I am hovering between 50 and 60

[CDPotier]

I am also a personal trainer, and I cannot answer my own question. I still squat with forty pounds and lunge with thirty, and I have to wear a knee brace on my right knee. I used to do stupid things like racing a half marathon, winning a medal, and then running eight miles the next day. I know I did it to myself. Is squatting with forty pounds too much for me now? I want my quads to be very strong to keep my kneecaps in place. Thanks.

 

[Katerchen]

Nobody but you can truly determine if a weight is too heavy for you. What is light for me, might be heavy for you and vice versa. You want to make sure that you work all the stabilizer muscles for your knees not just the major muscle groups such as hamstrings and quads. Furthermore, you cannot just make the quads very strong, the hamstrings (the anagonist muscle) have to be just as strong, otherwise you will be out of balance and hurt the knee even more. Upper and lower leg muscles work together to form a strong knee area.

I would add other leg exercises such as wall squats and sit and stands and balance/stabilizing equipment such as a bosu, step, balance board, rebounder etc. Additionally, just walking uphill with good gait and traditional floorwork with appropriate ankle weights help strengthen the knee.

What association are you certified with? I am a PT with ncsf.org.

 

[Cosmo Mom]

You might want to post this in Ask Cathe forum.

 

[CDPotier]

My body

feels fine with the weights I am using now, and I will continue, I think. I mix up lower body with Muscle Max, Butts and Gutts, and the new Lower Body Blast.