Got Knee Pain? Read this.
The blog has been quiet for a bit because I’ve been on a mission. On a mission to figure out why my knees were killing me and how to fix it.
Here’s the deal:
My knees have been aching for a while. But of course, I ignored the pain and pressed on. But recently, the pain got so bad that I finally had to stop ignoring the pain and figure out a solution.
The source of the pain was right below the knee cap, and the pain was most intense when going down stairs. Based on these symptoms, I reasoned that I most likely had a case of patellar tendonitis.
Patellar tendonitis (also known as jumper’s knee) occurs when the patellar tendon becomes inflamed. How does this happen? For many people, simple over-use can trigger a bout of patellar tendonitis.
I believe mine was caused by a variety of factors, including: #1) Unknowingly letting my knees slide forward at the bottom of heavy squats. #2) Months and months of heavy squatting without any time off. #3) Disregard for appropriate cardio and flexibility routines.
In short, I got lazy. Sure, I was working hard under the bar but I wasn’t doing enough on my off-days to ensure proper knee health. And it took me far too long to realize that “fighting through the pain” isn’t always the best strategy. In fact, I didn’t stop squatting until I found it nearly unbearable to step down off a 3-inch ledge.
At that point, I’d had enough. And I set out to figure out how to cure this knee pain and fix my knees. While some people are patient and smart enough to try one cure at a time, I prefer the shot-gun approach: I tried a bunch of different solutions all at once.
Here’s what I did, and here’s what happened:
Step #1: Stopped squatting for two weeks.
I still went to the gym, but I stayed out of the squat rack. I only planned on doing this for a week but I wasn’t quite 100% after 7 days so opted for another week of rest for my knees.
Step #2: Start biking for a minimum of 20 minutes per session, twice a week.
This low-level cardio activity was easy on the knees, but also helped get the blood flowing around the joint.
Step #3: Took lot’s of “Vitamin I” for the first three days.
Ibuprofen (or Vitamin I) reduces inflammation and since my symptoms were caused by an inflamed patellar tendon, this strategy makes sense. Still, I’m not a huge fan of pain killers so I tried to limit this to the first three days.
Step #4: Lots of Fish Oil.
I took about 12-15 grams of fish oil per day to help soothe my joints and speed recovery.
Step #5: Iced My Knees 1-2 times per day for 20-30 minutes per session.
This was easy. Popped a couple bags of frozen veggies on my knees while watching T.V. Again, since we’re dealing with an inflammation, the ice helps the swelling go down.
Step #6: Took frequent walk breaks.
Since I’m a writer by trade, it’s not uncommon for me to sit at a computer for hours at a time. This can cause your legs to tighten up and may have contributed to my knee pain. Now I try to get up and walk around a bit every 30 minutes.
Step #7: 5-10 minutes of stretching every night.
Nothing fancy, just some basic toe-touches to help stretch out the hamstrings. You know, stuff I should have been doing all along.
Step #8: Rolling Pin Torture.
Apparently having a tight IT band (iliotibial band) can pull on the patella and cause patella tendonitis. Unfortunately, there’s no good way to stretch the IT band so many folks use foam-rollers to “massage” the IT band and loosen it up.
Of course, I wasn’t going to spend $10 on a foam roller when a regular kitchen rolling pin would do the job. And after all, this fitness model makes it look so fun and easy…
Yeah, well that was my thought process at the time. Once I got down on the ground and actually started rolling around on the wooden rolling pin, I was wishing I sprung for the foam roller. Seriously, this freakin’ hurts. I had tears in my eyes after the first session — even though it lasted only about 3 minutes.
But I kept with it, practicing the Rolling Pin IT Band massage daily. It still hurts like hell though.
Step 9: Terminal Knee Extensions
Learned this exercise from watching videos with strength coach Buddy Morris.
It’s a simple exercise, but surprisingly effective. Apparently Buddy has all his athletes perform this exercise on a regular basis to prevent knee problems.
NOTE: I have a multi-hip machine at my gym so I performed my TKE’s on that machine. I also did the “step-up” version of the TKE’s as demonstrated in the same video at about the 2:00 minute mark.
Step 10: Added some additional calf and hamstring work.
Since I was taking a break from full squats, I used the time to do a few leg curls and calf raises. Not sure if this helped much but it probably helped with flexibility.
Step 11: From now on, I squat in knee sleeves.
