Knee/Quad Pain

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

i have had pain on my right knee, but now it’s my left as well…it’s a strange pain, it’s on my outer quads JUST above my knee, the thing is, i can still squat etc. with little-to-no pain, as long as i warm up VERY thoroughly (with less than bodyweight atg squats, and/or leg extensions) and i’m good to go, but, everyday, the pain is back.

my squat is very weak as well (i only squat about 350, but can bench about 310, and deadlift around 450) and it’s frustrating as fkc… it takes sooooo long to warmup, and, even then, the first reps alway hurt, but then the subsequent reps get easier and easier for my knee…

if anybody has any questions or suggestions, it’d be much appreciated
(also, i’m a 6’5 245lb college basketball player, so, the knee pain is understandable, but…very frustrating, again, advice ould be awesome), thanks

2

I just posted something similiar like this man. Same pain like you but mine was below the knee, it’s to do with the IT band, I was lookin it up on google and the pain can occur on the top or bottom, it’s called “ITBS” But anyway I got told to ice my knee and do a certain stretch that “el0gic” gave me. To see it here’s the link to it, you can see el0gic’s stretch recommendation there too. Here you go. Hopefully this helps, I’m sure someone with better knowledge will chime in though.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1590542

3

Do the stretching that the link has, also invest in a foam roller ($20) i had the exact same pain and it went away with a week of soft tissue work with the roller.

4

It really depends on the exact location of the pain. IT Band friction sydrome is very different than Quad Tendonitis. They will be treated with different stretches, although Ice post workout will help alleviate the pain in both instances.

It’s not uncommon for a tendonitis to be very painful before and after an activity, but to be relatively pain free after it has some bloodflow to it. That’s why a warmup helps, or even some form of heat prior to training.

If you have access to an Athletic Trainer or Physical Therapist at your school, have them check you out and prescribe the correct stretches.

5

could it be both? even if it was just one or the other… would doing stretches forsomething that ISN’T wrong be an issue… i’ve have tendonitis in my knee before (it’s pretty undercontrol right now, but can start up at any time) as well as elbow tendonitis on both arms…

so, that seems more likely, that said, i wouldn’t mind doing both just to be safe…could anybody recommend quad tendonitis techniques (i live in canada… the school i go to is one province over, and about an 8 hour drivefrom where i live, and am at now, so, free physio until september is out of the question…

and, as i’m a student, i’d LIKE to avoid going to physio if at all posible (plus, i don’t like any of the one’s in town, for both my knee and elbow tendonitis, the main thing they reommended was to not lift heavy weights… and… that’s out of the question if it has to be for the whole summer…i’d prefer to deal with the pain

6

Ice it after all workouts.

Wear knee sleeves.

Have an ART guy look at it.

7

[quote]btlifter wrote:
could it be both? even if it was just one or the other… would doing stretches forsomething that ISN’T wrong be an issue… i’ve have tendonitis in my knee before (it’s pretty undercontrol right now, but can start up at any time) as well as elbow tendonitis on both arms…

so, that seems more likely, that said, i wouldn’t mind doing both just to be safe…could anybody recommend quad tendonitis techniques (i live in canada… the school i go to is one province over, and about an 8 hour drivefrom where i live, and am at now, so, free physio until september is out of the question…

and, as i’m a student, i’d LIKE to avoid going to physio if at all posible (plus, i don’t like any of the one’s in town, for both my knee and elbow tendonitis, the main thing they reommended was to not lift heavy weights… and… that’s out of the question if it has to be for the whole summer…i’d prefer to deal with the pain[/quote]

Sure, it could be both, or it could be something else entirely. I’m not here to diagnose.

There would be no problem with stretching or rolling the IT Band even if it doesn’t need it, so go ahead if you have the free time.

Stretches for the quad tendon would be a standing quad stretch with the glute contracted on the side you are trying to stretch, as well as a kneeling hip flexor stretch (like the bottom part of a lunge), again with the glute contracted.

Contracting the glute prevents the pelvis from rocking forward, which would alleviate some of the stretch. Foam rolling the quad would help too.

ART would be great for it, but probably not much cheaper than seeing a physio.

If it doesn’t seem to be getting better, call your school and talk to the training staff. See if they know someone at a school in your area that might take a look at it for free.

8

[quote]Florida Titan wrote:
Ice it after all workouts.

Wear knee sleeves.

[/quote]

Gotta agree there.

