Patellar Tendonitis

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

I’m a little depressed. I’ve neglected my legs for a while when I first began training. They’ve always been a weak point of mine because of this as well as being tall.

Anyways I finally got my shit together and began a pretty grueling yet effective leg regiment.

At the start I would always get sore knees when I would begin hack squats. However, after a few warm up sets I would be fine and no pain would be present.

I developed a slight pain last year because I was obsessed with dunking a basketball and would do so often. Stupid, yes, did I care, well not at the time. So recently I was testing my jump and hurt my knee pretty bad. I will never be jumping again until I have this issue under control. It was stupid but that’s not the point of this thread.

With that being said it’s been 8 days since this and I have not attempted to train legs because my knee hurts on a regular basis. Today I woke up with a sharp pain in my knee and it’s been hurting on and off ever since, especially if I squat deep or flex my quad. It even hurts when I’m walking (both knees hurt but the left more than the right)…

I’ve done my research and self-diagnosed myself with patellar tendonitis or jumpers knee.

I have a few choices.

A. Ease back into training legs and ignore the pain.

B. Wait to train legs when the pain is gone.

C. See my chiro or a sports doctor immediately and get this squared up.

I have a serious issue with not going to the gym to train, so it’s hard to even think about not training my legs especially after getting my strength up quite a bit in the last 6 months.

I was looking for anyone that has dealt with an issue similar to mine or knows about this condition and what you did to help remedy it or what you think I should do.

I’ll also be ordering knee sleeves for any further leg training.

Thanks in advance guys.

2

I’ve played a lot of sports with jumping and running in them (really what sport doesn’t lol)

The things that have helped me with my knee problems.

  1. Joint supplement (Glucosamine, MSM, and Chondroitin)
  2. Massage of I.T. band and in around knee (get a registered masseuse) —BIGGEST thing that has helped me. Went twice and haven’t been back.
  3. Fish oils
  4. Strengthening of hamstrings.

When you train legs next look into some knee support/sleeve that go over your knee to keep heat in. The best thing(s) I’ve bought for training for my knees.
Avoid thing such as deep squats and leg extensions for now until you get your knees up to par again.

Hoped I helped.

EDIT: A link to what knee support I’m talking about. Not the ones that are ultra support with metal links on the sides of them.

444×640 31.2 KB

3

you may also have patellofemoral pain syndrome, which can be caused by activities that you mentioned.

Try this:

Also try everything that Fuzzyapple said

4

I got this when I started working out (“Jumpers Knee”). I went to a physiotherapist, he designed a leg program for me with very heavy emphasis on eccentric training with pretty light weight, and then very gradually adding increasing the load. I was also instructed to use sports tape to tape up my knee in a specific way for added support and relief when working out.

It took about a half year from I got diagnosed until I recovered. Today I squat and deadlift heavy (for me, anyway) on a weekly basis pain free. You should really go see a professional about this as fast as possible. This is the kind of condition that can easily become chronic if you don’t do something about it right away.

5

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
I developed a slight pain last year because I was obsessed with dunking a basketball and would do so often. Stupid, yes, did I care, well not at the time. So recently I was testing my jump and hurt my knee pretty bad. I will never be jumping again until I have this issue under control. It was stupid but that’s not the point of this thread.
[/quote]

You’re 6’2’ and 260 and U dunk… nice!

6

Thanks guys those were helpful posts.

Fuzzy, I’ll definetly be looking into the sleeves.

I decided to rest this week and depending on how I feel next week I’ll either slowly get back into legs with light leg presses etc. If the pain gets worse or doesn’t go away in a month I’ll be seeing a sports doctor.

I also read that icing could be beneficial.

Thanks again guys.

7

[quote]Simonidas wrote:
austin_bicep wrote:
I developed a slight pain last year because I was obsessed with dunking a basketball and would do so often. Stupid, yes, did I care, well not at the time. So recently I was testing my jump and hurt my knee pretty bad. I will never be jumping again until I have this issue under control. It was stupid but that’s not the point of this thread.

You’re 6’2’ and 260 and U dunk… nice! [/quote]

lol yeah well not anymore. I wouldn’t even attempt to touch rim right now.

8

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
I decided to rest this week and depending on how I feel next week I’ll either slowly get back into legs with light leg presses etc…[/quote]

What I would recommend if you going to rest this week is to do 3-4 sessions of foam rolling and stretching. Pretty much lax ball (or tennis ball) the bottoms of your feet, foam roll calves, hamstrings, I.T. band, and quads, along with gluts. Your knees will thank you.

If your not doing so already…

9

[quote]Fuzzyapple wrote:
austin_bicep wrote:
I decided to rest this week and depending on how I feel next week I’ll either slowly get back into legs with light leg presses etc…

What I would recommend if you going to rest this week is to do 3-4 sessions of foam rolling and stretching. Pretty much lax ball (or tennis ball) the bottoms of your feet, foam roll calves, hamstrings, I.T. band, and quads, along with gluts. Your knees will thank you.

If your not doing so already…[/quote]

So foam roll everything not just the knee?

10

Seems like everyone has given you the info you need, I’d just add icing the knee. Def helps me. And also maybe get some one to check your knee alignment. Your glude might not be firing properly which can lead to alignment problems, especially with squatting, and then aggrivate the patella tendon.

