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Thread: Weight VS Depth on Arthritic Knees

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Salt Lake City, Utah
    Posts
    25

    Default Weight VS Depth on Arthritic Knees

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    I started my Mom on SS 10 weeks ago. She is 68 and has arthritic knees. The SS program has made a big difference in her life and we are very excited. She has gone from body weight squats to 55 pounds now. However knee pain prevents her from reaching full depth. My question is do we keep increasing the weight or wait until she can reach the correct depth? I am concerned that adding weight without proper depth will be hard on her knees.

    P.S. The shoe issue has been addressed. We just got her a new pair of Do-Wins. Also we are aware she is leaning forward out of balance. She was trying to get the bar lower without bending her knees. ¯\(©¿©)/¯ <SHRUG>

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    10,378

    Default

    I would recommend losing the bar and having her squat to a box. I would bet that knee pain is not the limiting factor here, but strength is. It is likely that she will have trouble standing up from a below parallel box, so find the height to which she can squat for three sets of five. Lower the box until she is below parallel. Then start adding weight. Take the box away once she can consistently go below parallel. She will want to sit down on the box instead of keeping her weight in her feet. She will need to be cued to fight this tendency. Also, ditch the belt for the time being.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Salt Lake City, Utah
    Posts
    25

    Default

    Thank you Tom. We will give that a try.

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