Squats and Lunges = Knee Pain

Sometimes after I do lunges or squats my knees hurt and feel weak. Does this happen to everyone or is itmy joints? I hope it’s not my joints because I am only 14 and I started working out last week.

For example. Yesterday I did lunges. Today my left knee feels weird. It doesnt quite hurt, but it feels weak compared to my right leg. And when i run it hurts a little bit. I dont think I injured myself beacuse I can still walk fine. There isnt really much pain. But it just seems a little different than it used to be.

Does this happen to everybody? Could it be I am using bad form on lunges? Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks.

[quote]Baller1950 wrote:
Sometimes after I do lunges or squats my knees hurt and feel weak. Does this happen to everyone or is itmy joints? I hope it’s not my joints because I am only 14 and I started working out last week.

For example. Yesterday I did lunges. Today my left knee feels weird. It doesnt quite hurt, but it feels weak compared to my right leg. And when i run it hurts a little bit. I dont think I injured myself beacuse I can still walk fine. There isnt really much pain. But it just seems a little different than it used to be.

Does this happen to everybody? Could it be I am using bad form on lunges? Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks. [/quote]

This could well be a form issue, depending on where the pain is.

First, be sure when you bend the knee, it lines up over the second toe/big toe. You may have allowed it, unconsciously, to bend in a little, kind of a “knock kneed” bend. Be sure, as a b’baller, that you maintain that same bending form when you jump and land, as well. Land on your toes, lower your heels, and use your knees as shock absorbers. As much as possible, try and land with both feet as opposed to one at a time.

Second, if it is bothering you, try lowering the weight, bend as per above, and don’t go down as far, for now. If it continues, rest it and, if necessary, ice it.

Tyler

Use good form with a full range of motion.

Don’t go too heavy yet. You are just starting out.

It doesn’t sound like a big problem.

There is a lot of great info on this site. I wish I had access to it when I was 14.

Yeah, I’d go along with what else is said here. Watch the form and make sure you aren’t “accordian squatting” or really pushing your knees out ahead of your feet. It should be more about sitting back than sitting down.

Also, if you’re playing a lot of basketball, I’d get into the habit of icing your knees after practices and games. Even when they don’t hurt. If you treat’em nice, they won’t hurt at all.

Plus get into a stretching habit (POST workout) and work those IT bands. Knee pain is no fun. Trust me.

  • Sean

I had a simular problem when I was about that age. I wrestled from the age of 6 on and developed some scars on the carteledge on the back of my patella. I had to switch to lower impact sports in high school but I have recently found that my current weight training has helped strengthen the muscles around the knee. Keep strenghening those legs and that form and I’m sure that will help. Make sure you are focusing and putting weight on the heels of your foot when doing the leg press to take pressure off those knees.

Do squats, lunges, and step ups strengthen the muscles around the knee?

[quote]Baller1950 wrote:
Do squats, lunges, and step ups strengthen the muscles around the knee?[/quote]

Does a cat have an ass???

Knee pain is aften caused by (apart from bad form as mentioned above) tight quads, hip flexors and iliotibial band. Read Ian King’s article End Needless Knee Pain.

[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
Does a cat have an ass???[/quote]

That’d be a yes. :slight_smile:

In addition to will-of-iron’s comments, knee pain can also be caused by a weakness of the VMO - that’s a specific part of the teardrop muscle in your quads. Run a google search for Pederson or Peterson stepups (some sites spell it right or wrong, doesn’t really matter).

Try adding some of these for your left leg for 3-4 sets of 10-12 on non-lifting days. Start with a very low height (a phone book will usually do) and be honest with yourself about just using the left leg and not pushing off with the right. Try it with the right leg at first, too - if they feel equally strong, up the height of the step a little, and try again. If you don’t feel any difference between legs after raising the height significantly, that’s probably not the issue then. Only takes about 10 minutes to figure out.

-Dan