Semi-squats & Semi-lunges

August

Cathlete
Hello, Cathe,

I've started to notice some slight discomfort in my knees in the last couple of months. I've read up on and checked again and again in the mirror on my form doing lunges and squats, and it seems like I'm doing them correctly,......could it be that my knees just don't like squatting and lunging? (I've never had any discomfort in my knees before.) When sitting, my kneecaps turn out slightly.

I dusted off some old Pilates-style leg workouts, but I just don't feel like I get a good workout from them like I do after finishing yours.

What do you think about semi-squatting/lunging? Would you recommend continuing with your leg workouts, and for squats and lunges just do a very light version, like only going down a little? Will this make me develop weird muscles, or are they just a waste of time, or even worse on the knees?

Many thanks for any advice!
August
 
HI August:)
I sort of have the same problem but my knee caps turn inward slightly and i cant go down a full 90 degrees when i'm doing squats or lunges. So when i'm doing those i just make sure all the weight is in my heals and really sqeeze on my way up. And you will see great results:) My legs are SO shapely from doing Cathe's workouts! Its agrivating sometimes because it is sort of painfull ecpecially when i'm doing high impact aerobics.
Take care
Randi
 
hi i have same problem. pilates can hurt too with weak knees.But then again too you have to keep your leg and qauds strong for knee health everything must be low impact i got 2 inch Harbinger mat for aroebics workouts which helped alot it was 39.99 i still do cathe lower body workouts but when my knees act up i use jb berns dynametrics legs which you squeeze your legs and hold it into shape some of his exercises they showed me in physical therapy for my knee and you MUST give your legs a break do your leg workout everyother day. and stretch more when your knees act up
god bless
mary
 
Hi August!

I'm not Cathe, but I also have knee pain and my patellas turn out as well. I've been to the doctor and they said it's patellofemoral malalignment, meaning the kneecaps don't line up with the femur like they should and it's pretty common especially in women. They told me the best thing to do is to strenthen the quads and especially the inside part of the quad when the patellas turn out. That's harder to isolate than the outside part ot the quad. I've been doing my squats with my legs slightly wider than hip width (not as wide as a plie squat), and I've been having DOMS in that inner part of the quad. I haven't been doing this for very long yet so I can't tell you if it's going to work. I've had this problem for a long time and when I first started doing squats and lunges I couldn't go down as far, especially with lunges, but I kept doing them the best that I could and one day during a lunge my back knee touched the floor (I know this is too far down), but I couldn't believe I could go that far without pain! After doing those exercises my knees were good for a long time but then I started doing a lot of step aerobics and after a while my knees started hurting again, but I kept doing the step aerobics anyway and my knees got really bad again. Now I'm taking a break from the step and going back to working on squats and lunges and especially the wider squat. Just listen to your body and do what you can do without pain. For instance I can't do front lunges without pain, but I can do back lunges so I substitute those whenever needed. Keep doing what you're doing as long as it doesn't hurt and you might find you can eventually do a full squat and a full lunge. If not you might need to see a doctor. I hope this helps, sorry it's so long! Good luck!

Amy
 
I forgot to tell you that another good exercise is leg extensions. These are done standing and you raise your thigh parallel to the floor and then extend the leg straight out. Cathe does these in Legs & Glutes. You can do them with or without ankle weights. My doctor told me that when the inner quad muscle is strengthened it can pull the patella back over into alignment. Also I stopped doing squats and lunges with weights for now so that I don't overdue it. Good luck!

Amy
 
Hi, everyone,

Thanks all for your input (sorry, I've been out of town). Michele, thanks for your bump - you're so sweet. I really appreciate the advice.

I don't feel pain during the actual squat or lunge...well, usually ;) - it's more of a "pulling/stretching" feeling rather than pain. The pain I've been feeling is when I squat to pick something up, or if I sit on the floor with my knees bent for any amount of time. I've never had this kind of thing before starting lunges and squats.

That being said, I think the idea of strengthening the inside of the quad would be very, very worth looking into for me!

Thank you very much. I think I'll concentrate on L&G and floor sections of other workouts and take a break from the squats and lunges.
 

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