starting strength gym
Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Diagnosed with knee arthritis

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Posts
    162

    Default Diagnosed with knee arthritis

    • starting strength seminar april 2024
    • starting strength seminar jume 2024
    • starting strength seminar august 2024
    Got the arthritis diagnosis today from an ortho. I'm 46, almost 6ft1, ~ 250 lbs but recently was close to 260 for a few months to try and hit some numbers. He said it's mild but arthritis is a progressive disease and I might need a knee replacement in 10-15 years. Anyone else around here dealing with this? How have you adapted your training? My knee pain is felt at the bottom of the squat and hurts like hell when I lift my leg to get into my vehicle to drive after squatting. It subsides over the course of a couple days and doesn't hurt just sitting around or walking or doing the elliptical. Any advice is appreciated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    53,562

    Default

    Squat video?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Posts
    162

    Default

    I have a lot of squat videos over the years but just chose a recent one. I was being coached by Andy Baker when I did this squat. He said they were fine but I think I was probably plopping down too far into the hole.


    Here is a light box squat from this morning. I'm switching to these for the time being while I try to decide what to do training-wise.


    I thought the doctor was going to say I had an IT band issue seeing as the pain is on the lateral side of the knee. The doc said it was patellofemoral osteoarthritis and he prescribed me some meloxicam. If they upload the X-Rays to my patient account I can let you see those too. They haven't done that yet. I saw the vertical knee x-ray and it looked fine, tons of space between the bones. The patella x-ray (google "sunrise knee x-ray") was the one the doc said was the issue because of the smaller space between the bones although I only got a quick look at that.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    North Texas
    Posts
    53,562

    Default

    I don't know what the x-ray will show, but you've got a 3-inch knee slide at the bottom that would irritate anybody's knees.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Posts
    162

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe View Post
    I don't know what the x-ray will show, but you've got a 3-inch knee slide at the bottom that would irritate anybody's knees.
    Yes, the knee slide makes me cringe. That being said, that squat was painless. I first noticed the knee pain while doing hack squats (hack squats and leg presses were programmed for me in alternating fashion on non-squat days). I first noted the pain in my training log on 4/19/22 after some hack squats. I didn't really care about hacks or leg presses so I just stopped doing them, figuring any pain was related to the position the machines forced me into. And the pain didn't show up if I didn't do those movements so I just blew it off. There was no pain with barbell squats. The first time I noted the knee pain during squats was on 10/28/22. That is what made me schedule a doctor's visit which was on 11/3/22. And to my doctor's credit he encouraged me to keep training and said that pain doesn't mean the arthritis is getting worse. It is what it is. Like I said, currently I can walk around pain-free, and I only notice it now and then. As it stands, unless I hear another suggestion, I plan on training as usual (heavy/light split) except that I will use the box squat to help keep my form in check. I believe Sully has arthritic knees and he seems to be coping just fine.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •