Knee issues and squats

[IHateMyJob2004]

I'm getting back into weight training. I have an issue though. my right knee under load hurts. Has been this way for months. I can run and play hockey and basketball and all that. But squats don't work.

I'm going to try to do less weight and higher volume tonight per set. Are there any alternative exercises that I can do?

FWIW: I have a low ceiling so no standing overhead press type exercises will work. I have a squat rack though.

THANKS!

 

[highland145]

I'm getting back into weight training. I have an issue though. my right knee under load hurts. Has been this way for months. I can run and play hockey and basketball and all that. But squats don't work.

I'm going to try to do less weight and higher volume tonight per set. Are there any alternative exercises that I can do?

FWIW: I have a low ceiling so no standing overhead press type exercises will work. I have a squat rack though.

THANKS!

Eff you.

kidding....kind of.

Seriously, age is a bitch. Could just be inflammation or connective tissue not being used to the weight. Muscles>tendons. Could be something as simple as your foot placement.

Some years back, my jacked up knee was keeping me from riding. After reading a lot, I added 6G of fish oil/day for the inflammation. Within 2 weeks, I was good to go. YMMV but 2 weeks and the fish oil is a minor expense. If you don't see any improvement, quit.

Since then, I've had more knee problems but they've been mechanical. $$ for the PT to tell what muscles aren't activating right. Glutes, according to him, are fairly common. See cb's thread.

Best of.



I did not stay at a Holiday Inn this year.

 

[Humpy]

Warm up sets and a little wider stance with toes pointed further out is what helps me. For me, I'm pretty sure it's just mild tendonitis, general stiffness and getting older so any discomfort comes and goes.

I wouldn't want to make any conclusions for the OP, just that if you can still play sports I don't see why squatting should be an issue. Maybe try weighted box step-ups, lunges, or split squats.

 

[deadlyapp]

Are you sure you're squatting correctly? If squatting is hurting your knees, more than likely there is something else there - your form is bad, your core is weak, you have poor ankle mobility, etc etc etc. Try elevating your heels, does that help? Are you keeping your knees behind your feet and your shins as vertical as possible?

Ultimately, you might just have no cartilage left, and moving your knee just is going to hurt - but based on your other activities, it sounds like there's something wrong with how you're squatting, rather than your body.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Can you post a video? Front and side angles.

 

[Ventanni]

I agree with the above posters. I had some knee pain too and then I realized my form was off. Once I corrected that, the knee pain went away.

 

[NoSoup4You]

Do squats with body weight only and see how the knee performs, gradually work your way back up from there.

 

[cbrunny]

Hard to say from just this post. Depends a lot on where in the knee the pain is, when it shows up, acuteness/dullness, that kind of thing.

Something that will definitely not cause problems is to strengthen glutes, adductors, and abductors. No guarantee it will help but guarantee it wont make things worse. If its something like a bruised meniscus that's completely different.

Could also incorporate more stretching. Quads in particular, hams, calves, glutes, adductors, abductors as well. Basically your entire leg. lol. Again no guarantee it will help but if you do it right it shouldn't make things worse. This is the ultra-short version of my recent rehab experience with Patellofemoral. There's a thread here about that too, but it relates more with cycling & running than lifting. So that's why I say it depends on the stuff at the top of my post.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I'll take some of the form advice and see what happens.

Fwiw I have had knee pain for 6 months and it remains after not squatting for months.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

What part of your knee hurts? Front? Back? Side?

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

It's the inside of my right knee. Lines right up with meniscus symptoms. In my case, from what I read there would be no surgery.

I just ran 6.2 miles yesterday and while tender, there isn't what I would refer to as any pain which is a bit shocking.

 

[cbrunny]

is there a clicking or a locking? could also just be bursa inflammation (pes anserine bursitis) or some other kind of tendonitis. Could also be healing scar tissue from a previous tear of some kind.

 

[KIAman]

Knee and back pain scares the shit out of me at my age now LOL. I did have some knee pain when I was squatting a while back and did a bunch of "internet" research and the one that actually worked was foam rolling every muscle in my leg, especially the iliotibial band. I took it easy on squats and really focused every day on rolling and I think the knee pain on the inner side was caused by a super tight outer band, probably pulling my knee up on the outside. I took about 3 weeks for the pain to go away completely and back to my normal squat routine.