is essential! You have to know how to fall properly on your skateboard! This will help you to prevent severe injuries that you might get from skateboarding. There are many tips on the internet on how to fall properly on your skateboard. Try reading or watching them. You will learn lots of things from them.
Wear Knee Pads
Sometimes, wearing gears is embarrassing. Why? Because only kids wear gears! And wearing some safety gear will make us look like a child! However, you have to choose. You have to choose between looking like a child but safe from injuries or looking like a grown-up man but you are very prone to severe injuries.
If you want to prevent your knees from getting injured or hurt, you can wear some knee pads. Knee pads are created to protect the knees from getting hurt when you fall from your skateboard. You should start wearing knee pads, especially if you are still a beginner at skateboarding.
Is Skateboarding Bad For Your Knees?
Like many sports that require your knees to move, skateboarding can wear down your body. Skateboarding can put lots of stress on your knees!
Is skateboarding bad for your knees? Skateboarding can hurt your knees if you execute lots of technical tricks in the street style of skateboarding. However, transition skateboarding puts low stress on the knees and is more suitable for old skateboarders or skateboarders that have been injured before.
Knee pain does not mean that it is time to quit and sell your skateboard. Overuse injuries are common and not that serious. You just have to rest if you experience this. Dull pains on your knees are not that serious. However, sharp pains in your knees should be taken seriously! You should seek medical advice from professionals if you feel this kind of pain in your knees.
Can I Skateboard After Knee Surgery?
What if you get injured, and the doctor requires you to do some surgery on your knee? Can you still skate after knee surgery? Here, let me tell you.
Can I skateboard after knee surgery? It depends on the severeness of the injury. Of course, you should not skate the next day after your knee surgery. You have to wait for some months to heal the wound on your knees. Ask your doctor after the surgery about when you should be able to skate.
Final Verdict
Skateboarding puts a lot of stress on your body, most especially on your knees and back. You can reduce the pain you feel on your knees after skateboarding by building up the muscles of your lower body. If your back also hurts after skateboarding, do some deadlift to strengthen your lower back.
