T Nation

Knee Pain During Leg Day

Injuries and Rehab
#1

636f8_ORIG-knee.jpg2592×1936 736 KB

In the past 2 months my left knee has been experiencing pain. The pain is below the knee cap as seen in the picture attached. Not only is it swollen in this area but it is sore to the touch and if I happen to bump into something in this area its a sharp shooting pain. It goes away until my next leg session. My knee does not hurt during regular back squats or leg extensions. Leg presses and hack squats really hurt the knee. I am hesitant to go to a doctor because i have a feeling they will tell me not to lift anymore and that is not an option. Just wondering if anyone had something similar or had any idea as to why this might be happening/diagnosis so i can develop a strategy to correct this. This a recent problem and have no history of knee pain/injuries and I have been training consistently for 3 years with no knee pain.

Thanks in advance.

#2

[quote]phishfood1128 wrote:
In the past 2 months my left knee has been experiencing pain. The pain is below the knee cap as seen in the picture attached. Not only is it swollen in this area but it is sore to the touch and if I happen to bump into something in this area its a sharp shooting pain. It goes away until my next leg session. My knee does not hurt during regular back squats or leg extensions. Leg presses and hack squats really hurt the knee. I am hesitant to go to a doctor because i have a feeling they will tell me not to lift anymore and that is not an option. Just wondering if anyone had something similar or had any idea as to why this might be happening/diagnosis so i can develop a strategy to correct this. This a recent problem and have no history of knee pain/injuries and I have been training consistently for 3 years with no knee pain.

Thanks in advance.[/quote]

Man, this sounds weird.

What other leg movements do you do? Any lunging?

How about other activities? Running?

If you can give any more information it might help.

I will say though, those leg extensions aren’t doing your knees any favor. And if that’s all your leg work some more glute and hamstring work would definitely help bring you some balance. You have a lot of quad work going on right now.

#3

[quote]BReddy wrote:

[quote]phishfood1128 wrote:
In the past 2 months my left knee has been experiencing pain. The pain is below the knee cap as seen in the picture attached. Not only is it swollen in this area but it is sore to the touch and if I happen to bump into something in this area its a sharp shooting pain. It goes away until my next leg session. My knee does not hurt during regular back squats or leg extensions. Leg presses and hack squats really hurt the knee. I am hesitant to go to a doctor because i have a feeling they will tell me not to lift anymore and that is not an option. Just wondering if anyone had something similar or had any idea as to why this might be happening/diagnosis so i can develop a strategy to correct this. This a recent problem and have no history of knee pain/injuries and I have been training consistently for 3 years with no knee pain.

Thanks in advance.[/quote]

Man, this sounds weird.

What other leg movements do you do? Any lunging?

How about other activities? Running?

If you can give any more information it might help.

I will say though, those leg extensions aren’t doing your knees any favor. And if that’s all your leg work some more glute and hamstring work would definitely help bring you some balance. You have a lot of quad work going on right now. [/quote]

Sorry I should have been more clear. The order of my leg movements switch depending on how I feel. I always do squats/front hack squat, leg press, hack squat, leg extensions. I dont do any lunging but have thought about adding it recently (to see if its a pain free movement). My hamstring and glutes are trained on a separate day. I dont do any other activites (running, sports, etc.) From what ive been reading it sounds like pateller tendonitis but im not sure. I hope its one of those things i just focus on pain free foot positioning and train until it goes away…

#4

It’s probably patellar tendinitis. I’ve had it twice and gotten rid of it twice, but you can’t hammer away at your quads while healing it. I was able to keep squatting through it the second time, but not the first. Address it now before it cripples your squat for months.

#5

[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
It’s probably patellar tendinitis. I’ve had it twice and gotten rid of it twice, but you can’t hammer away at your quads while healing it. I was able to keep squatting through it the second time, but not the first. Address it now before it cripples your squat for months. [/quote]

Yea i figured it was tendonitis. What did you do rehab your knee?

#6

I wore compression sleeves and iced my knees immediately after working out. It’s also wise to stretch your quads and hammies out every night. You may want to look up exercises for patella tendinitis…there is some stuff that is hard to explain so it’s best to read it and see it pictured. I would also avoid NSAIDs like ibuprofen, as you become dependent on them.

#7

[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
I wore compression sleeves and iced my knees immediately after working out. It’s also wise to stretch your quads and hammies out every night. You may want to look up exercises for patella tendinitis…there is some stuff that is hard to explain so it’s best to read it and see it pictured. I would also avoid NSAIDs like ibuprofen, as you become dependent on them. [/quote]

Try doing this stretch before your leg exercises: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHSxqB4aEzc

Let me know if that helps.

What are you doing for your hamstrings and glutes? You hav quite a bit of quad work going on.

What’s your weekly routine like?

#8

[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
I wore compression sleeves and iced my knees immediately after working out. It’s also wise to stretch your quads and hammies out every night. You may want to look up exercises for patella tendinitis…there is some stuff that is hard to explain so it’s best to read it and see it
pictured. I would also avoid NSAIDs like ibuprofen, as you become dependent on them. [/quote]

Thanks for the reply. Will definitely take your advice and see how it goes. I never take painkillers or any medications. Once I stopped taking pain killers for headaches I do not get headaches anymore but that’s a different topic. Looked up the exercises. I think working on ankle mobility will definitely alleviate some of the pressure. Thanks for the direction. Much appreciated.

#9

[quote]BReddy wrote:

[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
I wore compression sleeves and iced my knees immediately after working out. It’s also wise to stretch your quads and hammies out every night. You may want to look up exercises for patella tendinitis…there is some stuff that is hard to explain so it’s best to read it and see it pictured. I would also avoid NSAIDs like ibuprofen, as you become dependent on them. [/quote]

Try doing this stretch before your leg exercises: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHSxqB4aEzc

Let me know if that helps.

What are you doing for your hamstrings and glutes? You hav quite a bit of quad work going on.

What’s your weekly routine like?[/quote]

Thanks for the idea. I will try this stretch before my quad workout tomorrow. I usually do this after my quad workout for an extreme stretch (DC style) on the single leg curl machine. I’ll experiment with doing it before my workout. I’ll definitely let you know if it helps.

My split is basically chest,back, shoulders, quads, arms, hams. I put in rest days as needed. My hamstring day is usually GHR or Lying leg curls, single leg curls, seated leg curls, straight leg DL. All exercises done for 4 sets in the 6-8 rep range.

Thanks for the reply.

#10

I think I’ve got the same problem right now. It is not pain in my knee, but right below it more in my shins. It occurs when I hit just a few inches above parallel in a squat. Not just a loaded squat, but even bodyweight squats. Tbh, it hurts to even sit down on the toilet without grabbing something to take the load off. I can do deadlifts fine (worked up to 455 for a few doubles today without issue) so it is only squats. I’m thinking it’s a lack of mobility/flexibility. Can anyone chime in? Obviously it’s hard to give advice like this over the internet without seeing it in person, but any advice would be great!