Quad Pain while squatting???

[SDHW]

Hey guys,

I thought I would pass this by you guys and see if anyone has had this happen to them or know what’s going on. I want to fix the problem b/c its starting to kill my squat.

Its hard to explain but I will do my best. I have been using the 5x5 intermediate for 3 months now with great success. All lifts are moving up nicely. However in the past 3 weeks, I have been getting thigh pain down by my knee, on the lower part of my femur, only when squatting. The pain doesnt feel like muscle. It feels deep. It only happens when squatting, and only starts to hurt by set 3 or 4. but then the pain gets really intense. Once I rack the weight the pain somewhat goes away. It only really hurts when I first start to go down, and when im on my way back up in the same spot. Or when im done squatting and i go to do bench, getting back up off the bench it really hurts. I wanna say its the patella tendon above the knee, but I cant say for sure. It also feels like it sucks the strength out of my legs. Even when I walk the weight back to the rack my legs are shaking, and they shouldnt be. for example last Friday i went for 475lb for 3, got it no problem. I could feel the pain, but then when I tried to do 345 for 8, which should have been easy, I couldn’t get through it due to the pain.

I have been using a foam roller and man when I roll over the spot above my knees it really gets painful. it has slightly helped.

Im almost sure my form on my squat is good. I have tried going with a slight wider stance, and that seems to help a tiny bit. I have really tried to focus on driving my butt back first on the way down, and to make sure my knees don’t drive forward. But I have really always done that.

Not sure what else I should be doing. I might throw box squats back in on my Wednesdays squat just to make sure form is good.

Any ideas?

 

[s8nlilhlpr]

Standard answer from a doc would probably be, stop squatting/leg moves for a week, ice it everyday for 20 mins, and take some anti-inflam (advil, aleve). Sounds like tendonitis or something similar.

Are you warming up thoroughly before squats, and I don't mean 1-2 sets w/bar. Some people recommend getting knee sleeves to help keep the fluid warm.

 

[coolcolj]

quad tendon

rest

also read that tnation article on 18 tips for bulletproof knees

 

[SDHW]

thanks for the tips, I will look into that

 

[SDHW]

I took wed off from squatting, I came in today to hit my Friday workout. At the end of my squats my quads were starting to really hurt. I have been using my foam roller and trying to do a bit of stretching. Does anyone think, I may have a imbalance with my quads and hams. Should I add some hams exercises in. Im not sure when I would put them in?

I need to fix this quick, if this keeps up, I am going to be benching more than I squat!

 

[SDHW]

okay, pain is back....

Im going to have to lay off the squats...

How can I adjust my 5x5 program? I was thinking of getting rid of the squats on Wednesday. what can I replace them with?

my guess is that I need more glute/ham work. im guessing the way the 5x5 is set up, its too quad dominated for me.

 

[Protobuilder]

Can you box squat or use a powerlifting stance?

Do deadlifts hurt your knee?

 

[SDHW]

Can you box squat or use a powerlifting stance?

Do deadlifts hurt your knee?

deads dont hurt my knees at all. As for the squats I have tried going with a wider stance and also a close stance. right now it doesnt matter. I even tried to box squat, the pain is still there.

today, I went in to do my warm up set with 135lbs, and i just knew there was no way that I could continue. so I used one of the leg press machines at the gym. I felt a little pain, but I wanted to at least get in 5 sets of something.

I have been trying to stretch my lower body at night, and use the foam roller. I think I need to get more aggressive with it. but I also need to make some changes in my workout.

I am going to start doing strongman event on Sundays. so that should be mostly erector/ham work.

 

[fortunatesun]

I'd take a week off. It's hard to accept pychologically, but it won't impede your progress in the long run. When you return, concentrate on reconditioning instead of increasing your weights. That t-nation article is good. Also, keep the weights at about 85% of your max, then do something afterwards to stretch out your quads, as you've already started doing. Walking lunges are good for this,then plyometrics- but nothing high impact- jumping onto an 18" box for 20-30 reps or squat jumps are good examples. The extra work will keep you conditioned until you feel comfortable increasing the weight again.
A few weeks on a detour is much better than an accident waiting to happen.

 

[al420]

I would rest for a week (no squatting), heavy pulling should be fine ... your knee will let you know. THen I would try box squats for a wek or so to get used to weight/depth.

Glucosamine really helped my knee - but not anywhere near as much as focusing on hip flexability - my kness hurt till I figured out the cause was flexability in my hip and glutes.

 

[SDHW]

Thanks guys, to tell you the truth, I just took a week off, I think that only helps for the short term. I am really looking forward to competing in strongman and if I keep taking weeks off to heal, my strength will never be there. I need to find a way to keep adding weight to the bar and also heal at the same time.

is the 5x5 a quad dominated program?

squats - Below parallel more hip/hams/glutes primary, quads secondary?
bench - n/a
row - 90 degree erectors/hams/back

light squats - Below parallel more hip/hams/glutes primary, quads secondary?
Deads - errectors/hams/glutes/back
Push press - n/a
Lat pull down - n/a

Squats - Below parallel more hip/hams/glutes primary, quads secondary?
Bench - n/a
Rows - 90 degree erectors/hams/back
dips/bi's/tris n/a

by the looks of it, I should be getting enough ham/hip/erector /glute work in??

 

[SDHW]

just to give an update, Last week I only did 1 squat day, it was light. I came back today, the pain is gone, however, I didn’t go to my 5 rep max. I want to take it easy at first. However I do have a sharp pain in my right knee, every time I step up a set of stairs?? this is new...

I did add some Leg curls for the hams. 2-3 sets 10 reps. im going to try to get some direct ham work in twice a week. I think im going to stop squatting on Wednesday workout for now and just keep it to mon/fri.

 

[perp69]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Usually rest is the first thing I would try or at least take a break form what ever is causing the pain. If that doesn't seem to help then my next step would be to have the doc check it out.

Perp