The dreaded knee pain after squatting

RICE principles

Any swellings around your knee?

Reply 2

Tom_88

2

Lube!! Check your diet, I assume that your form is decent if you've been lifting for 4 years.

Make sure you include food rich in oils. Salmon, nuts or supplements with glucosamine.

Reply 3

Original post by LavenderBlueSky88

Been weightlifting best part of 4 years never had much issue with knee pain. Pretty normal workout on Monday where I did a lot of leg work (all within the normal range of what I do) and all of a sudden it hurts to even bend my knees to pick something off the floor and walking down the stairs is more like limping :frown:

My knees sound crackly and when they "pop" it's a sharp pain. I'm absolutely terrified I've ruined my knees forever. Argh! Has this ever happened to any of you?

You haven't hurt them forever.

Rest for at least a week or two.
After first week do stretching etc and i found wall sits to help my knees (good rehab/prehab exercise)

Then do everything bar squatting. Slowly re-introduce.

How much are you squatting?

Chances are the weight isn't over mid-foot (it's forward of that) and that's putting too much pressure on your knees. You've started lifting enough weight to cause an issue.

Or, less likely given you've been lifting for so long, your knees are caving in when you start to push in the positive phase of the rep.

N.B. It's so much easier to say than do.
I got knee pain from squatting and it was awful for 3/4 weeks (because i re-hurt it deadlifting. As i said, avoid everything for 2 weeks really) and wasn't 90% for like 6/7 weeks.

It isn't like you can't work legs unless you squat. You'll have to re-evaluate form and go again.

P.S - I could be COMPLETELY wrong and without a squat video etc none of us can really know.
If pain persists beyond a few weeks and/or worried about it then see a physio.
A physio is a worthwhile investment regardless of the injury going forwards in my opinion.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 4

LavenderBlueSky88

OP

Original post by Angry cucumber

RICE principles

Any swellings around your knee?

Hi thanks for your reply - there isn't any swelling, it doesn't feel injured as such just stiff and crunchy if that makes any sense?

Original post by Tom_88

Lube!! Check your diet, I assume that your form is decent if you've been lifting for 4 years.

Make sure you include food rich in oils. Salmon, nuts or supplements with glucosamine.

Thanks I will try that

Original post by Unistudent77

X

Thanks for such a detailed response! I think I'm definitely putting pressure on my knees - I have quite a lot of forward travel in my squat (long femurs) and although I try and put weight through my heels on ascending I need to work on form before I add weight. I currently squat 60kg for 5 reps - back when I used to have my "fitness blog" on here I could do 70kg for 5 reps with no knee issues, it's just frustrating that my body has turned against me finally!

The pain isn't actually at all bad when I am squatting, it's just afterwards - (and that goes for any exercise that puts pressure on my knees such as lunges). In fact, I went to the gym yesterday and kept it light and immediately afterwards I had no pain... it's only this morning I went to walk down the stairs and my knees are sore and crunchy again.

I'll consider a physio assessment - my gym does have one in house, but it would involve talking to people at my gym which I generally try to avoid - yay for social anxiety...!

Thanks again for the advise!

Reply 5

Original post by LavenderBlueSky88

Thanks for such a detailed response! I think I'm definitely putting pressure on my knees - I have quite a lot of forward travel in my squat (long femurs) and although I try and put weight through my heels on ascending I need to work on form before I add weight. I currently squat 60kg for 5 reps - back when I used to have my "fitness blog" on here I could do 70kg for 5 reps with no knee issues, it's just frustrating that my body has turned against me finally!

The pain isn't actually at all bad when I am squatting, it's just afterwards - (and that goes for any exercise that puts pressure on my knees such as lunges). In fact, I went to the gym yesterday and kept it light and immediately afterwards I had no pain... it's only this morning I went to walk down the stairs and my knees are sore and crunchy again.

I'll consider a physio assessment - my gym does have one in house, but it would involve talking to people at my gym which I generally try to avoid - yay for social anxiety...!

Thanks again for the advise!

When you do a leg extension (like sitting on couch etc) do you get a click?
(Just curious but tbh doesn't matter as you're reporting 'crunching'/clicking anyway). I found there to be little/no swelling with this injury, it's internal.

