knee pain

[Press]

well my knees hurt so bad i couldnt even do leg press today. the pain is at the top of both my knee caps. is there anything you guys recommend taking that could help? thanx

 

[thebrick]

Pain that bad is a big signal that something is wrong. The areas you describe are your quad tendons. Back off, let it rest, let the inflammation subside. Ice and antinflammatory meds may be in order to calm things in there. You need to evaluate your training and why your knees now hurt this bad. Do this before it progresses to something possibly worse. I have been there. In my case, I had chronic knee pain in that very spot for quite some time. I ended up with ruptured quad tendons from not listening to my body. I found out from my surgeon I had micro tears in both tendons from pushing too hard all the time. He said it was just a matter of time. Don't do what I did.

 

[Press]

Pain that bad is a big signal that something is wrong. The areas you describe are your quad tendons. Back off, let it rest, let the inflammation subside. Ice and antinflammatory meds may be in order to calm things in there. You need to evaluate your training and why your knees now hurt this bad. Do this before it progresses to something possibly worse. I have been there. In my case, I had chronic knee pain in that very spot for quite some time. I ended up with ruptured quad tendons from not listening to my body. I found out from my surgeon I had micro tears in both tendons from pushing too hard all the time. He said it was just a matter of time. Don't do what I did.

crap i was affraid it was more serious then i thought. would msm powder and Glucosamine sulfate help as well as icing and antiinflammatory?

 

[thebrick]

crap i was affraid it was more serious then i thought. would msm powder and Glucosamine sulfate help as well as icing and antiinflammatory?

I think that may help also. Allow some time though. If it is your connective tissue giving you the problem, they get very little blood supply unlike muscle and take much more time to recover.

Do you go heavy and below parallel on squats?

 

[Press]

I think that may help also. Allow some time though. If it is your connective tissue giving you the problem, they get very little blood supply unlike muscle and take much more time to recover.

Do you go heavy and below parallel on squats?

ive stopped doing squats for a few months now because i was getting the same pain. when i was doing squats i always went heavy but no lower then 7 reps a set and went as low as possible way below parallel. i just cant believe this happened i do all sets very controlled.

 

[thebrick]

ive stopped doing squats for a few months now because i was getting the same pain. when i was doing squats i always went heavy but no lower then 7 reps a set and went as low as possible way below parallel. i just cant believe this happened i do all sets very controlled.

Those excessively deep squats may be the source of your problem. I used to do the same thing. "Ass to the grass!!" my powerlifting buddies and me would all say. My ortho doc put it to me this way. Stop and think about the stress you are putting on your knees when you do that with heavy weight. After you go past the point of parallel, the muscle and tendons really pull those patellas back, very, very tight against the joint. This puts extreme STRESS and WEAR on the knee mechanism when you come back out of the hole. You get much more wear and tear on the back of the patella (cartilage) and in the joint as well as greatly added stress on those tendons. After your knees settle down (which may take some time) try stopping at parallel and give your knees a break. You are still working those leg muscles and you are giving yourself a better chance of lifting for the long-term.

 

[Big Bapper]

crap i was affraid it was more serious then i thought. would msm powder and Glucosamine sulfate help as well as icing and antiinflammatory?

All will help, my advice is just back off for a while. Training heavy takes it toll on the body and always try to remember muscle grows faster that ligaments and tendons, so its always a good idea to give them time to catch up with the speed the muscle is growing.

 

[Press]

thanx guys for the help. ill back off for a bit and have to adjust my technique which sux cause i luv going deep on leg press too.

 

[flexmaster]

first rest, ice ect..., THEN do this...

this might not make sense to you, but the glutes control the knees. meaning, poorly funtioning glutes will make your knees hurt eventually. even if you have well developed glutes, that doesnt meant they are functioning well. i would start doing glute activation exercises like glute bridges for a few sets of around 10 reps before things like squats, lunges ect to try and get them working well. dont forget about glute med as well, do some lateral band walks as well. i would hop on a foam roller and work your IT band, hip flexors, quads, hamstrings and glutes as well.

edit: also, if you want my honest advice...get the hell out of the leg press, you're not getting any glute activation in that damn machine. you want fully developed legs???? squat, lunge, single leg squat and RDL...there you go big man

 

[Press]

this might not make sense to you, but the glutes control the knees. meaning, poorly funtioning glutes will make your knees hurt eventually. even if you have well developed glutes, that doesnt meant they are functioning well. i would start doing glute activation exercises like glute bridges for a few sets of around 10 reps before things like squats, lunges ect to try and get them working well. dont forget about glute med as well, do some lateral band walks as well. i would hop on a foam roller and work your IT band, hip flexors, quads, hamstrings and glutes as well.

edit: also, if you want my honest advice...get the hell out of the leg press, you're not getting any glute activation in that damn machine. you want fully developed legs???? squat, lunge, single leg squat and RDL...there you go big man

thanx flexmaster ill give those things a go. i no i have to change something so this just may be it.