Another Knee thread...

[>Good Luck<]

Eh my friends. Sorry to plug up the board with another knee thread but I'm getting frustrated. I want large healthy legs but every time I do any leg work, my knees kill me! The front of my knees begin to hurt when I squat down in any way. Even weightless. I can squat deep but suffer the next day and for many days after. Basically, even to much walking gives pain. Feels like the knee cap is the problem which I don't understand....


Any thoughts?

[LT75]

After 4 knee surgeries myself I feel your pain literally. I can not do any squats what so ever. I am stuck doing leg press the rest of my life. You have to work around injuries. You will make it worse by doing it if it's hurt. That's your body telling you to stop.

[>Good Luck<]

After 4 knee surgeries myself I feel your pain literally. I can not do any squats what so ever. I am stuck doing leg press the rest of my life. You have to work around injuries. You will make it worse by doing it if it's hurt. That's your body telling you to stop.

Thanks for the advice. I'd have to say I agree my body is saying stop... But I love squatting... Heck i love tying my shoes but seems like that's out of the question too. Maybe some flexibility issues. I even get discomfort laying down with feet propped up heels to ass kinda position. Any bending really. I suppose I should keep babying my legs till I figure this out.

I've even thought of maybe trying to do some yoga stuff to try and stretch out all the tendons in my legs frequently. Not sure if it would help but I get a tight feeling in my legs so it seems logical IMO

[Rwy]

I have no more cartilidge in either knee. I stopped squatting. Prowler sled heavy all the way for me

I am 35 and stretch every day. I can actually put my hand almost flat to the ground when bending over. Lose hamstrings help lower back, and loose quads help keep patella where its supposed to be which helps with knee problems also.

[jseek]

1) glucosamine condroitin msm - these will be good friends / supplements for years to come
2) and I'm sure a good anti-inflam as recommended by ur dr will help...naproxen has been shown to be one of the best on joint pain and easiest on ur heart
3) humor me and try this....try a squat where...ur knee basically and literally does not move much in space...as in, watch itself squat in a mirror and ur shins do not move....ALL of the movement is in ur hips...oh ya. Might have to move ur feet apart. And keep ur back straight....
If ur knees don't hurt at all / or hurt less doing this compared to ur normal squat, then ur knee pain fix is more technique changing, than treatment needing.
The top platform of the knee (tibia) should remain level, allowing the muscles, not the knee joint, to bear the brunt of the squat.
(easiest way to visualize this squat is to think of sitting as deep and far back in a chair as possible)
Leave a comment after u try the technique please!

[yarpyarp]

Im kinda that same way It's kinda depressing cause I think I do harm to myself when I do heavy squats so I sometimes stop and re evaluate my leg training ways like only do knee extensions and knee curls and maybe bw squats for warm up I even did my first steroid cycle accouple years after my surgery cause it was my knee felt weak and painful sometimes it built muscle around it and felt way more secure but suffered because I didn't research about steroids (didnt have AI)before taking them very dumb of me

Hey good luck with that rehab thought I have also had 2 surgeries on knee my last one was 6 years ago I regret even having it knee hardly has any cartilage

I was gonna post a new thread for a question but stumbled upon this one and thought I'd ask here that same knee doesn't extend like other one and i noticed my glute on that side doesn't even contract like my right one when standing straight up (don't know if this is weird to talk about) just looking for advice sometimes ill get all pissed then try to extend knee alot with stretches then the next day it will get all sore and almost heal even less extended i don't have same insurance company and they wont help maybe i did rehab wrong or something.

Also I was asking my doctor about lube injections into knee and they said im not covered and slowly stopped replying to my phone calls then recently I've been looking at posts on here and hear about Aflutops can u buy this and apply at home? and mind telling me a good site to buy from u can pm me..

[HeadAndArm]

Going through knee pain hell as well. Physio has me doing one legged squats and cable rotations. I'm terrible at both. I have just bought a knee sleeve to help w some of the inflammation.

[tankerlife4ever]

Just watched a video by Dorion Yates who said he never did squats, only leg press while he was winning his Olympias...seems like the leg press isn't that bad.

