Hello everyone, I have been a lurker here for a long time but just never posted anything. But i now need your help. I have knee problems that im hoping can be fixed on my own. It has for the most part ruined squatting for me. I have had form checks and my form isnt bad. It caused me to have trouble hitting depth and has now caused me to have trouble squatting at all and is even there just when i walk.
The pain is right below the knee cap. My guess is it is an issue with the patellar tendon. My hope is that it can be fixed through some flexibility work, foam rolling, general loosening up of the hip flexors, extensors, entire knee area, ankles, everything. A OLY lifting coach at my school said that i could try to up my hamstring work to attempt to balance the antagonistic relationship of my quads and hams. But other than that he didnt seem to give a shit one way or another.
Also if it matters one bit my feet point out which im not sure if its genetic or tightness in the calves, poor ankle mobility, etc. Which seems to cause my knees to point inwards. There is a syndrome for the inward pointing knees but i cant think of it right now. I really love to squat but now my bench has caught up to my squat because i cant really push myself on it without being in extreme pain. Any questions that i did not cover feel free to ask. This is very important to me since i do not wanna have to drop squats, Front or back
The external rotation of your feet is due to extreme tightness of your piriformis… Extremely unhealthy for your knees
You need to focus on loosening this area up… Learn to love the pigeon pose stretch!
Also, you should look to drop squats for 4-6weeks while working on full ROM single leg work. Emphasis on FULL ROM. And throw tons of peterson step ups in there to build your VMOs back up.
Thanks for the response man… Just a few questions though. I looked up the pigeon toe stretch and got many different stretches. Anyway you could explain the stretch or post a link to it? And what kinda single leg work do you suggest? Leg presses, lunges, etc. Also how about foot placement on the single leg stuff. Should i be forcefully pointing my toes straight up for them? It doesnt hurt to put them straight it is just not natural feeling and they go back out if im not conscious of it.
Get into a push up position
Bring one knee up to your chest
Turn your foot and lay your leg on it’s side - your lower leg should be perpendicular with your body
Try to sit on your (stretched) butt cheek
This can also be done on a table top
Single leg work should be done a minimum of 2x week
All single leg work is good, but try your best to build up to the ones that offer the most ROM: high step ups, lunges, bulgarian split squats. Also focus on Peterson Step Ups and Lunges with your front foot on a rocker board. All single leg variations are good (but single-leg leg press and leg extension are pretty useless)
And btw the proper way to do a lunge is:
Get your knee as far past your toe as possible
Trunk completely upright (not leaning forward)
In the bottom position your hamstrings should be covering your calf