Geezer Knees

[DavidCC]

Although I have not been diagnosed, like many other 60 year olds, I suspect that I have a bit of arthritis in my knees. Consequently, my knees complain rather loudly about squatting three times per week. I'm just a few weeks into SS. so it's not like I'm moving big weight. This makes me wonder if it might just be the frequency or the number of reps. I was thinking about taking one of the following courses of action:

1. Alternate squats with dead lifts so that I'm squatting only three times every two weeks.

2. Squat 3 x 3 rather than 3 x 5. This would allow me to squat more often and keep the weight moving up faster, but reduce the number of reps to a level that my knees might find more agreeable.

Thoughts from fellow geezers would be appreciated.

[Marlin]

As you are just starting out, alternating the squats with deadlifts might not be a bad idea. Are you wrapping your knees or using knee sleeves. Rip has a video which you should probably watch on using light knee wraps on old knees. In any case, old knees make noise. If they are not causing you pain, than I would not worry about them too much.

[Dave Klopp]

Check your squat form. If your knees are sliding forward at the bottom this may result in some knee pain. Also make sure you're hitting your depth. As Marlin suggested the knee sleeves are nice. Try squatting twice/week. I've had good luck with this. I have gone through periods where my knees were complaining. I found that stretching and foam rolling helped especially the IT band area.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Your idea about alternating squats and deadlifts is a good one. I work off a 3 day a week split alternating squats on the first day of one week and then doing a deadlift on the next week. My back gets a pounding from 2-3 sessions of jujitsu a week so I accept a little less progress on those two lifts to allow recovery for my lower back. In any event, once you start deadlifting really heavy (whatever that might mean for you) you are probably well advised to only deadlift every 14 days or so. Deadlifts will wreck recovery if you don't allow for the effect they can have on you.

[Sven]

I make sure I have a decent warm up on a bike before Squatting. Then I do a couple sets of body weight squats and put my hands together and use my elbows to push my knees out at the bottom of the squat to make sure my upper legs are running parallel to my feet. I hold the stretch for about ten seconds. I had problems last year with my knees and I don't think I kept my knees out when coming up, the body weight squats with stretches seems to have helped.

[Gene61]

I make sure I have a decent warm up on a bike before Squatting. Then I do a couple sets of body weight squats and put my hands together and use my elbows to push my knees out at the bottom of the squat to make sure my upper legs are running parallel to my feet. I hold the stretch for about ten seconds. I had problems last year with my knees and I don't think I kept my knees out when coming up, the body weight squats with stretches seems to have helped.

This! Warm up and form (keeping the knees out) are the most important. I have osteoarthritis in my right knee. It has gotten better through my course of SS once I got the form right.

Also be careful on the DL and PC. You need to keep your knees out against your elbows with your toes out and your feet in a fairly narrow stance as you start to pull off the floor.

[DavidCC]

Thanks for the helpful advice. Gonna get some knee sleeves and alternate SQ and DL. I've been watching the DVD again and spotted a couple of form issues. Hopefully correcting them will help too.

[pkelly54]

I had been annoyed by a painful left knee since last September. The discomfort would vary from mild to intense. I noticed recently that not keeping my wallet in my left back pocket improved my knee, in that the discomfort is almost gone. I work at a desk job so I have been sitting on my wallet and not noticing.

I mention this so others who have knee pain may want to pay attention to what may be pressing on nerves. I find it interesting, that the knee pain and the pressure from a wallet could be related.

I moved the wallet; the knee is almost as good as my right knee. My only challenge is to remember where I put my wallet last. Such is a geezer’s life. 8)

[God of Thunder]

^this +1

I've had a nagging knee for the last three weeks, and self diagnosed it as either: sprained/torn ligament, patella tendonitis, or pinched saphenous nerve. Walking had become a thing to fear as the pain was unbearable.

As my symptoms were not exactly in line with ligament damage (stairs not a problem, squatting pain free, no swelling, or redness), and that I sit still for up to 11 hours as a security guard, decided that perhaps I had pinched a nerve. So I started googling pinched nerves.

Turns out that bursitis can be caused from sitting still for long periods, and that a nerve pinched at L3 and L4 can mimic medial collateral ligament pain. In particular the saphenous nerve which runs under the femoris and truncates at the knee. It can get pinched at the hip level and cause pain at the knee.

Today I decided to take the tablets for migraine again as I had relief from the pain in twenty minutes before, but I also did a quad stretch and later hung from a bar to stretch my spine.

I was working in the garden later and noticed that I was walking with no pain, and I could kneel without discomfort.

Hours later, I am still 95% pain free and I can now bend my knee without feeling like there is an obstruction at the back of the knee (no pain, just a sensation that something 'was in the way'. Fluid?).

I am stretching my quad every so often, and when back at work will reassess my seating arrangements.