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Knee Arthritis and Squatting
Coach Rip,
My wife was diagnosed with a torn meniscus (just like everyone over the age of 30ish) and arthritis in her knee. She had a cortisone shot (which gave her relief for a few weeks) and gel shots (which so far have done nothing for her). The orthopedist who did both types of shots said she's not (yet) a candidate for surgery.
She can't currently squat below parallel without pain. She's expressed an interest in SS-type training though.
So my question is, would she be better off air-squatting until she can get below parallel, before she starts adding weights to the squat, or should she squat as deep as she can with weights, and work that way to get below parallel? In short, which is a better plan, get below parallel without weights or with?
As an aside, she found a website run by a physical therapist who wholeheartedly recommends against squatting, and who said you should strengthen the knee by doing straight-leg-raises. Not sure how you strengthen the muscles that bend and support the knee without actually bending the knee......
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The general recommendation is to leeg preess till you can start doing faaahves. Maybe some static streetching, too. Doing haff reeps or box squats won't streetch the muscles needeed to provahde proper deepth.
Or get a coach cos 15 buck (paypal) says she's got a form problem that needs fixing.
Member
Originally Posted by Mark D
This^
Does she have the same pain limitations sitting and standing from a chair?
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