Thread: "Bad knee(s)" and squating

yea id like to know if it does harm or good aswell, probubly depend on the injury, i injured my knee snowboarding last season and i do squats and i do find that my knee is a tad stiff for a couple days after the workout, which sucks. ( i had a cist in my knee )

I have had bad knees all of my life. The first year and a half I worked out I did not work legs due to my knees. i finanlly decided to start working my legs. I started squatting, doing ham curls and leg ext. All of my knee pain disappeared........for about a month....than my knees hurt very bad. I realized what I was doing was going way too heavy on leg ext.'s.

I started wrapping my knees and going higher reps, lower weight on knee ext.'s and worked on my squat form. I have been pain free for a year and squat 300lbs for reps. I think squats are wonderful and do not damage your knoees, but helps build stronger knees, if you use proper form. This is my experience and 2 cents.

Most knowledgeable people will probably tell you to squat ATG and start out very light and raw. Do not use wraps, belts, suits, or anything else that may cause something else to slack off and weaken. Machines such as the leg extension can place shearing forces on the knee, which is not a good thing. As long as you stick do doing full ROM free weight movements and you stick to doing them raw, the movements will most likely help a great deal so long as you progress very slowly and use perfect form.

Of course, this depends on age, nature of the knee injury, how long after the injury you start, etc..

Originally Posted by Squaggleboggin

Most knowledgeable people will probably tell you to squat ATG and start out very light and raw. Do not use wraps, belts, suits, or anything else that may cause something else to slack off and weaken. Machines such as the leg extension can place shearing forces on the knee, which is not a good thing. As long as you stick do doing full ROM free weight movements and you stick to doing them raw, the movements will most likely help a great deal so long as you progress very slowly and use perfect form.

Of course, this depends on age, nature of the knee injury, how long after the injury you start, etc..

nice post.

Originally Posted by The13ig13adWolf

nice post.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Squaggleboggin

Most knowledgeable people will probably tell you to squat ATG and start out very light and raw. Do not use wraps, belts, suits, or anything else that may cause something else to slack off and weaken. Machines such as the leg extension can place shearing forces on the knee, which is not a good thing. As long as you stick do doing full ROM free weight movements and you stick to doing them raw, the movements will most likely help a great deal so long as you progress very slowly and use perfect form.

Of course, this depends on age, nature of the knee injury, how long after the injury you start, etc..

What does ATG mean anyway?

And what would you say to someone who hasnt had an injury, but "they just hurt" is the excuse? Pussy?

Oh and why would leg extensions hurt the knee more?

Originally Posted by AKIRA

What does ATG mean anyway?

And what would you say to someone who hasnt had an injury, but "they just hurt" is the excuse? Pussy?

Oh and why would leg extensions hurt the knee more?

ATG = Ass To Grass/ground/floor (however you want to say it).

If it hurts, simply don't do it. I'd never suggest to someone to work through pain or anything of that sort. If flexibility were the issue I'd suggest simply improving it by means of regular stretching, which is simple enough.

Leg extensions, as I said, put a lot of shearing forces on the knee joint, which is a very bad thing. Imagine sitting on a chair and holding one leg out straight in front of you. Now put a 50 pound weight on that foot. That weight is going to push directly down while the chair will prevent your leg above the knee from going down. This means there is a very short length of your leg (where your knee is) in which there is a direct downward force (the weight) and a direct upward force (the chair). This is called shearing. This same thing happens in a leg extension machine.

I have an old softball injury that doesn't consistently bother me but will flare up on occassion. It used to hurt really bad during/after my leg day workout (especially during squats) till I talked to someone about my form. Since correcting my form- leg days have been going much more smoothly.

I wouldn't think that you would ever want to neglect legs from your workout due to an injury. Although some exercises might not be the best you would think lifting in general would be helpful to injured areas, right?

It depends on the nature of the injury.

For example, if you have an ACL injury, then full range of motion squats do not place all that much stress on this ligament, relatively speaking. It is a great way to rehab an injury to that area, although it is still an injury, and you obviously have to listen to your body in terms of weight progression, additional warmups, etc.

However, if you have a PCL injury, then full range of motion squats are not the best idea in the beginning. A great amount of stress is placed on this ligament once you get beyond about a 50 degree bend in your knees. In this case, full range of motion squats should be reserved for the later stages of rehabilitation.