To address what the second person you quoted said:

You should already be supplementing your diet with cod liver oil and vit d3 supplements (excluding on sunny days, so like 7/8 months a year then! - unless you live in Kent)

So changing your diet won't address what's causing the swelling/pain.

The poster also said 'your form will be fine as you've been lifting for 4 years'.... Not necessarily.

Look at this vid. A guy has knee pain (who squats THREE times bw, yes THREE) and they address that. If he doesn't have perfect form then chances are many others don't even have 'good'.

https://youtu.be/BgKALLfGsdg

N.B. I'm not posting that vid to tell you how to squat. Simply because they talk about forward knee travel and it 'may' be of use to you.

I find the squat so awkward and difficult. The problem is also that everyone is different, what may work for you may be hideously awkward for me (due to bone lengths etc).

However, my mobility simply isn't good enough.
For me - my ankles don't give me enough dorsiflexion and hamstrings, hips etc are tight.
All of that means i get buttwink post parallel and back pain. So then i end up cutting depth and screwing knees up.

Moral of story - address what issues you have, don't try and fun away from them.
Sit back more in your squat. Chances are you might lack the mobility to do so (like me) so you'll have to work on it.

Post a vid in your blog and tag people like Angry Cucumber. He and others will be able to tell you if your form is decent.

Why did you go to the gym yesterday?

Adrenaline etc will minimise pain. I have golfer's elbow atm and i could go in the gym and get myself fired up and deadlift heavy. Would feel 1 or 2/10 pain afterwards. Next day it would be 8/10 pain.

Give it a few days off imo.
When walking is 85% pain free then move onto some jogging etc.

Then light leg ext etc, then deadlifts and so on.
Do leg extensions for quads until you can squat.

(I have no medical qualifications but that's my advice as i've had the pain you're talking about and way way worse than you have it by the sounds of it).

A good physio is fantastic but your call. The 'inhouse' one may not be the best, just depends. You can look to invest in one in your local area. 3/4 check ups a year are enough, get all you muscles/joints lose through cracking them and any imbalances can be addressed.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 6

Angry cucumber

Original post by LavenderBlueSky88

Hi thanks for your reply - there isn't any swelling, it doesn't feel injured as such just stiff and crunchy if that makes any sense?

How long has this been going on for? Anything over 2 weeks and I'd be heading to your GP

Reply 7

Original post by Angry cucumber

How long has this been going on for? Anything over 2 weeks and I'd be heading to your GP

(Out of curiosity) Has a GP helped you with an injury?

They told me my shoulder pain would 'go away in a couple weeks, just keep taking anti-inflammatories'...

It certainly did not.

Surely they'll just tell her 'Rest and take painkillers/anti-inflammatories'. Also if she hit the gym yesterday then can hardly be that bad...

Reply 8

Angry cucumber

Original post by Unistudent77

(Out of curiosity) Has a GP helped you with an injury?

They told me my shoulder pain would 'go away in a couple weeks, just keep taking anti-inflammatories'...

It certainly did not.

Surely they'll just tell her 'Rest and take painkillers/anti-inflammatories'. Also if she hit the gym yesterday then can hardly be that bad...

Yes, whilst I like physios, they aren't as well versed in medicine as doctors and if OP has actually done damage, a physio may or may not be able to tell them theres something wrong, a doctor can identify it and send them on for specialists to look at and imaging.

By your own admission, you hampered your recovery by not giving it time

Original post by LavenderBlueSky88

Hi thanks for your reply - there isn't any swelling, it doesn't feel injured as such just stiff and crunchy if that makes any sense?

Yes that's probably crepitus if it's crunchy and if it's painful it means there's inflammation of some kind. You need to give your knees a break, it's not what you want to hear, but it's what you need. You need a fortnight off - if not all better, you should go to your GP and seek further imaging or referral.

The reason you feel fine when lifting is your body is exercising forces the inflammatory fluid and any swelling there may be out of the joint through hydrostatic pressure. This feels good. When you've rested, the fluid comes back. It's how knee sleeves and wraps allow people with sore knees during and after squatting to squat pain free

Reply 9