Squat check, knee tendonitis?

[BorisKaravasilev]

Hi,
Currently 6'0 196lb
A month into NLP:
In the video, I am squatting 175lb.

78.5kg x5 - YouTube

I have had knee pain in both knees almost all my adult life. I used to play basketball in my teens until my knees started hurting somewhere above and under the patella. Doctors said chondromalacia patella. This pain went away after about two years this pain went away and a new pain below my kneecaps( where the distal patella tendon is). It is a dull pain, that seems to come from general movement. It is also usual for the area below the kneecap to swell a little, turn red, and heat up, again only after movement. Resting alleviates the symptoms. I have had this for more than five years now. Gaining strength did not made the knees better and the last few workouts when the weight started feeling heavy and bar speed slowed a bit, aggravated the knees.

Besides a general form check, any idea what I am dealing with and how to approach rehab?

[Mark Rippetoe]

These aren't particularly bad squats, but if knees are hurting, they have to be fixed. Patellar tendonitis is tough to get rid of once it becomes embedded. You need to learn how to keep your shins more vertical at the bottom of the squat. This requires a more horizontal back angle/hips back on the way down. You can use a box to learn this.

[GioFerrante]

These aren't particularly bad squats, but if knees are hurting, they have to be fixed. Patellar tendonitis is tough to get rid of once it becomes embedded. You need to learn how to keep your shins more vertical at the bottom of the squat. This requires a more horizontal back angle/hips back on the way down. You can use a box to learn this.

I was wondering about this as I'm finally trying the box now to try and get rid of some embedded knee tendinitis from years of knee slide. In the Box Squat, are your shins supposed to be more vertical than the Squat? Like as vertical as possible while reaching depth? Or are they just supposed to reach their normal squat position?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Yes, shins need to be as vertical as possible at the box.

[GioFerrante]

Yes, shins need to be as vertical as possible at the box.

Thanks Rip. Though I did have to start with 55% on the bar. We'll see how the knees feel after a couple months doing it this way.

[BorisKaravasilev]

Would switching to a box squat warrant a deload? I can feel that the stretch reflex bounce from the bottom really helps move big weights. If this is the case, how much would be appropriate?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Paused box squats are usually at about 75%.

[BorisKaravasilev]

Paused box squats are usually at about 75%.

Okay, I went through some of your material online and if I get it correctly knee tendonitis is a bitch. It sounds like I should give it a name?!? I am changing the programming. I have been doing NLP for a month:
Squats from 110x3x5 to 190x3x5
Deadlift from 135x1x5 to 215x1x5
Press from 45 x3x5 to 77 x3x5
Bench from 65x3x5 to 105x3x5
6'0 Bodyweight from 187 to 196
Following the advice I intend to switch to box squats:

Box squats 60kg - YouTube // video from last workout, 135x3x5, will do 5-pound jumps for programming, no box in the gym so I improvise
Should I alternate the deadlift with the power clean? Is the combination of ballistic movement and knee tendonitis a good idea? If not what else? Pullups/Chins?
Also, should I keep backward walks in my workouts? I experimented by anchoring my back on the handles on a turned-off treadmill and pushing with through my toes, imitating walking backward.
I did that for a few minutes before and after the training session, it did pump a lot of blood through the front of my legs and it is concentric only, Stan Efferding talks about this being important in his knee tendonitis rehab. So what is the general plan now? What are the chances of this shit recovering and me going back to the Squat with this shit that has been going on for years? The frustration of having to reduce the weight on my squat is what probably castration feels like...

[Mark Rippetoe]

Box squats are done with a pause on the box, to remove the rebound. Your improvisation is not the same thing.

[BorisKaravasilev]

Box squats are done with a pause on the box, to remove the rebound. Your improvisation is not the same thing.

Here is the last set of 5:
box squat 65kg - YouTube
Is there any rebound in it?
Also, I had to sleep on a hard mattress last week. That seemed to irritate the knees even more. I do not remember waking up with red and swollen knees but last week I did. For the last few days, I have been back to my bed( soft mattress), switched to the box squat, and doing those backward walks on the turned-off treadmill for a few sets until the front of my legs feel full of blood. So far the inflammation has gotten down significantly. I will continue recording my case. These knees have been bad for more than a decade...