Knees making a cracking noise when squatting

[latinlifter]

Hello, I'm having this problem since I've switched from a HBS to a LBS.

The problem is not just the cracking noise, but that the day after my knees feel somehow stiff and do some noises when extending my leg.

Apparently when I HBSed my shins were more vertical and my stance was wider. I can tell that the closed the knee angle, the worse this gets.

I have hypermobile joints and most of them do weird noises from time to time, but I'm a little scared that I might be screwing up my knees with my current squat setup.

A powerlifter at my gym checked my form and told me that I tend to go too deep.


Questions:

Has anybody had this problem before?
Do I have a reason to be worried?
Should I widen my stance and try to get 90 degree knees?
Is there anything else I'm not considering?


Thanks a lot.

[Tom Campitelli]

Video would help here.

[Randeep Khaund]

I have been squatting for about a year now and have been to a couple of SS training camps, besides working personally with a SS coach every now and then. So, my form is not terrible. That being said, my knees have been making a cracking noise for almost every rep, starting from my first rep with the empty bar to my last rep tonight at 285 lbs. I have never had any knee pain due to squatting, so the noise never bothered me. Reading up a on it, seemed like it could possibly be air being released, but not too sure about the science.

Are you experiencing pain?

[pkelly54]

You might want to check this thread http://startingstrength.com/resource...770#post361770 for more comments about noise from knees.

[Mugaaz]

My knees always crack during first 3-4 sets of warm ups. I dont understand why I'm supposed to be worried about this.

[latinlifter]

Thanks everybody for your answers.

Video would help here.

Yes, I will be uploading a video soon.

Are you experiencing pain

Not pain, but there's certainly some discomfort and stifness afterwards and it lasts some days. For example, running becomes uncomfortable.

You might want to check this thread http://startingstrength.com/resource...770#post361770 for more comments about noise from knees.

Thanks a lot! Will do.

[Randeep Khaund]

I'm not sure what program you are on or what your training looks like, but I'm on advanced novice now. Now, and when I was running SS, running was never a good idea for me from a recovery standpoint. So, I'm not sure if it would have hurt or not. I'm a little portly, so running would hurt my knees regardless.

Good luck figuring things out and recover!

[latinlifter]

Hi, here's the video of me squatting 90 kg (198 lbs), that's my workset 5x3 currently, and the video corresponds to the first set (one rep left out by filmer )

Video

After the squat workout, my left knee hurt a bit and was kind of stiff.

If you have any thoughts they are welcome.

I'll pay attention to my knees in order not to let them move forward too much, I think that may be the problem. Maybe a wider stance can help too.

[Tom Campitelli]

Your stance is already too wide and your knees are traveling too far forward. You are also above parallel. It is possible that the forward knee travel coupled with the partial squats are irritating your knees. Narrow your stance a little. Lean over more. Drive your knees out. Go deeper.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Your stance is already too wide and your knees are traveling too far forward. You are also above parallel. It is possible that the forward knee travel coupled with the partial squats are irritating your knees. Narrow your stance a little. Lean over more. Drive your knees out. Go deeper.

Tom is right on the money, but he neglects to mention that your weightlifting gloves are triggering the production of autoantibodies against knee cartilage. Joint destruction is the inevitable result unless you get rid of the gloves immediately.

It may already be too late.