Squats and bad knees

[paintergal]

Fuck do I hate squats. I know they are effective (depending on which ones) but the new workout program that my trainer has me doing - I don't feel any of these squats or rack pulls or deadlifts does anything for me on the basis that I have bad knees and can not do ass to grass.

I'm actually very frustrated that I can't coherently write this post.

Is it entirely possible to do an exercise using different variations or techniques and it just doesn't do anything for you?

 

[AlphaMale]

Fuck do I hate squats. I know they are effective (depending on which ones) but the new workout program that my trainer has me doing - I don't feel any of these squats or rack pulls or deadlifts does anything for me on the basis that I have bad knees and can not do ass to grass.

I'm actually very frustrated that I can't coherently write this post.

Is it entirely possible to do an exercise using different variations or techniques and it just doesn't do anything for you?

If you're not feeling the exercise in the muscles that it's supposed work, then you are either not doing the form correctly, not using enough weight, or not doing enough repetition.

With squats, rack pulls and deadlifts you should definitely be feeling those exercises in your quads, glutes and back (especially lower).

That being said, if you know you can't do proper form because of past injury, then there are plenty of alternative exercises or machines that will allow you to work the same muscle groups.

Likewise, you could just do light weight with high repetition and good form. If you did that with squats, for example, you are definitely going to start feeling it at some point.

 

[Flexxx]

Because I have started to feel pain in my hip and knee joints when doing heavy leg work I have just started trying very S L O W sets using light to moderate weight. The jury is still out on how effective it will be.

For knee pain you can tightly wrap your knees which for me, was an effective support for those joints and allowed me to do some very heavy squats.

 

[AlteredEgo]

When my knees bother me, I know that will either effect my form, be caused by my form, or both. I find it helpful to spend a few weeks squatting to a tangible target. I use a weight bench. I squat to it, until my butt touches, but I don't sit. I find my trouble usually has something to do with me allowing my weight to shift to my toes instead of my heels. Force of habit from a childhood spent dancing. Very tough to break. Keeping my chin up, and using a target for my butt helps me to be more mindful of that, and my knees are usually more cooperative again after a few weeks of leg days. I have also found it helpful to review videos of myself doing the work. If you know what to look for, you can see what you're doing wrong, and implement change. These techniques work for me because the source of my challenge is attention disorder, and once I get that reigned in or worked around, I'm good to go for a while. For me though, it's a recurring problem. I can only cope with ADD, not cure it. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Ben D Meover]

Years of distance running and competitive squash took their toll on my knees and I though my active days were numbered.

What has helped me is something I came across about 18 months ago called 'greasing the groove'. It is a term that was originally coined by a former soviet special forces trainer called Pavel Tsatsouline.

It's primarily concerned with strength training but it was the emphasis on maintaining correct form during all exercises that seems to have helped me.

 

[starflower]

Fuck do I hate squats. I know they are effective (depending on which ones) but the new workout program that my trainer has me doing - I don't feel any of these squats or rack pulls or deadlifts does anything for me on the basis that I have bad knees and can not do ass to grass.

I'm actually very frustrated that I can't coherently write this post.

Is it entirely possible to do an exercise using different variations or techniques and it just doesn't do anything for you?

Try using the hack squat machine instead. It seems to take the strain from my knees and I can squat a lot lower with more weight. Just a thought

 

[Mateo888]

I've been having some knee soreness because I've been setting new PRs for the past few months. My crossfit coach suggested to wrap a flat elastic band tightly around the knee area as a warm up exercise. Do about 10-15 air squats then about 15-20 knee bend with your foot on a hug box. It worked for me and the soreness subsided.

 

[Snarky_succubus]

You absolutely DO NOT need to go ass to grass to get great results from squats. There's a lot of differing opinions on that but my personal experience (and that of people who's physiques speak to their success) is that deep is great but below parallel is not needed. Because of my injuries (lots of lower back stuff as well as knees that have been weak since I was a kid), it's VERY difficult for me to activate/isolate my quads during most squats. I am *very* hamstring dominant. I've found that squatting barefoot and placing ten pound plates under my toes or the balls of my feet takes a ton of strain/pain out of my knees and going *only* to parallel keeps the focus on my quads. Below parallel goes straight to my hamstrings. You have to listen to your body and respect your injuries. Your trainer needs to be adaptable and listen to you. If you're not feeling it where he thinks you should, you have to find a workaround whether that means change in form despite what he thinks is right or an altogether different exercise.

 

[AlphaMale]

You absolutely DO NOT need to go ass to grass to get great results from squats. There's a lot of differing opinions on that but my personal experience (and that of people who's physiques speak to their success) is that deep is great but below parallel is not needed...

