T Nation

Jumper's Knee (Patella Tendonitis)

Powerlifting
#1

Ive recently been experiencing soreness in my right knee during and after playing basketball. I play a lot of ball and also hit my legs four times a week through my program that consists of a lot of olympic lifting (cleans, snatches etc.) and obviously squatting and deads.

Ive heard that this “jumpers knee” or patella tendonitis, is due to the change in the types of exercise and the different strains and stresses it puts on the knee. Was wondering if anyone else has experienced similar feeling and what kind of treatment they used. Its starting to become worse and affecting my bball and lifting.

Thanks

#2

Your working your legs 4 x a week? If so that’s way too much plus playing ball. How much ball are u playin’ in a week?

U need to warm up really well, maybe use some Tigerbalm. Stretch for at least 10 mins before u play. And even more afterwards. Also, ice for 20 mins. when your done.

Are u playing on concrete or cement? If so, stop! Try to play indoors only. If u can’t then u might be playing alot of checkers really soon! I heard Yahoo Games has some good games.

If your playing alot of ball then cut back in your leg workouts.

Start taking some joint supps & some Knox gelatine! That should help alot too!

What are your workouts right now??

#3

I used to have it bad in both knees, and still get it occasionally if I haven’t played any ball in a while. I found that the only thing I could really do for it was strengthen the areas around the knees and cut back on the amount of basketball I was playing. I don’t know how bad yours is, but mine got to the point were it hurt even when I was sitting down. If you are playing on a team I don’t think you want to be missing games, so ask your coach to give you lighter practices to get some rest.

#4

well… you cant even be sure its tendonitis, simply because you work the legs 4x a week, plus playing BASKETBALL (running jumping etc) Your knees could be sore just because they have ZERO! recovery time. No matter what supps you take it’s impossible to do all that and recover. Try lifting legs 1, at the max 2x a week with the bball, now that said, i dont know how much basketball you play a week.

If you play like 1x on saturday or something then you could work the legs 2x, if your balling more than a few times i’d only suggest 1 leg workout day a week. But if I were you i’d back off he legs for a minute and your legs/nervous system will thank you for it.

#5

First of all, I would figure out if you have tendonitis or tendonosis. EC’s ACSM Recap article covers this, I think. The two are very different and need to be rehabbed differently.

Like others have said, some down time would do you good. A lot of basketball players and Olympic lifters have issues with patellar tendonitis, let alone someone who is doing BOTH! You need to figure out a structure that allows you to maximize both while still recovering.

Another thing you need to figure out is what the true cause is. I worked with a girl a while back that had terrible knee issues; her PT just had her icing and stretching her quad. When I evaluated her, she had a done of issues on that same side: Tight quads (of course), tight hammies, and terrible gluteal recruitment as well. We did a ton of stuff to address the flexibility issues, as well as incorporated some dynamic flex/gluteal recruitment stuff pre-workout. Needless to say, she feels like a million bucks now.

Stay strong
MR

#6

[quote]BRUCELEEWANNABE wrote:
Your working your legs 4 x a week? If so that’s way too much plus playing ball. How much ball are u playin’ in a week?

U need to warm up really well, maybe use some Tigerbalm. Stretch for at least 10 mins before u play. And even more afterwards. Also, ice for 20 mins. when your done.

Are u playing on concrete or cement? If so, stop! Try to play indoors only. If u can’t then u might be playing alot of checkers really soon! I heard Yahoo Games has some good games.

If your playing alot of ball then cut back in your leg workouts.

Start taking some joint supps & some Knox gelatine! That should help alot too!

What are your workouts right now??[/quote]

Thanks for the input. Seriously thinking of cutting back my legs. In a week I play about 10 hours of bball which is a good amount w/ all the leg work I do. Heres my program.

Pull Day
Javorek Complex -6 exercises(6,6)
Power Cleans (4,2,4,2)
Chins (4x10)
Deadlifts (5,4,3,2)
Hammer Curls (4x10)
Lat Pulldowns (4x8)
Reverse Curls (3x6)

Push Day
Javorek Complex same as Day 1 (6,6)
Kettle Bell Squat Push Press (5,2,5,2)
Swiss Ball DB Press (4x8-10)
Double Kettle Bell Swings (3x10-12)
Close Grip Bench (4x8)
Snatch (5,2,5,2)

Perfrom each 2x a week.

