hello everyone,
i guess may be someone have ask this kind of questions before. but i can’t find any answer right now. my knee tendons (the front side) is extremely weak.always feeling pain when i train my legs heavy. should i skip training my leg altogether for a long time to let those knee tendons recover? or i can train them with very light weight? any exercise i should not do? i heard that some people think leg press put a lot of stress on the knees, and some say leg extension also bad for knee recovery. anyone can help me?
i also want to try to use those powerlifting knee wraps, should i wrap it from up to down or the reverse? is it helpful?
First of all most powerlifters don’t lift with knee wraps until a few weeks before competition. They do a lot of damage to your knees if you use them regularly. They are good for getting a few extra pounds out of a lift but not a training aid.
As far as the pain you are having in your knee you should probably see a doctor or physical therapist.
I agree. See a doctor or specialist. Get treatment. Find out what’s wrong and fix it.
I’ve had knee problems for a few years now. Treatment always helps. The times that I cut back or stopped doing leg training only made it worse!
Many doctors will say to rest the area, but I’ve found that too much rest can be worse! Not only did I have more pain after an extended rest, but I had lost all my strength and size.
I use treatment (massage, chiropractic, etc.) and stick to basic weight training (squats and variations, lunges) and make my best gains with the least amount of pain.
Unless it is simply unbearable to complete a rep I would not cease leg training all together.
I’m not a fan of the leg press and prefer the squat and its many variations.
I’ve found that my knee pain in the past is mostly brought on by not performing full range of motion.
The outside of the leg vastus laterus (not sure on exact Latin spelling) has a propensity to get stronger and pull the knee out of alignment known as Patella (again, no time to check spelling) Maltracking.
When the tendon that runs over the top of the knee is pulled out of its groove you will experience discomfort. The way to restore balance to the knee is to strengthen the Vastes Medialis (VMO) also known as the “teardrop”.
This is the interior muscle of the quads and it is usually underdeveloped in the recreational body builder.
The best solution is full range of motion (ROM) squats. When your quadriceps is parallel to the floor you are only halfway through the concentric portion of the lift. You must strive to reach an “ass to the grass” position at the bottom of the movement for maximum VMO activation.
Of course most people will need an extremely reduced load to achieve this position if you are not used to doing full ROM squats. Use only your body weight if necessary but I personally need at least a little extra weight to activate the reflex action required to reverse direction at the bottom.
A shoulder width stance is the optimum foot position for doing full ROM squats as the wider power lifting stance will concentrate the tension in the hips and will be more difficult to achieve rock bottom depth.
Many individuals cannot achieve maximum depth because of tight calve muscles. When your calves are overly tight they restrict your ankle flexibility and force you to lean too far forward.
If limited ankle mobility restricts your ability to accomplish full ROM I would recommend regular stretching. A temporary solution so that you can begin rehabilitating your imbalance is to place a 2 x 4 under your heels (you can also use two 25 pound plates). The slight elevation will help compensate for the inflexibility in your ankles and you will be able to go deeper on the squat.
The lighter load will allow you to cut back on strengthening the outer part of the quadriceps when you reach the top half of the movement thus helping restore balance with the inner quadriceps muscles. You may want to further emphasize the lower part of the movement by using the following two methods:
The 1 ? squat is performed by squatting down to rock bottom, then rising back up to parallel, then back to the bottom and finally all the way up. This counts as one rep. Essentially you are doing twice as much work from parallel down than you are from parallel up.
Another method I found in one of Chad Waterbury?s branding Iron columns had the trainee squatting all the way down and then back up to just short of parallel. At this point the trainee would stop and perform an isometric hold for four seconds before completing the rep. This aggressively targets the VMO placing the emphasis on the interior part of the quadriceps.
One last recommendation would be to perform hack squats which do an excellent job of firing up the VMO.
All of the above advice is based on my own experience with knee pain and after performing squats with a full ROM my pain subsided.
buy those knee sleeves that give support and keep the joints warm. these are not like the knee wraps which you can really wrap tight. If you do go with the knee wraps just don’t wrap too tight. You will know it’s too tight from the uncomfortable feeling you get while wearing them and doing your lifts.
as far as letting the tendons heal, i would definitely suggest some isometric holds which are supposed to strengthen the tendons. Try to figure out at what angle between the upper and lower leg do you feel the pain. definitely seek medical attention if the pain is always there. I can only speak from experience as far as elbow tendonitis goes, that it is important to: use good lifting form, keep the joints supported and warm while you lift, ice down the areas after the workout, take proper dietery supplements always, pharmaceutical drugs with adequate rest when the pain is really bad, and learn to listen to the signs from your body. i’ve had elbow tendinitis in both the triceps and biceps for some time now but it has not detered me from gaining mass and strength. laters pk
thankyou for you guy’s help. i think i may keep trainin my legs and trying to strengthing the knee tendons from now on.