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[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
So foam roll everything not just the knee?[/quote]

Yes due to you may have tight muscles that will pull on other muscles to cause knee problems. I would put more emphasis on foam rolling your quads from what you explained about when you “flex you quad it hurts…” is due to it may be the muscle attributing to your problem.

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Sorry I wanted to put this pic up for what you can do for your knee when it comes to rolling.

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Fuzzy you are the man.

One last question for you bro, would you foam role before or after training legs? If I did it before it might prevent pain.

Thanks again dude, very informative, very helpful.

14

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
Fuzzy you are the man.

One last question for you bro, would you foam role before or after training legs? If I did it before it might prevent pain.

Thanks again dude, very informative, very helpful. [/quote]

What I would do is personally foam roll after. If you do a proper warm-up with those sleeves your pain would not be there.
Another tip, if your knees are really bothering you what I would do before working out is perhaps use Rub-A535 or Tiger Balm on your problematic knee(s) and then put the sleeves on to really get the place heated. However, you will sweat moderately with the knee sleeves on and the added heat rub may cause some skin irritation. I would use sparingly.
After your workout foam roll. Then ice after workout.

Really I do not know how bad your case is but these tips will help ease the pain for sure with leg training and recovery.

Glad I’ve been a help :slight_smile:

15

Fuzzy, I would like to thank you once again. You’ve been a great help. I appreciate it.

As suggested by someone on another site, I will be ice massageing the are, then doing cross friction massage. I’ll also be foam rolling like you’ve suggested. I will be saying goodbye to bad knees soon.

Be well dude.

16

My right knee has been bugging me for a little while. It hurts most when it’s doing nothing. While under load, like doing squats, there is no pain at all.

What has been helping is lots of leg stretching: twice per day and before any leg workout. I stretch the hamstrings by just sitting on the floor and touching toes. The quads are a bit more difficult, but I sit on the floor with my knees bent back and feet sitting beside my quads (feet and hams on the floor, next to one another). Then I just lay back. I can get my back on the floor, but go easy. It puts a great pull on the quads over the knee and feels fantastic. This helps with the knee pain more than anything.

17

I’d also like to co-sign on Fuzzy being the man. The info he’s provided is awesome, and I’m gonna do what he outlined for AB every night before bed. Thanks man, and good luck AB.

18

[quote]Fuzzyapple wrote:
I’ve played a lot of sports with jumping and running in them (really what sport doesn’t lol)

The things that have helped me with my knee problems.

  1. Joint supplement (Glucosamine, MSM, and Chondroitin)
  2. Massage of I.T. band and in around knee (get a registered masseuse) —BIGGEST thing that has helped me. Went twice and haven’t been back.
  3. Fish oils
  4. Strengthening of hamstrings.

When you train legs next look into some knee support/sleeve that go over your knee to keep heat in. The best thing(s) I’ve bought for training for my knees.
Avoid thing such as deep squats and leg extensions for now until you get your knees up to par again.

Hoped I helped.

EDIT: A link to what knee support I’m talking about. Not the ones that are ultra support with metal links on the sides of them.

444×640 31.2 KB

[/quote]

Awesome post…

I had a similar knee issue in the spring, just as I started CT’s Jacked program. It sucked bad for me too, but especially so, as I had just started the program…

I’ve had knee issues in the past, so I pretty much did what I did back then…

I have several knee braces that all do different things, but the one I used in the spring that helped with the tracking of the kneecap is the sleeve as Fuzzy mentioned… I would put that on before I did any leg exercises. I also found that lunges and any exercise that puts a lot of force onto one leg at a time, seemed to make the problem worse, so I avoided those at all possible costs.

I also tried to find leg exercises that I could do that wouldn’t hurt my knee, so I found that leg presses (light) didn’t seem to bother my knee. I started off doing a LOT of reps with a light weight.

Legs curls didn’t affect it either, so I did those and some seated calve raises (standing put too much force onto my joints and I felt it would just too much for my knee).

After a few weeks, I thought I’d try normal squats to a 45 with just the bar.

Yeah, I was pretty humble in the gym doing this, but nobody said anything as I always put my knee brace on and stretched out my leg extensively after every set.

Eventually I was able to get back into weighted squats to a 45 and have been able to get up to 3 plates per side.

This past Friday was the first time since I had the issue (about 18-20 weeks ago) that I was able to do full squats, but at a much, much lighter weight.

I never did the ice thing, but it only makes sense to do it…

I was doing 3 Flameout fish oils per day, as well as the Glutimine (sp) stuff after every workout.

Good luck with the knee(s) and report back here on how it’s going…

19

Hey guys thanks for the nice replies! I like helping people out and I’m glad my information will go to use :slight_smile:

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Austin,

I’ve had this for a number of years now - I actually got both knees scoped (bad idea). If you don’t take care of it, it can get much, much worse. My biggest regret was trying to work through it (in terms of lifting/sports), since that caused some inflammation that literally two years to get rid of.

I’d do everything people recommended above, especially the foam rolling… and if it hurts, stop what you’re doing. The extra months it can end are not fun.

I also found that putting a heating pad on my knee/quads/IT band before I rolled them sort of loosened them up a bit - it might be achieved in the shower with hot water as well. I’d get them really loose and warmed up, then go and do the physio/leg exercises asap to maintain their short “warm” condition.

I’m still working through it… almost there. Good luck.