yet another knee problem!!

[my03]

Sorry to bore you guys with another knee problem but I want some advice on my situation.

My knees have always been noisy, popping cracking etc. But After squatting, maybe 1-2 days after I get discomfort around the knee cap, it's not really under the kneecap, just around it above and sometimes below, and sometimes discomfort along the muscle on my shin. Sometimes behind too.

I say the physio and he said my knee was inflamed and I have an imbalance- my glutes are weak for my quads and it is pulling my kneecap, and told me to do some glute exercises. (lie on the floor with back against the wall and raise leg, hold for 20 seconds, 5 reps, 3 sets)

I laid off the squat for a a few weeks and the pain went away, then I went back to squatting and again, the pain came back a day or two after,

This time I saw an osteopath and he said my knees were fine, but they are inflamed and he said I should lay off the squats for a few weeks and when I return I shouldn't go low (half squats etc) he said i had inflamed my patella tendon.

Obviously this is not what I want to hear because I must squat.

I've read a lot about knee injuries here and a repeating theme is I need to "work around" my injuries. So I'm just wondering, what do you mean work around them?

I dead lifted a few days ago and that knee seems unstable and weak, but no pain.

Am I not warming up properly when I do it?

I have read the book and watched the DVD and I think my form could improve in squats, I noticed that I wasn't pushing my knees out to the side as much as instructed. Could this aggravate my knee discomfort?

how should I return to squatting and should I start light? I'm interested in learning how to "work around" my injury.

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[afatgoat]

[/quote]I have read the book and watched the DVD and I think my form could improve in squats, I noticed that I wasn't pushing my knees out to the side as much as instructed. Could this aggravate my knee discomfort?[/quote]
Knees should be tracking over your toes for optimal health and opening up the hips. Knee problems could be a form issue, it's tough to tell without seeing it, post a video. I would deload until major form issues are resolved.

Doing HIT, sprints, or even walking, on an uneven surface, like sand or weighted hill climbs, will go a long way building stronger connective tissue in and around your knees.

[my03]

thanks for the reply.

It's been 2 weeks since i squatted, and my knee still feels a bit tight, should i wait till it feels completely fine before resuming squatting, and when i do, should i be going light?

[veryhrm]

People whose knees hurt often have the "knee slide" form issue where they move their knees in the bottom of the movement. Take a video and see if it looks like what you see on the videos and/or in other videos in the technique forum.

If it looks good to you or you can't figure out why it looks different (it's not necessarily obvious, esp. when you're new or it's you. That's why coaches and the forum are a good resource) post it in the Technique forum (or the staff coaches Q&A) for some feedback.

If you have weak glutes there is no exercise program under the sun that will make them stronger faster than doing SS. Just do squats and make sure you keep your knees out (which actually depends on glute strength as they act as abductors at some angles).

How long have you been squatting ? and what weight did you start at ? what weight were you doing when it started hurting ? what weight were you doing when you stopped ?