I completely agree. I feel like I get the best results from squats when I get my quads perfectly parallel (not any lower) and then come up.

That allows me to keep the weight on my heels, feel the tension deep in my glutes and then make a powerful push upward with my quads/core.

For reference, I only do wide stance and high bar on back squats.

 

[Dave NoCal]

I curl my toes up just a bit to keep my weight on my heels.

 

[AlteredEgo]

I curl my toes up just a bit to keep my weight on my heels.

This is what I try to remember to do.

 

[Industrialsize]

Continuing to lift weights when you have PAIN in a joint is a recipe for disaster. Pain is a signal your body is sending you that you should not ignore.

 

[Snarky_succubus]

Continuing to lift weights when you have PAIN in a joint is a recipe for disaster. Pain is a signal your body is sending you that you should not ignore.

Bullshit. Continuing to lift weights with the same form when you feel "PAIN" in a joint is a problem… If you can adjust your form so that you don't feel the pain... There is no problem. Besides, the OP didn't say the word PAIN in her post anyway.

 

[Industrialsize]

Bullshit. Continuing to lift weights with the same form when you feel "PAIN" in a joint is a problem… If you can adjust your form so that you don't feel the pain... There is no problem. Besides, the OP didn't say the word PAIN in her post anyway.

Wow. All I did was give my advice, why so aggressive? I am a Registered Nurse and stick by my statement: Continuing to lift weights when you have PAIN in a joint is a recipe for disaster. Pain is a signal your body is sending you that you should not ignore.

 

[Snarky_succubus]

One word was aggressive... And not really meant as aggressive as much as an eye-roll.
Your statement is way too broad to be useful. Pain is a message that shouldn't be ignored... But throwing in the towel to exercise is awfully misguided. It's exactly that kind of nonsense that put me in the crap position I ended up in. I had very well respected orthopedic surgeons tell me that I was never going to be rid of my pain and should just be on narcotic pain meds for the rest of my life. Guess what? Even medical professionals are completely fallible. He was dead wrong. I haven't taken pain meds or muscle relaxers in five years and I am almost completely free of pain. The worst I experience anymore is discomfort if I've spent too long sitting at my desk. You know what cured my pain? Lifting weights... Even though it hurt at first and took me awhile to figure out how to make it work for my body.

So... You don't have to like my tone… But this is something that I am incredibly passionate about. Being told to give up at 26 years old and be a pain med zombie for the rest of your life will do that to you... Especially when you realize what a horrible mistake it would have been.

 

[socalfreak]

Continuing to lift weights when you have PAIN in a joint is a recipe for disaster. Pain is a signal your body is sending you that you should not ignore.

What the heck does that have to do with the original post??

 

[sangheili90]

One word was aggressive... And not really meant as aggressive as much as an eye-roll.
Your statement is way too broad to be useful. Pain is a message that shouldn't be ignored... But throwing in the towel to exercise is awfully misguided. It's exactly that kind of nonsense that put me in the crap position I ended up in. I had very well respected orthopedic surgeons tell me that I was never going to be rid of my pain and should just be on narcotic pain meds for the rest of my life. Guess what? Even medical professionals are completely fallible. He was dead wrong. I haven't taken pain meds or muscle relaxers in five years and I am almost completely free of pain. The worst I experience anymore is discomfort if I've spent too long sitting at my desk. You know what cured my pain? Lifting weights... Even though it hurt at first and took me awhile to figure out how to make it work for my body.

So... You don't have to like my tone… But this is something that I am incredibly passionate about. Being told to give up at 26 years old and be a pain med zombie for the rest of your life will do that to you... Especially when you realize what a horrible mistake it would have been.

He didn't say not to exercise, he said if you have pain during a particular exercise that you should not be doing it.

 

[sangheili90]

Just a tip for you op, there are greater forces placed on the knees during partial rep squats compared to full ROM squats. If you are an otherwise healthy individual and are experiencing pain during a proper squat I'd suggest working on the mobility of your hips and spending a lot of time perfecting your squatting technique. Another issue people have is their knees getting out of alignment with the direction of their feet. Goblet squats with a light dumbbell are an excellent means of learning how to squat.

 

[socalfreak]

He didn't say not to exercise, he said if you have pain during a particular exercise that you should not be doing it.

...which was completely irrelevant to the original post.

 

[sangheili90]

...which was completely irrelevant to the original post.

Who cares, nothing he said is incorrect or unhelpful to this thread. Nothing your SO said on post #15 had any relevance to this thread either, yet you actually hit the like button on her post.