Ive been diagnosed with patella frmoral syndrome, which i got from backsquatting. Im sure my form wasnt perfect, probably not sitting back enough. I find front squats much easier to get deep. when i can get back into squatting i was thinking of just sticking to front squats. Anyone know what type of squat causes less overall stress on the knees?
knee cave causes awful bad stress on the knees.
bringing your weight forwards onto the ball of your foot also causes awful bad stress on the knees.
aren’t you shoving your knees out hard enough on your back squats? that is the only way i can figure they would hurt your knees…
front squats are typically thought to be a bit harder on the knees insofar as they are a quad dominant rather than glute / hammie dominant form of squatting.
vids would help.
Second on the video.
The least stressful for you right now would probably be a wide stance box squat with the “sit back” being emphasized. Minimal forward knee travel.
I realize i dont sit back enough and have some mobility issues.I cant make a squat video now because the gym i go to doesnt allow videos to be made, its a rule here in Taiwan, someone sued a gym because a member filmed them changing, now its banned. I cant do box squats because the benches at the gym are all too high, about 24 inches. I have never seen boxes at any gym in Taiwan. I will work on my flexability then start out with back squats or front squats in about a week or so. i have no knee pain now but the doc says the wound will take a little while more to heal. So if limited to back squats or front i still dont know which would cause less irritation in the patella femur area.
Wnder nobody mentioned goblet squats for improving squatting form. Those are easy to do, don’t require too much equipement (heck, they can be done with BW with your elbows pushing your knees outward).
And I like them for “loosening up” the hips before heavy squat work. Less stress on knees due to the lack of heavy load, teaches you to push knees out, keep core tight, keep torso upright, etc etc… I think they are good for teaching the squat properly??
? :-\
Just got diagnosed with patellofemoral syndrome myself, and being in the medical profession (though not a DR.) I have some experience with this. The vast majority of Patellofemoral syndrome cases arise when you have a muscular imbalance between the quads and hams. Your case may have a pretty simple fix. Back off on the weight and focus on your hammies for 2 or 3 weeks and you should see some relief. But if you don’t back off it will only get worse, obviously. That’s the simple answer.
Goblet squats sound like a good idea. Its been over 2 weeks now of therapy every day, heat, electric. I have no pain doing any activity but will wait one more week before trying anything. I deadlift heavy for hamstrings still as that causes no pain.
As for the quad hamstring imbalance doc says in my case its likly from loosing my form in the squat and leaning forward a few times too many. Ive been wearing this super tight brace which seems to be working to keep the patella on track also. when i do finally squat ill report back, maybe can sneek a video in at the gym to post and get some feedback.
goblet squats are a good option while you can’t back squat or front squat due to your knee