I am considering a knee support while performing squats. My right knee makes some noise, can get swollen temporarily afterwards a leg emphasized workout - and I don’t entirely trust the kneejoint when going heavy.
I was wondering if anyone know of some convenient, easy to use knee support to recommend? I believe I could use some compression.
I like knee sleeves if only for warmth.
Have you had your knee pain diagnosed? That could make a big difference in support needed.
I used to use a patellar traction brace after dislocating my kneecap some years back. That helped a good bit and eventually became totally unnecessary.
+1 for knee sleeves. I dont use them, but most do… seems to help out a lot of folks.
IMO, if you can squat without wraps, that assist straightening of the leg, you can better stress the thigh muscles. I would rather squat with a hip support pant to allow greater recruitment of thigh involvement with the greater weight hip support allows on the bar. Recovering from my dermatamyositis that was the strategy I used. I did not use knee wraps, but used knee sleeves.
Whoops, I meant to say “Knee sleeves” - editing post.
Well, I “injured” my knee during a spinning class while making a quick deceleration with a heavy load. This was more than 10 years ago. I actually built some leg volume and endurance through spinning! Anyway, since the incident my knee developed a minor baker cyst, indicating the knee isn’t entirely intact. It fluctuates a bit depending on how stressed the knee is.
Over time a snapping has occured, especially when climbing stairs. Occasionally, while heavy squatting I recognize the knee isn’t 100% in terms of stability. Though I seldom experience any more trouble afterwards. The knee joint seems to worsen while NOT training. I have mostly performed leg presses in favor of squats because of this. Lately revisited squats, when I experience a sensation of not being able (or dare) to push my squats to the max. Btw I’m 48 y.o.
This leads my to a hypothesis that my knee probably has a combination of minor meniscus damage combined with (secondary) femuropatellar arthritis. Just my self diagnostics. I can’t see a reason for x-ray. Perhaps a consultation by a wise physiotherapist can assist me in training corrections? What do you make out of this @Dr_Grove_Higgins @j4gga2 Thankful for any advice from professionals.
That being said, I believe I could benefit from some warmth and compression. Any brands in particular anyone recommend from good experience?
To be honest, it sounds like you’re coping quite well with whatever is going on in your knee (it would be inappropriate to formally diagnose your knee condition over this forum). I wouldn’t recommend any major changes to your training unless you feel this issue is significantly impairing your function and lifestyle.
Whenever people have any sort of knee issue, there are 4 things that are pretty much always impaired:
My recommendation is change your training as little as possible, but strongly consider adding 1-2 exercises per week for each of these capacities. If you have access to a leg extension, definitely use that for quad strength
You can train tibial rotation daily since it’s pretty much mobility work.
All the brands have an equal effect, to my knowledge
As always very intelligent and thoughtful replies from you @j4gga2! I will adress your suggestions. Do hope to return your favors in some shape or form in the future. Sincerely thank you!
Always happy to help 