Knee Joint Stiffness/Knee Pain After Squats

[csuson]

Coach Thibaudeau,

Problem 1:

About 5 months ago, I injured my left knee doing bodyweight only, high rep lunges (hangs head in shame). There was no slipping or twisting of the joint, or popping, i.e. anything that would indicate an immediate ligament tear. It actually did not start hurting until about a half hour after I was done training. The joint has not felt loose or out of place, but the pain (primarily experienced during squatting, getting up from being seated, or being seated too long without being able to extend my leg fully) has basically caused me to favor that knee. As a result my right leg is now noticeably larger and stronger.

Over time, it has progressively gotten better, but my left side still manages to lag behind, and my left knee still still gets aggravated after squats. I wear some very basic (i.e. not powerlifting gear) knee sleeves when I squat, deadlift, run, etc. which seems to help during the activity, but I always seem to pay for it later.

I have been attempting to keep as limber as possible. Also, I have been performing some single leg work in order to strengthen the joint. However, I have been limited to bodyweight lunges since the injury.

Regarding this problem: does it sound like I’m heading towards further strength imbalances and possibly more injuries by continuing my training? How would you recommend going about “curing” the problem?

Problem 2:

After squatting, running, and sometimes deadlifts my knees stiffen up quite a bit. I’ll sound like an old man getting up from chairs, and I’ll have to support myself on the way down to sit. Now, I’ve long been used to muscle soreness from lifting, but recently, it feels like the knee joints themselves are on fire. I take glucosamine condroitin and fish oil daily. I will also note that none of my other joints hurt, even after heavy lifting. Is there something I should be doing during my off-gym time (i.e. do more stretching, ice the knees afterwards)?

I literally cannot see myself not lifting weights, playing sports, going backpacking, skiing, and the like. It’s part of who I am as a person at this point, and it helps me keep my sanity. At this rate, however, I feel like I’ll be using a damned walker by the time I’m 40. I’m 24 now.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I am hoping to gain the insight from someone who actually trains themselves before I spend the money to go see some physical therapist that prescribes RICE and tells me to do seated isometric leg extensions for 6 months (kill me now).

[fredarn]

Thibs is not a injury expert, and dosen’t usually answer questions like this.

[Mutsanah]

[quote]csuson wrote:
Coach Thibaudeau,

Problem 1:

About 5 months ago, I injured my left knee doing bodyweight only, high rep lunges (hangs head in shame). There was no slipping or twisting of the joint, or popping, i.e. anything that would indicate an immediate ligament tear. It actually did not start hurting until about a half hour after I was done training. The joint has not felt loose or out of place, but the pain (primarily experienced during squatting, getting up from being seated, or being seated too long without being able to extend my leg fully) has basically caused me to favor that knee. As a result my right leg is now noticeably larger and stronger.

Over time, it has progressively gotten better, but my left side still manages to lag behind, and my left knee still still gets aggravated after squats. I wear some very basic (i.e. not powerlifting gear) knee sleeves when I squat, deadlift, run, etc. which seems to help during the activity, but I always seem to pay for it later.

I have been attempting to keep as limber as possible. Also, I have been performing some single leg work in order to strengthen the joint. However, I have been limited to bodyweight lunges since the injury.

Regarding this problem: does it sound like I’m heading towards further strength imbalances and possibly more injuries by continuing my training? How would you recommend going about “curing” the problem?

Problem 2:

After squatting, running, and sometimes deadlifts my knees stiffen up quite a bit. I’ll sound like an old man getting up from chairs, and I’ll have to support myself on the way down to sit. Now, I’ve long been used to muscle soreness from lifting, but recently, it feels like the knee joints themselves are on fire. I take glucosamine condroitin and fish oil daily. I will also note that none of my other joints hurt, even after heavy lifting. Is there something I should be doing during my off-gym time (i.e. do more stretching, ice the knees afterwards)?

I literally cannot see myself not lifting weights, playing sports, going backpacking, skiing, and the like. It’s part of who I am as a person at this point, and it helps me keep my sanity. At this rate, however, I feel like I’ll be using a damned walker by the time I’m 40. I’m 24 now.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I am hoping to gain the insight from someone who actually trains themselves before I spend the money to go see some physical therapist that prescribes RICE and tells me to do seated isometric leg extensions for 6 months (kill me now).

[/quote]

A lot of times for me, knee stiffness is from lack of proper hip mobility. Not sure in your case. But when I stretch out hips in all planes of body, I feel better.

[csuson]

Yeah, I did some more reading around here and figured out that CT doesn’t address injuries.

Incidentally, I ordered a good foam roller from elitefts yesterday. I anxiously await its arrival.

[csuson]

Wow, I definitely neglected that part, my bad. It’s usually a dull pain around the joint, but mostly on the outside front of the joint. There hasn’t been any tingling or “needles” feeling, nor has there been much shooting pain. A few years ago, I blew out my other knee (luckily not tearing anything that I know of), and this feels nothing like that. There are no spots in particular that feel tender.

When I originally got the injury, there was no “water on the knee” or any bruising. My range of motion on that knee has not been affected, but the pain is most intense at around 90 degrees of flexion (not parallel to the ground, but just before). There hasn’t been any clicking or grinding sensation that I can detect either.

Mostly, it seems to have affected my squat form. I’ve had to really concentrate to squat “straight up and down” without shifting my weight slightly over to my right side. I’ve since discovered that if I widen my stance slightly and focus on pushing my knees outwards that the pain is considerably less, as well as feeling more stable and strong. Perhaps this is how I SHOULD have been squatting all along…

My working theory as of now is this: I aggravated one or more tendons or ligaments in the knee because of overuse (at the time of the injury, I had been training for about 2 months using a high volume, high intensity approach thinking (erroneously) that this would be the best way to improve my work capacity). Though I am making improvements, I have been lazy if not outright negligent with soft tissue work. When I was in school and moved around a lot more, it probably wasn’t as big of an issue as it is now. I currently drive a desk, so the hours of sitting on my ass are beginning to take their toll. I now know that I am going to have to actively combat this instead of giving myself a pat on the back for stretching for 15 minutes, twice a week.