Knee problems and leg workouts?

[KellyExpress]

I have really bad knees and they hurt real bad when i do squats and lunges but i sem to be able to do leg press and extentions so what would be a good leg workout for putting on mass? ive been slacking on my leg workouts for a while now due to my knee pain so now i got alot of catching up to do.

 

[pullinbig]

try wrapping you kness and change your stance around .widen stance and point toes out at about 30 degrees or so. this will take pressur4 of the knees. squat deep but controll descent and explode up. make sure to drive kness apart on the assent as well. good luck.

 

[pipes]

Don't pass 90 degrees in any of your leg movements. Avoid exercises that put a shearing force on your knees(hack squats, leg extensions, deep lunges ect) As far as your squats have a friend check out your form insuring that your knees are not passing your toes. Avoid any type of locking out. Other than that you could add some glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate and msn to your supplement stack.

 

[yomama]

Is it your knees or your tendons? Did you see a doc?

 

[pullinbig]

Don't pass 90 degrees in any of your leg movements. Avoid exercises that put a shearing force on your knees(hack squats, leg extensions, deep lunges ect) As far as your squats have a friend check out your form insuring that your knees are not passing your toes. Avoid any type of locking out. Other than that you could add some glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate and msn to your supplement stack.

why would you do half a squat? do you half bench, curl, row or do half deads? no. the bottom 3 or 4 inches of a squat are the most important part for buiding glutes, hams, hip flexors and core strength. I agree with you on making sure feet stay over the knees as you stated. How many oympic lifters or PLers you see squatting parrallel? none. they are all well below parrallel. here's a clip of a good friend of mine at the senior nats a few years ago. check out his depth. 1003lb squat with good form.
http://69.56.243.110/~igame/videos/Kirk-CaptainKirk-Karwoski-USPFNationals-1003SQ@275.ram

 

[string_bean00]

why would you do half a squat? do you half bench, curl, row or do half deads? no. the bottom 3 or 4 inches of a squat are the most important part for buiding glutes, hams, hip flexors and core strength. I agree with you on making sure feet stay over the knees as you stated. How many oympic lifters or PLers you see squatting parrallel? none. they are all well below parrallel. here's a clip of a good friend of mine at the senior nats a few years ago. check out his depth. 1003lb squat with good form.
http://69.56.243.110/~igame/videos/Kirk-CaptainKirk-Karwoski-USPFNationals-1003SQ@275.ram

Shucks, that movie times out for me 30 seconds into it, just before he actually squats.

Hopefully it will work later.

 

[pullinbig]

Shucks, that movie times out for me 30 seconds into it, just before he actually squats.

Hopefully it will work later.

right click link and "save link target as" on your desk top or wherever then after it downloads you can watch it. hopefully. the world record is 1140 now.
http://69.56.243.110/~igame/videos/...lgary,Alberta,Canada-517.5kg-1141lbSQ@SHW.wmv

 

[hornedfrogs07]

Pullin, that is AMAZING.

 

[pipes]

why would you do half a squat? do you half bench, curl, row or do half deads? no. the bottom 3 or 4 inches of a squat are the most important part for buiding glutes, hams, hip flexors and core strength. I agree with you on making sure feet stay over the knees as you stated. How many oympic lifters or PLers you see squatting parrallel? none. they are all well below parrallel. here's a clip of a good friend of mine at the senior nats a few years ago. check out his depth. 1003lb squat with good form.
http://69.56.243.110/~igame/videos/Kirk-CaptainKirk-Karwoski-USPFNationals-1003SQ@275.ram

You would do half squats to avoid irratating a knee problem! Going past 90 degrees put alot of stress on your knees and you have knee pain. As your self , do I want to place extra stress on a joint that hurts? I think not. There are plenty of other exercises that you can perform in order to build those previous muscles.

 

[pipes]

by the way nice video. Thats ridiculous!

 

[pullinbig]

by the way nice video. Thats ridiculous!

come train with us and see it live. I agree that if you have knee probs you may be screwed on most leg exercises. often times sore kness can be a result of poor form. without being tyhere to see this guy squat its hard to make a call on it. wraps deffinately help to stabilize the area. I prefer compound movements for the folks i train. less sets and less time in the gym with faster results. also as a PLer I dont have a choice. if you are healthy then squats should be done well past parrallel to gain full benefit of the movement.

 

[cbpumped]

If it were me I would follow the pointing your feet out 30 degrees suggestion. That is a more natural motion than straight foward when squatting. Use a smith machine and extend your feet further out so that you leaning into the bar. This will take some pressure off the knee and your back for that matter and cause the quad to do all the work. You can wrap the knee as well not a bad idea. Don't do super heavy weights do medium weights and higher reps. This will really warm the muscles up and lube the knee area. I'm not sure explosive motions is a good idea. I think slow tight form is much better in a situation like this. You can get good growth from your legs with medium weight and higher reps. Don't go so light you quit the set out of bordem but don't put so much on that your going to injure your knee. If it is and injury that has healed but has scar tissue the higher reps will help you break down the scar tissue otherwise it may be worse. Good luck.

 

[hornedfrogs07]

If it were me I would follow the pointing your feet out 30 degrees suggestion. That is a more natural motion than straight foward when squatting. Use a smith machine and extend your feet further out so that you leaning into the bar. This will take some pressure off the knee and your back for that matter and cause the quad to do all the work. You can wrap the knee as well not a bad idea. Don't do super heavy weights do medium weights and higher reps. This will really warm the muscles up and lube the knee area. I'm not sure explosive motions is a good idea. I think slow tight form is much better in a situation like this. You can get good growth from your legs with medium weight and higher reps. Don't go so light you quit the set out of bordem but don't put so much on that your going to injure your knee. If it is and injury that has healed but has scar tissue the higher reps will help you break down the scar tissue otherwise it may be worse. Good luck.

---CBP, I KNOW you have good intentions with that advice, but that's the worst possible thing he can do with a knee problem. I was suckered into doing smith squats instead of free weights, by the people telling me, "it's easier on your knees, takes the pressure off your back, and works only the quads." Well, after 3-4 months on the smith, I had knee problems (which I'd never had before), a bad back, and I had lost over 100 pounds on my free weight squat (385, at the middle of my senior year of high school, to less than 275 at the end of it).

The method you're describing, does FEEL like it puts everything on the quads, but it also puts an amazing amount of tension and shear force on the knees. Shear force is the worst thing you can have for joint health and regenerative capacity, considering that his knee problems probably come from tendinitis or chondromalacia.


---Pipes, stopping at 90 degrees is another of the worst things he can do for a knee problem, IMO. The knee is at it's anatomically weakest position at a 90, so it is actually healthier to stop higher (NOT what you'd want to do) or go lower, i.e. ATF squats. Stopping at ~90degrees will most likely only aggravate the knees further.