Squats are a pain in the .....

[Hulk2be]

I'm starting to experience knee pain when I do squats. And I do mean pain, that I continue to feel for a couple hours after my workout. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to avoid it? Right now I'm having thoughts about giving up squats so that I can prevent damaging my knees.

[arpeejay]

Do you have a trainer you can ask?

My guess is that either (a) your stance isn't working for you or (b) you're going to low. You definitely should not be having knee pain, especially for prolonged periods of time.

xoxo

Richard

[inflated]

actually going too low is not the problem with knee pain, When you go lower you are putting more stress on the glutes vs the knees, however you should always do a warm up set with light weight. Perform form is important with squats, have someone grade your form, stretching after a squat routine is important but not so good to do stretches before. Squats are my favorite exercise but they used to scare me, perfect form is very important.

[BIGJOEY]

ir could be that your squatting out of your natural center of gravity. whne you do you tend to put more stress on the knee area and also the weight tend to ride more over you knees rather than over your hip structure. check you foot position , if you dont follow what i mean drop me a note

[wolfotehmoon]

Don't let your knees go out farther than your toes (maybe an inch or two, but no farther). This puts more stress on your hamstrings instead of your quads and reduces the shearing forces that are probably causing your knee pain. Be VERY CAREFUL, with your knees weakened (which they are, if you're feeling pain), you're much more susceptible to injury. Make sure to stretch, and be careful about your knee bending in weird directions, especially with weight on it. That's how you screw up your ligaments. :S

[digger]

For learning squat form on your own, I HIGHLY recommend the book Starting Strength:

Amazon.com: Starting Strength (2nd edition) (9780976805427): Mark...
Before doing any of the things I've listed below, make sure your form is right either by getting a *knowledgeable* trainer for a while or reading this book (or both).

There are many kinds of knee pain. I have a common one: patellofemoral pain syndrome. Look it up for the symptoms. It basically means my kneecaps don't travel in quite the right groove during some movements. This can be caused by either the hamstrings or quads being too tight, which alters the movement of the kneecaps.

I have found that (1) stretching hams and quads every day during the week helps prevent knee pain on leg day and (2) wrapping during sets on squats also helps (APT Convict Pro Knee Wraps). I also got some custom othodics to correct some severe foot pronation, which also aggravates patellofemoral pain syndrome. Now, you might not have the same knee problem so don't necessarily use what works for me to help you. But if you do have the same thing, then try the stretching during the week.

[inflated]

Squats are by far the best overall body exercise, however it is important that excellent form is followed to avoid injury. Find someone who knows what they are doing and have them assess your form they are such a worthwhile exercise it would be a shame to give them up altogether.

[tennisfan9]

I am actually in a class called Care and Prevention for Athletic Injuries, and your knee can be a major problem if it is not taken care of properly. I highly suggest going to a personal trainer or athletic trainer and express your symptoms. You could be on the verge of seriously damaging the ligaments and joints in your knee and if you continue to disregard it, your problems will increase dramatically in the future, i.e. potential scar tissue on the ligament, swelling, decreased range of motion, or even surgery if it gets that bad. I'm not saying that it is, but you should just have it checked out and make sure you aren't acting to make it worse

[suma]

you're making a common newbie mistake, i bet you're coming off the balls of your feet when you squat up instead of sitting back and pushing off the heels.
to fix this try curling your toes up when you squat so that it forces you to place the weight on your hips and heels.