Today was my first day back under the bar and I’m happy to report that I had a painless squatting session. One factor that I think made a world of difference was my new “knee sleeves.”
I got the Tommy Kono knee sleeves - which are rubber/neoprene sleeves designed to add warmth and stability to your knees. These are different from knee WRAPS which powerlifters use to secure the knee joint on heavy lifts and which add pounds to the bar.
Tommy Kono Knee Sleeves
I’d also heard good things about the Rehband blue knee sleeves, which you can get here:
Jackals Gym.
So there you have it: My shot-gun approach to solving my patellar tendonitis and getting back to squatting pain free. If your knees are giving you trouble, you might want to try one or all of the steps I’ve listed above.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Glad to hear all is well with your knees bro.
The worst thing that can happen to a lifter is an injury that can set them back on all the hard work they have put in.
Luckily in your case it was just a minor inconvenience.
I’m happy to report I also overcame a minor injury as well. My right shoulder, both in the anterior, and medial area was nagging me during pressing exercises.
It was nagging me for weeks, and for a while I was thinking I was going to have to give up any kind of benching for good.
Through research and persistence I was able to cure this by doing a dynamic stretch, known as “shoulder dislocations,” applying balm daily, and giving it some rest.
Did that for about a week, and am happy to report, I hit inclines, weighted dips, and one arm standing db presses today with no pain! Even set a PR on the weighted dips!
Goes to show what persistence and the desire to overcome can do for the serious lifter.
I gotta tell you, that’s one of the reasons I LOVE the internet.
If I would have gone to the doctor, he would have told me to take some time off and stop squatting with heavy weights. Same thing in your case Sean, I’ll bet the doctor would have told you to take time off and stop all pressing movements.
But with a little research and experimentation, you can usually figure out a cure or “work-around” for most minor athletic injuries.
Yea definitely, all the information I found on how to cure my shoulder was found on the ‘net. Btw, if you’re curious about what I did, the most valuable link I found was on the DC Training forum here: http://www.intensemuscle.com/6997-how-cure-shoulder-problems-trust-me-will-do-90-time.html
In my opinion, there’s two different kinds of injuries: those that you can train through, and those that you have to train around. And there is no way I’m gonna take a long lay off with how hard I work, when I can simply just avoid doing things to antagonize it during the healing process.
Doctors and surgeons usually either are not looking out for you best interest with these kinds of things, or are knife happy and want your money for unnecessary surgeries. Surgery of any kind is the last resort for any injury, and in my experience and based on what I’ve seen with others is usually unnecessary, depending on the seriousness of it.
It’s best to do like you and I did, and see for yourself what can be done to fix yourself up, and educate yourself at the same time.
Hey Matt,
Glad you’re knees are feeling better! Seems like you got a pretty solid approach.
Couple things to add… if you don’t want to buy a foam roller you can simply get one of those fun noodle pool toys that the kids use for floating devices. There under $5 and work great. Rolling pin is effin hardcore… although I did have to switch to a PVC pipe for my legs now since the foam is too easy. I can’t recommend using a foam roller enough. I use it on my whole body before each workout and on off days… really helps improve tissue quality and recovery.
Also, Mike Robertson has a product called Bullet Proof Knees that he created after rehabbing his own knees. He’s a really smart guy and gives out solid information. Check him out at http://www.robertsontrainingsystems.com. He’s great for assessing and correcting injuries of all types and muscular imbalances. He also has great products for dynamic mobility drills that work great for warming up and improving mobility and flexibility. His products were a big help to me.
Anyway, keep those knees healthy bruddah!
Brandon
A great post, i have had knee problems for many years and it was wrongly diagnosed and i suffered with the problem for longer then i should have. Am now waiting for surgery as no other option. While i wait i use fish oil capsules and light strength exercises which help ease the pain
Matt, I have nit squatted for about 6 months now and my knee is not getting any better, doing all the rehab, just not getting any better
I typed in “I need to cure my patellar tendonitis” in google search and this was one of the 5 top hits that came up. I’m a ball player and I have a lot of ball left, I’ve been through physical therapy recently but it didn’t seem like it was helping, I actually told my doc to cut away whatever would ease the pain, he declined and said that that would be the last resort. So I will try ur method staying committed to it, I would love to be ready by the summer and to be able to dunk by the Fall, I will let you know how it went, thank you for documenting ur process and success