[kelkel]

Do whatever works for you. Op, look into MSM powder. It's kind of a step beyond glucosamine & chondroitan. Also do you know what your estrogen level is?

[>Good Luck<]

Do whatever works for you. Op, look into MSM powder. It's kind of a step beyond glucosamine & chondroitan. Also do you know what your estrogen level is?

Thanks for the advice, I'll look into that msm powder. And I don't know my e level but it should be normal as I've been off cycle for quite some time now...

[kelkel]

I use Now brand MSM powder. Google it. I had a shoulder injury and was using DMSO which helped. This is basically the next evolution. It definitely made a difference and I use it all the time now.

[Far from massive]

I am lucky to have very good knees but not everyone does. I agree 100% with the MSM it is often very beneficial to the knee joints.

On a completly different subject if the quads are not well conditioned then the knees will never have the support they require for a squat or even a press. Look into riding a bike at first, this is the least stressful way to build quads IMHO. Then move on to a stair master, the type like an escalotor where there are actual stairs that move on a track while you climb them. After you have mastered both of these you can do step up boxes of larger and larger sizes.

Then if at this point your knees are pretty much pain free you might consider looking at your biomechanics when squatting. Since I agree with your analysis that the pain is likely between the kneecap and the joint. One thing that will affect this is poor form wieght too far forward like in a front squat will place load on the patella also allowing the knees to move inward while squatting will kill the knees. The same with being pidgeon toes or even slew footed (although far less common) have someone who knows check you form on unwieghted squats and see how your form is. If your form was bad then maybe with your newly developed quads you will be able to do some light squats without pain, if not don't worry there are plenty of gains to be made without squatting...as said look at Dorian.


I agree with your analysis that the pain is likely between the kneecap and the joint. One thing that will affect this is poor form wieght too far forward like in a front squat will place load on the patella also allowing the knees to move inward while squatting will kill the knees. The same with being pidgeon toes or even slew footed (although far less common) have someone who knows check you form on unwieghted squats and see how your form is.

[kelkel]

I'll touch a little on what FFM said as well. When I was younger I had a patellar tendonitis. Went through all kinds of therapy which helped but did not cure it. Basically I could leg press 1K but couldn't squat 135 as the knee moves forward to far over the toe causing the shearing force and pain in that tendon. Long story short, a chiropractor moved in next to me and kept bugging me that he could fix me knee. I didn't believe him. Finally I gave in. He had his advanced degree in applied kiniesology and worked backstage at several Mr. A contests, etc. He found an inbalance of the pull of the quad muscle where it attached to the knee. Within two weeks I was literally pain free. Been a believer ever since.

I also changed my squat style a bit. Most people start a squat by bending the knee. Mistake. Start by pushing the hips back like your sitting down. Practice it with body weight and do it both ways. You'll see a big difference in how much the knee travels out over the foot. It will help to eliminate pain over time by reducing the stretch on the tendon.

[Far from massive]

I'll touch a little on what FFM said as well. When I was younger I had a patellar tendonitis. Went through all kinds of therapy which helped but did not cure it. Basically I could leg press 1K but couldn't squat 135 as the knee moves forward to far over the toe causing the shearing force and pain in that tendon. Long story short, a chiropractor moved in next to me and kept bugging me that he could fix me knee. I didn't believe him. Finally I gave in. He had his advanced degree in applied kiniesology and worked backstage at several Mr. A contests, etc. He found an inbalance of the pull of the quad muscle where it attached to the knee. Within two weeks I was literally pain free. Been a believer ever since.

I also changed my squat style a bit. Most people start a squat by bending the knee. Mistake. Start by pushing the hips back like your sitting down. Practice it with body weight and do it both ways. You'll see a big difference in how much the knee travels out over the foot. It will help to eliminate pain over time by reducing the stretch on the tendon.

Wow very informative post Kelkel, amazing being able to correct an imbalance in that amount of time, you really got lucky with that neighbor!

[jseek]

Agree with kelkel
Squat like ur sitting deep in a chair...
Corrected many gym members with that and prevented many surgeries just by correcting biomechanics. Get trainer advise on how u r squatting.

[optionsdude]

Walking lunges have done wonders for my knees. No weight just the walking lunges,and you can do them anywhere.