Hey whats up everyone! I have a knee injury related to squatting, hoping someone can help.
My right knee hurts to squat. A lot!! The weird thing is it only hurts when i try to squat with perfect form. When I just do a bodyweight squat with arms in front of me and not worry about how flat ( neutral ) my spine is, the squat is pain free on my knee. But When I squat with my shoulders retracted holding a bar, and try to keep a neutral spine to prevent butt wink, then it puts crazy strain on my knee. Basically when I try to emphasize keeping my back straight, the hamstrings stretch in the hole of the squat and causes a lot of pain under the knee capā¦mostly on the outer sideā¦
Seems strange to me. Shitty form with rounded back = No pain, ā¦good form neutral back = crazy pulling pain on knee cap.
Supposed to have a meet coming up in june and donāt want to compete bench onlyā¦ Any help greatly appreciated.
Might help to put up a video of this
Sounds like during your āshittyā squats, youāre allowing other muscles to compensate for the weakness in your knee, so the pain subsides. But Chicken is correct - we need to know if youāre squatting too low/too high, if your knees are buckling inwards, if your toes are pointed out too far or too little, if youāre not sitting back enough, etc. Post a video. But make your top concern the health of your knee, not a maximal squat effort two months from now.
@flappinit not sure how to post a video? Guessing it has to be a link?
I think it has to be on social media or YouTube - come to think of it, Iāve never posted a video. @Frank_C @losthog how do you post yours?
I have a YouTube channel that all I use it for is to post and upload my videos to. Itās super easy. Get a YouTube log in. Open the Chanel upload the video. Done.
Click the share like copy the link paste it here and presto chango like magic its done
2 Likes
Also let me say that even if someone who happens to be a doctor (I am not a doctor) replies, it does not mean theyāre correct. No doctor can accurately diagnose someone in your situation without physically examining them. Whatever you hear on this site - and it may well be educated and insightful - it cannot compare with a visit to a specialist, so if the pain is as severe as you say, I hope you will seek help outside of the internet.
1 Like
Here is the link. Form is the same at the gym with weight. Have seen a doctor and waiting for appointment to see specialist.
Thanks
My guess is that itās actually something in your hips. If rounding your back is pain free then that tells me that the pain occurs when the hamstrings, abductors, and adductors are lengthened (during a normal squat).
Hop on a foam roller or lacrosse ball and roll out all the muscles around your pelvis. Iād bet that youāll find some spots that make you scream obscenities. That might lead you to the source of the problem.
1 Like
Looks like he is butt winking. No anterior activation
@losthog
What do you mean by " no anterior activation" ??
1 Like
Brother I know just enough to be dangerous to us both 
I wish I could be of more help. I do. But I am not qualified to address this.
Iāll share what I know thoughā¦
But a few questionsā¦
How long have you been lifting?
How long have you been using this form?
How long have you been using a corrective form?
What kind of weight are you squatting?
When did the knee pain start? Recently or older injury
1 Like
Here is a good place to startā¦
Hahaha I appreciate the help im sure you wonāt F%=k up my knee any worse than it already is lol
Been lifting 6 years but several breaks in between because of travelling for work where there is no weights
Been using this form for past 3 years. When I started lifting it was only upper body. Have been squatting about 3 years
Havent really tried any other form except a high bar squat and dropping straight down instead of sitting back but still hurts the same
Right now Iām squatting high 200ās and mod 300ās depending on the training day. At last meet 413. Squat has always been my weak link. It always injures my back or knee every time I go heavy. Can deadlift all day with no issues.
Knee pain started about a year ago while training for a meet.
Thanks
The ābutt winkā he mentioned is when your pelvis tilts under in the bottom of the lift. Thatās an indicator that your hamstrings are tight (and possibly other posterior muscles).
I donāt like butt wink and think itās risky and can lead to a back injury. The lumbar spine appears to be moving when that happens and thatās never good under load.
Do you have the same issue under load? Oddly enough, I think Iāve seen it go away under load on some people.
Tell me more about the knee pain. Under the patella? Is it deep in the knee or more surfaceā¦Front of knee, back, inside outside? Is it sharp like a stab, pulling pain, comes and goes, only during liftingā¦etc. A ton of stuff is going on with the knee attachments, cross joint connective tissue, joint cartilages, etc.
The butt wink is the same with or without load.
The knee pain feels like its directly underneath the patellaā¦more so on the lateral side and bottom sideā¦not up by the quadā¦and feels like a pulling painā¦
I think you guys are right. No anterior activation. Newfie, your abs, quads and front hip muscles have fallen behind your back muscles. So your squat uses more back, and less āfront.ā After years of this, your squat is wonky and your quads are weak.
Instead of using muscle to drive your squat, youāre bouncing off your quad tendons at the bottom. That butt wink at is your body tilting your pelvis to stretch your quads even more, to get more bounce out of the hole. That is causing the pulling sensation on your knee. The excessive bounce and stretch is pulling on your connective tissue.
Your brace is off, and youāre arching your low back excessively. So your hip flexors are probably tight too.
Hereās a great video about bracing, keeping your back in the right position, and not butt winking.
If youāve been pulling and bouncing and beating up your tendons and connective tissue, youāve probably got some tendonitis somewhere. This is long, but somewhere in there Stan talks about rehabbing his quad tendonitis.
2 Likes
Thanks guys apprecuate the help !! Great info
