Hi guys,
I'm a pretty large guy (250lbs) and sometimes my knee caps are prone to slipping out of place if I put too much weight on my knees. This has happened to me twice now- once while working in someone's guard and another time while completing a choke off of a sprawl. I'd like to purchase a pair of knee pads that will protect my knee caps from this sort of trauma in the future. I've gotten lucky both times escaping a serious injury, but it's only a matter of time before it happens again. Anybody have any good suggestions? Thanks!
do they always slip to the outside?
No, the sensation is more up and in. Anytime the injury has occurred the knee cap immediately goes back into place so I don't ever get a visual of it being out of its normal position. If I could just find a knee pad that spreads the surface tension of the weight I place on my knee I'll be fine. I would think something with a hard plastic shell would be best since it wouldn't give like a soft material would, but I don't really know where I should be looking for that type of thing.
I can't help you with equipment, but I would suggest looking at an anatomy text, see which muscles connect to the kneecap and do exercises that strengthen them. I had a kneecap problem because I never fully extended my legs on kicks (not wanting to hyperextend them), so one of the muscles in the quads didn't get exercised as much as other ones, and created an imbalance. You could be having something similar happening, but not knowing more about it I couldn't suggest anything more specifc.
I don't know. I think I'm just too big for the weight I place on my knees. My knee caps never experience any problems unless I'm placing weight directly on them. It's not like they move when I'm running or doing some other activity.
Well unless you're planning on losing weight, relying purely on gear to solve the issue won't help in the long run. Supportive gear will overall make you even weaker, so if you are wearing it you should be doing supplementary rehabilitory exercises. It's nice to have a quick fix of just putting something on, but it's also more satisfying to fix the issue so you no longer need the gear.