Full Squat Trouble

theblackkeys · #1 03-14-2007, 11:10 PM

Hey, I've been doing the rippetoe "starting strength" program for a bit over a month. I think I'm doing well with all the other exercises, but not the full squat.

I think an old knee injury is giving me some problems with my squat, as well as some inflexibility issues. In high school, I had a tear in my meniscus from a hockey injury, that I opted not to have surgery for (they wanted to remove it!). I was able to recover and play at full strength for several years after that, or perhaps I just compensated for it.

After my squat workouts, I feel like my right knee is a little weird. The muscle or whatever that runs down the back of the knee feels "bigger", like its pulled or something. Sometimes the day after a squat workout, both of my knees are sensitive to climbing up and down steps. Feels like the ligaments are sore on the outside of the knee every time I land on a step. It goes away the second day.

Also, when I'm squatting and get past parallel, my hips start to "come under" my body and that makes my back round, which is dangerous. I've been doing a static stretch for the hammies as described in "starting strength". Standing w/feet about shoulder width, bend over and put your fingers under your toes. Now try to straighten your back out and push your butt up. I'd like to do a full squat but I'm unable to do them correctly so far. I do parallel or just past parallel well, but not FULL squats.

Most symptoms go away after 1-2 days, but that means I really only ever feel fine 1 day a week, because I'm squatting 3 days a week.

I'd appreciate any advice. And yes I have scoured t-nation, and all sorts of sites looking for info.

SmileyEH · #2 03-14-2007, 11:14 PM

First of all I think squatting three times a week is a little much, especially if you are having knee problems. Try cutting it back to 2.

Also, does squatting with light weight still bother your knee? Try switching one of your squat days to something really light and go as deep as you can. Do you do overhead squat? Something I like to do is to do an easy OHS and just sit right at the bottom for 8-10 seconds, repeat half a dozen times.

thirddan · #3 03-14-2007, 11:25 PM

have you tried wearing a knee sleeve?

theblackkeys · #4 03-14-2007, 11:27 PM

[ QUOTE ]
First of all I think squatting three times a week is a little much, especially if you are having knee problems. Try cutting it back to 2.

Also, does squatting with light weight still bother your knee? Try switching one of your squat days to something really light and go as deep as you can. Do you do overhead squat? Something I like to do is to do an easy OHS and just sit right at the bottom for 8-10 seconds, repeat half a dozen times.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well I might have already forgot what I read, but squats every workout at max effort is what the beginner program calls for. I will probably take a while to work on my form with lighter weights instead of going hard 3 days a week.

I've never done an OHS before, how hard will it be? I can OHP 100 lbs.

SmileyEH · #5 03-14-2007, 11:33 PM

OHS can vary a lot. Many people can't do a single squat with just their arms raised over their head. For most doing just the bar is difficult when starting out so it should be a challenge for you. It is more of a core and shoulder stabilizer exercize, but really good for loosening everything up - I warmup with them and snatches everyday.

cbloom · #6 03-14-2007, 11:36 PM

Pretty much the main focus of Rippetoe is doing the squat every workout, so keep it up. At the same time, the key is to keep good form and add weight as you can do it with good form, so maybe try going back a bit lighter and see if you can do a full squat and feel okay.

Personally I'm not sure if there's really a lot of benefit to doing ATG instead of just going down to parallel. I know the experts tell you to go ATG, but if it's not comfortable, is it really a big deal if you just go to parallel?

Ponies · #7 03-15-2007, 03:35 AM

Obviously you should stop doing full squats.
Else you can just get injured and be doing nothing for a few months.
Also work on perfecting your form.

skunkworks · #8 03-15-2007, 04:03 AM

theblackkeys,

This is a strange one. Pain on the outside of the knee when climbing steps is a symptom of iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS). I've had this twice, both times caused by running on an uneven surface. There are a host of reasons you could be getting this, including basic leg inflexibility (which I definitely have) and bowleggedness (which I have slightly as well). I've been doing the stretch from this site but it just takes a bit of rest before it really goes away. The weird thing is that it's much more common to see this injury with runners, so I'm not exactly sure if that's what we're dealing with.

I would definitely definitely definitely double and triple check that your form is correct. Make sure that your toes are pointed out about 30 degrees, make sure the knee and upper leg track along with your toes when you squat, and make sure your knee doesn't go too far past your toe. If it comes down to it, take a cell phone and have someone record a video of you squatting and post it up on youtube.

theblackkeys · #9 03-15-2007, 05:11 AM

[ QUOTE ]
theblackkeys,

This is a strange one. Pain on the outside of the knee when climbing steps is a symptom of iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS). I've had this twice, both times caused by running on an uneven surface. There are a host of reasons you could be getting this, including basic leg inflexibility (which I definitely have) and bowleggedness (which I have slightly as well). I've been doing the stretch from this site but it just takes a bit of rest before it really goes away. The weird thing is that it's much more common to see this injury with runners, so I'm not exactly sure if that's what we're dealing with.

I would definitely definitely definitely double and triple check that your form is correct. Make sure that your toes are pointed out about 30 degrees, make sure the knee and upper leg track along with your toes when you squat, and make sure your knee doesn't go too far past your toe. If it comes down to it, take a cell phone and have someone record a video of you squatting and post it up on youtube.

[/ QUOTE ]
I played soccer most of my adolescent life.??

I'm most definitely a little inflexible.

theblackkeys · #10 03-15-2007, 05:50 AM

If I had to guess, I was probably putting a little rotational force on the knees the week that I felt the ITB soreness. My first squat day that week I used a slightly wider stance, and my toes were probably not pointed exactly in the same direction as my knees.

Are squats hard to master for anybody else?