Knees

[technique]

I must be doing something wrong. My knees hurt just a twinge when landing today, on a couple practice precisions. Hope it's better by Sunday. Any recommendations? Ice, calcium, glucosamine, softer landings?

[Seng]

I should also mention that this particular sharp front of the knee pain I've got is pretty much for sure related to not landing well from drops. I think it started because I was landing straight-legged from some vaults as though I was precision landing when I should have been running out of them. Having my foot not quite in line with my direction of movement didn't help. I didn't really noticed these problems with my form until I started landing with the other leg and became very aware of how I was landing (because it wasn't quite as practiced so I had to think about it more). Practicing symmetry isn't just good for balanced muscle development, it also can make you aware of your form on your regular side.

In addition to warming up, stretch whenever you've got downtime (both during sessions and when you're hanging around the house). It helps lots.

[Ryan Fulmer]

yeah i had "sengs pain" for awhile. move slow at first, bend and such, no jumps first 10-15 min... world of a difference

[Frenchie]

work on landing technique, if your landings get quieter and quieter, that's usually a good sign that you're dispersing the energy as not to injure your joints. Landing on the balls of your feet tends to take the pressure away from the joints by landing ball, then heel, then bending at the knees and waist. The more rigid you are, the harder your landings will be.
And like Seng says, warmup is a good idea.

[Seng]

Where in your knee does it hurt and what kind of pain is it? The knee is a complex little mechanism with lots of parts and modes of injury.

My left knee has small, sharp pain in the front of the kneecap which is related to the swelling I caused by lack of warmup and cool down. I'm not drugging it because it mostly goes away by doing proper warmup (so it's there in regular moving around) but more importantly it's well within my pain threshold so I'd rather be reminded of the pain than forget it's there and unwarily push the limits of an injury.

Softer landings are always a good idea.