I’ve had a similar problem while squatting 3x a week and deadlifting 4x a week. I got really sore on one side at first, then both. It’s almost like a constant dull ache?

I just got really agressive on it and rubbed in this stuff http://www.nomeq.co.uk/images/physiotherapy/hot_and_cold/deep_heat_rub.jpg 3/4x a day for 3 days. Don’t be afraid to get in and use your knuckles. Be really agressive with it.

It will probably hurt like hell at first if you’re in a similar situation to mine but it’ll get better quite quickly if you’re dillegent with the rubs and also ice post workout.

9

it’s a dull pain while i’m walking… just doing day-to-day activities, but jumping, shit like that… it hurts like a bitch… i’m not familiar with the product you posted hanley, but, do you know if it’s anything like tigerbalm? or a535?.. if yes, i thought that just helped make the pain less intense… not actually help treat it?

10

also, regarding the foam rolling… i’ve heard much about it… but never really used it… is it just used to break up scar tissue, toosen muscles etc.? if yes… then, would just, hard massages do the same thing?

11

I had similar symptoms in one knee after reconstructive surgery. About a year after surgery, when I finally got back into sports, I would do an activity, then that same spot on my knee would flare up for a day. It would really hurt, and limit my range of motion, and snap, crackle, and pop as I went down in the squat.

It also had a sensation of catching as I tried to come back up in the squat. Then the third or fourth day afterwards, with a good warmup, it would be OK again.

That lasted off and on for the better part of a year. It would be fine for a month, then flare up a few times.

I think what finally cured it for me was a lot of soft tissue work. I bought a foam roller (~$20 at a sporting goods store that sells workout/fitness gear). Using that roller and a tennis ball to really dig into the quads (focusing on the vastus lateralis) as well as the IT band, I worked the heck out of that outside teardrop of the quad (vastus lateralis), as well as my IT band, and all the way up into my hip abductors and gluteus medius and minimus. I used just my thumb a lot around the outside of the knee.

Icing, doing that for a month or two on an almost daily basis, along with laying off really hard lower body stuff for a few weeks, I think fixed the problem. It’s been probably 4 months with no problems whatsoever, and I can also workout back to back days with no knee pain the second day now.

I think it was essentially a tendonitis thing. Something around the vastus lateralis tendon, or the tensor fascia lata, all inserting in the area that the IT band was.

12

[quote]btlifter wrote:
also, regarding the foam rolling… i’ve heard much about it… but never really used it… is it just used to break up scar tissue, toosen muscles etc.? if yes… then, would just, hard massages do the same thing?[/quote]

Sort of. Not really just scar tissue, but also unevenly tight spots in your muscle. Hard massage can definitely accomplish similar results.

I guess the benefit of a foam roller is that its cheap and you can do it yourself every day, instead of paying for massages. Of course there’s self massage, but laying on a roller gives you much better leverage to dig into the muscle than you just pushing on your own quad.

13

[quote]btlifter wrote:
it’s a dull pain while i’m walking… just doing day-to-day activities, but jumping, shit like that… it hurts like a bitch… i’m not familiar with the product you posted hanley, but, do you know if it’s anything like tigerbalm? or a535?.. if yes, i thought that just helped make the pain less intense… not actually help treat it?[/quote]

Yeah it’s like Tigerbalm. I guess it’s not on the US market!!

I’ve found that if I apply some I can then contiune to massage the area really hard (think digging knuckles in) and a combination of the 2 give fairly quick relief.

14

I have the same issue, and the pain flares up when I golf a lot (believe it or not, some people do still walk) and squat multiple times within the week. I’m 16, and 6’3, and still growing. Could my growth may be an aggravating factor, too?

I’m going to try those various massages, rubs, etc. and buy a roller.

15

[quote]Acebgd12 wrote:
I have the same issue, and the pain flares up when I golf a lot (believe it or not, some people do still walk) and squat multiple times within the week. I’m 16, and 6’3, and still growing. Could my growth may be an aggravating factor, too?

I’m going to try those various massages, rubs, etc. and buy a roller.[/quote]

If you’re talking about the forward leg in your golf swing, yes, I got that also. I think something about the forceful slamming the knee back and sideways into full extension just really aggrevated the tendons on the lateral side of my knee.

Growth could be a factor too. I had a friend in high school who had a lot of problems because he had a big uneven growth spurt. It was something like his knee caps ended up being too high and rubbed in funny spots, causing a lot of quadriceps tendonitis. He eventually grew out of it though.