Stats
6’1" / 200
9% Bodyfat

#7

[quote]Mike Robertson wrote:
First of all, I would figure out if you have tendonitis or tendonosis. EC’s ACSM Recap article covers this, I think. The two are very different and need to be rehabbed differently.

Like others have said, some down time would do you good. A lot of basketball players and Olympic lifters have issues with patellar tendonitis, let alone someone who is doing BOTH! You need to figure out a structure that allows you to maximize both while still recovering.

Another thing you need to figure out is what the true cause is. I worked with a girl a while back that had terrible knee issues; her PT just had her icing and stretching her quad. When I evaluated her, she had a done of issues on that same side: Tight quads (of course), tight hammies, and terrible gluteal recruitment as well. We did a ton of stuff to address the flexibility issues, as well as incorporated some dynamic flex/gluteal recruitment stuff pre-workout. Needless to say, she feels like a million bucks now.

Stay strong
MR[/quote]

Thanks Bro,
I need to setup a visit with the doc and a subsequent visit with a physical trainer. But Im addicted to the gym, so I dont want to lose any gym time. Wrong I know, but the truth.

#8

I used to suffer from chronic jumper’s knee, and I have done a few things that have made it disappear completely.

#1) Deep squats: I believe I read somewhere that it was prescribed to the Canadian National volleyball team to alleviate Jumper’s knee.

#2) Track sprint workouts: to strengthen deficient hamstrings and create muscular balance

#3) Salmon Oil: Has been a cure all for any bursitis/tendonitis that I suffer from. When I am taking it pain goes away, when i stop it returns

All of those combined have kept me relatively pain free due to tendonitis.

just my two cents,
Jackson

#9

I didn’'t see any posterior chain training in your workout, you need to do some GM’s, pull throughs to correct the imbalance that’s causing you the pain, and also you may want to do a “feeder” exercise to bring blood and oxygen to the knee area. For now just work out less until the pain stops.

#10

Ironbat- two hours of B-ball a day five days a week? I can’t see how you wouldn’t have tendonitis. I’ve had really bad bouts of it through b-ball, lifting and skiing where is was uncomfortable to sit for long ,and even short, periods of time with my knee bent anywhere near 90 degrees.

The above posts give some very solid advice which I think you should follow. But first you are going to have to cure your addiction to the gym. Those workouts plus that much rat-ball time is way too much volume.

Another two cents worth- they make custom insoles for ski boots. I got a second pair for my regular shoes. The guy that did they for me said I pronated or something like that. Anyway, problem solved. Cheap, no, but consider the alternative.

Yes, its a bitch not doing the things you love to do as much as you want to do them and then to have to spend time and money fixing it, but consider the alternative, eventually not being able to do them at all. Cut back, re-evaluate, re-align, and re-assess, and good luck.

Schrauper

#11

I’m currently recovering from jumper’s knee. I was on some anti-inflammatories and they didn’t work much. Last week, I got a cortisone shot in my knee. That seemed to help(yes, it hurt).

The original injury occured when I landed while trying to block a ball. It would hurt when I ran, did squats or lunges.

I’ve been resting my leg for several weeks and really wish I had gone to a specialist a lot earlier.

Good luck with the recovery.

#12

[quote]ironbat wrote:
Ive recently been experiencing soreness in my right knee during and after playing basketball. I play a lot of ball and also hit my legs four times a week through my program that consists of a lot of olympic lifting (cleans, snatches etc.) and obviously squatting and deads.

Ive heard that this “jumpers knee” or patella tendonitis, is due to the change in the types of exercise and the different strains and stresses it puts on the knee. Was wondering if anyone else has experienced similar feeling and what kind of treatment they used. Its starting to become worse and affecting my bball and lifting.

Thanks[/quote]

I used to have that same problem. The doc told me to strengthen my hamstrings and take some time off from ball/jumping and it worked pretty well.