How to train quads with a patella injury

[LilMac]

Well as the title states, about 8 months ago I hurt my patella ligament where it attaches to the front of the shin while squatting, after approx. 2 months off on quads I was able to train quads lightly again, recently I started to get a little heavier on my squats and... you guessed it.. re-injured/tweaked the same spot, not as badly but still to the point where I wont be able to train quads for a little time.

My question is, what can I do to continue training my quads without over exerting this ligament, I obviously want to avoid injuring it further and causing myself to need surgery to fix it, but I also want to continue training my chicken legs so that I can continue to prep for my (planned) first show coming the end of april. Any insight or experience in this area would be greatly appreciated!

 

[oceanie]

Maybe you could try electrostimulation. I have a Compex and it works great in some muscles. Quads is one of them.

 

[testocules]

Maybe try split squats. They are one of the few lower body exercises that don't hurt my knees.

 

[LilMac]

Thanks for the input guys, Oceanie im assuming you mean something similar to what is used in PT? where it pulses the muscle?

And test, tried a coulple split squats with no weight tonight at the gym, trouble is its approx 2-3 inches below my knee that is the problem, where the ligament attaches to the shin im assuming, these seem to put a lot of stress on said area.. maybe after some healing time they will feel better, ill keep them in mind!..

Really need to figure something out if im going to be able to do this show.. legs are soooo far behind my upper body.. rather embarrassing.. im still working hams and calves hard but would like to figure out a way to hit the quads as well.

 

[brocksamson]

Im in the same boat as you.. Had surgery on my patella tendon to remove a chunk of bone that cracked off my knee cap. Had it there for abt 10yrs before i had surgery. Its been abt 10months for me and my knee still acts up whenever i start to get a little too heavy with leg presses or squats. Itll feel good at the time of doing the movement but then the next few days it just aches. Ive finally just decided to hit some HIIT cardio on the bike until my knee is completely pain free and hammer my calves and hams. Its impossible for me to train quads efficiently if im constantly worried abt my knee so im just going to suck it up and ride the bike for 6 weeks. Hopefully itll still work my quads and get blood flow to my knee to heal without the high impact of squats and leg presses. Better to be completely healed and be able to train right instead of having a nagging arthritic knee for the rest of my life.

 

[LilMac]

Maybe I'll incorporate some HIIT on the bike as well, would def be better than nothing! May even bring down the blood pressure some too, win-win. Thanks Brock.

 

[maldorf]

I used to get that really bad and had a lot of trouble. The only thing that worked for me was doing high reps on leg press until it healed up. You could do 2 sets or so of high rep leg presses and fatigue your legs so that you can do some light weight squats and still work hard. It takes a lot of patience. Might want to think about knee wraps if you go really heavy and they hurt a lot. Wraps helped me. SOme dont like wraps, but if I ever went over 405 I would use them. I would avoid leg extensions.

Basically, if it hurts at all dont do it. Sometimes though it wont hurt while you are doing it but then the next day youre crippled, so if that happens youll have to change that routine.

 

[LilMac]

Thanks Maldorf, I think in the future I will definitely have to pre exhaust when I want to squat.. Ill definately have to stick to high volume for a while and let this heal completely hopefully to the point where I wont have to deal with it again!

 

[maldorf]

Thanks Maldorf, I think in the future I will definitely have to pre exhaust when I want to squat.. Ill definately have to stick to high volume for a while and let this heal completely hopefully to the point where I wont have to deal with it again!

What helped me was not going too heavy ALL the time and not squating to below paralle. I used to go ATG and I think that caused some issues. I also wrapped if I was going 405 or more.