I need a little help. My wife has been training properly for about 8 months. She’s gotten excellent results almost everywhere.
She’s a former high-school and college athlete with the knees to show for it.
When we first started she could not do a standing unloaded squat without knee pain. I’ve had her doing Swiss Ball Squats which was the only squat like exercise she could do without knee pain.
At this point, it seems she should be able to transition to free squats or at least Smith Machine Squats (similar motion to the Swiss Ball)
She can do neither but there is less pain when she does an unloaded free squat (you know, like a deep knee bend).
She’s relatively strong on the leg extension machine and the leg curl machine. I’ve also had her do abduction, adduction and calves.
Oh yeah, she can do full ROM 45 degree leg presses - feet close together.
For your wife, squatting with the hips instead of the quads is key. She needs to keep her knees over her feet and not let 'em drift forward. This means, as said above, she needs to widen her stance and use a box. Before you squat in a cage, try this to learn the groove:
Get her in a wide squatting stance facing a wall and put a box behind her. Have her squat by driving her knees outwards and the butt back. The wall will keep her from leaning forward too much or letting her knees drift. You might want to use a medium box to start.
This is not easy and when I started it, after box squatting for years, it was not easy and I found a lot of flaws in my groove. Let her work a few reps a day to build the groove and comfort/flexibility to do this. Get her some neoprene knee sleeves, not a brace, sleeves.
“Knee Pain” Can you describe? Does she have diagnosis? Where in the movement does it hurt? Without knowing that we can’t give you anything specific. Can she do an unloaded full squat with her feet flat and in balance? (with or without pain)