help! knees are in major pain when I squat

[knucklehed]

My right knee hurts usually, left not so much.
I do lots of warming up starting with body weight squats adding a plate with each set. it hurts, but by the time i get to 315 the pain has diminished, and at 405 and beyond I don't really notice the knee pain. I do use wraps which helps alot. Once I cool down the knee aches for a day or two...
My advice; find a way...

 

[AlphaMaleDawg]

where's the pain?
above yr patella? the tendon? if its tendonitis yr basically screwed for quite awhile. does it hurt just squatting down to pick stuff up?

no the only thing that hurts is when I do squats. nothing else hurts them at all. not bending over, not slightly bending my knees, nothing. just squats

Same for me. Knees hurt when i squat. Even just body weight squats hurt. They hurt when doing leg extensions. I attribute this to my years in the Navy. Walking on steel decks and going up and down ladders. Peace.

I have no pain during leg extensions at all

 

[AlphaMaleDawg]

old skool rehband knee sleeves from jackalsgym .com

I just looked these up here **broken link removed**

seem to be $34 plus shipping. Is it really worth it? If they don't help, I will have just wasted money

it's also very confusing as to what size I should get

 

[auspex]

Knees hurt

I usually get pain in my knees when I break form on the exercise. Without knowing how you perform squats(close stance, wide stance, high/low bar position, etc.) it hard to say what is causing the pain.
The fact that you have no pain with bending down to pick things up and while doing leg extensions is a good thing.
Try changing your stance(wider) to see if it helps. Rest like Tenny said is the only other option I can think of.
Knee wraps/sleeves only seem to mask the problem for me. I got no benefit and actually may have done some harm with these. I felt stronger but it was not me, just the wraps/sleeves. Seen a lot of guys damage themselves by training in pain with these.

Hope things improve for you.

 

[Kaladryn]

It is most likely a knee tracking issue. The lateral head of the quad is pulling the knee to the outside too much, creating torque on the tendon. This leads to tendinosis and/or tendinitis. Several things you said make this likely, the fact that it's squats only, the fact that leg extensions don't bother it, and the fact that it's fairly even on both sides? (this is the impression I got). Also the fact that 95% of knee problems are related to this.

I highly suggest incorporating as many unilateral movements as possible for quad training, even on things that don't hurt, do everything unilateral. Also make sure you are not turning your knees or toes inward on anything, natural stance is slightly turned out.

One last thing, make sure when you squat, all the forces over your knee are going directly down through the lower leg, not out over the toe. Don't misunderstand me, your knee can go forward towards your toe, as long as the actual force vector over your knee isn't creating a sheering force. The easy way to think of this is just keep at least 50% of your weight at ALL TIMES on the heel of the foot, especially when coming out of the hole.

 

[Bionic]

Front squats are shown to be easier on the knees and bar position doesn't influence muscle activity. Also, front squats are equally effective as back squats in overall muscle activation.

 

[Lymelight]

Now thats a good article, Bionic. Thanx.

 

[AlphaMaleDawg]

Front squats are shown to be easier on the knees and bar position doesn't influence muscle activity. Also, front squats are equally effective as back squats in overall muscle activation.

good article. I do these every single week right after back squats. I have to say they don't seem as harsh on my knees. Maybe I will continue doing these and drop squats for a few weeks until I can do them again

 

[mr. boom]

Going low and heavy on squats kills my tendon below the knee..

 

[impulse3k]

I found doing box squats doesn't hurt my knees. I go to parallel and I don't sit back on the box. Just touch and go. I love squats but I won't ruin my knees for 'em.