Pain right above knee

[jonesjitter]

Hi Mark,

After doing the program for around 3 months I started having pain right above the knee. The area that hurts starts right at the top of the knee cap, and ends about 4-5 centimeters above the knee. It's hard to tell if it's a muscle or ligaments that hurts. It's the same in both legs, even though the pain is more intense in the left leg. When walking around there is no pain at all. When I squat down (with no weight or barbell) the pain starts about 1/3 on the way down to parallel, and is the most intense when at parallel. Also, when I sit still at a restaurant, in an airplane or just working in front of the computer it will start to hurt after about 15-20 minutes and feel like i MUST stand up and stretch my legs. When the pain is there and I stand up and stretch it feels like my legs (in the area that hurt) is a 90 years old oak wood.. very stiff and very sore. I have not squatted for almost 3 weeks now in an attempt to make the pain go away, and it has not gotten any better at all. I'm 23 years old male and has not experienced any problems at all regarding my legs in the past.

Here is a video of my squat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKByo4EaTCQ

I really hope you can help or at least point me in the right direction.

Thank you in advance.

[Mark Rippetoe]

As a general rule, when your knees hurt from squatting you need to figure out a way to squat with less knee and more hip. This means more vertical shins and more horizontal back angle.

[jonesjitter]

As a general rule, when your knees hurt from squatting you need to figure out a way to squat with less knee and more hip. This means more vertical shins and more horizontal back angle.

Thanks. Any idea on how to make the pain go away before I start squatting again?

[Mark Rippetoe]

SEARCH FUNCTION reveals many things to those who seek.

[PVC]

Thanks. Any idea on how to make the pain go away before I start squatting again?

Drugs.

[Dragar]

Short summary of what is in the forum, as I’ve had this and read every post on it thrice, and the information here worked – you have quadricep tendonitis.

Fix the squat technique and it will very gradully heal (few months for me, some heal faster). Drop the weights to get the form right if need be. If trainers/people at the gym tell you your back angle is too horizontal ignore them. Use anti-inflammatories if need be to manage your workouts. Do not visit a physiotherapist or listen to anything they say.

[spangler]

Do not visit a physiotherapist or listen to anything they say.

That is a pretty ridiculous statement and terrible advice. While there are bad physiotherapists there are also great ones.

I personally use an orthopedic manual therapist who not only agrees with the starting strength program but does it himself and advocates it to his patients.

He has helped me correct some muscle imbalances which have increased my flexibility and improved my performance in the squat.

Don't visit a bad physiotherapist, don't visit a bad chiropractor, don't visit a bad ortho surgeon. Use your brain, take all advice and measure it with your experience. It is ridiculous to say, "Do not visit a physiotherapist or listen to anything they say" because that just may be the best thing for you if you find a good one.

-Andrew

[Mark Rippetoe]

Next time you see your guy, ask him how many other therapists he knows that practice as he does, that train with barbells correctly, and that know what he knows as a result. Take that number and calculate the odds of finding another one. You will find that Dragar's statement is the unfortunate truth.

[Cenova]

Speaking as a physical therapist, I have to agree with Mark. As much as it used to crush my tiny ego, he's right. The number of therapists who know anything about lifting is very, very minimal. It's the nature of our job. We just don't work with that many lifters, so we're not taught much. Well. Other than "don't squat below parallel" and "don't lift too much weight."

But if you've found a good one, good for you.

[Dragar]

For this specific problem, I stand 100% by my statement, because it worked just fine, after months getting no joy from my physio

And my physio, mind you, isn't some kid out of uni. He is about 40, was a high level vball player, team physio for national teams in volleyball and occasionally rugby, and is a big advocate of weight training for sports and rehab. he had helped me with other issues effectively before. For quad tendonitis, no.

He had me doing heavily loaded quarter squats and leg extentions. Funnily enough I didn't see vast improvement