Tiger69z

Hey guys,

I have a question, i ran Cross Country this past season, and as a result, i became really injured (too much, too fast )....Eitherway that's a whole nother story. My knees sporadically hurt, and i can't even run w/o looking like a tard. Sometimes the pain lasts a whole day whenever i walk. I'm young, and i'm 17, so i figure it will eventually go away...

But i have one question, about one month ago i did quad workouts and the pain seemed to subside a bit, but now it has returned (stopped working out, and other stuff). Are quad workouts good for knee pain?

Thanks

gonadman

Sounds like you developed patellofemoral syndrome. It is an overuse syndrome where abnormal tracking of the patella occurs causing inflammation and irritation on its underside, a condition called chondromalacia. Quad exercises can help re-establish normal tracking of the patella. Do a google search on patellofemoral syndrome to learn more about it and I'm sure you'll find some good exercises for it.

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mattborn

I'd probably start out with just leg extensions for a few weeks and see hoe that feels. If it's feeling OK, I'd then start doing more advance exercises, e.g. leg press, squats, etc.

seizei

same thing happened to me... started having bad knee pain at about 17 - a doctor told me to just not do anything stressful on them for awhile. Said it could be either Osgood-Slaters syndrome, or Patello-femoral.

Staying off it was the worst thing I could have done.

I kept avoiding stressing my knees, and avoided most leg exercises in the gym so as not to damage them. That went on for 3-4 years.

WHenever I tried to go back to normal activity, they'd get just as sore after a few weeks.


Eventually (a few years ago), they started to get real bad again, so I saw a doctor and a sports medicine specialist. THe doctor was all set to diagnose bursitis, but the sports guy told me to start a leg conditioning program. After 5 months of leg workouts 3 times a week, my knees were perfect, without a tinge of pain.

Do extensions, curls, calf raises, presses. Remember, you are conditioning, so don't overdo the weight.

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Dostoevsky

Tiger, I asked my trainer about this and he said doing leg extensions and leg curls should clear it up. Make sure you work your quads and hamstrings. Make sure you keep doing your exercises even after the pain subsides.

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minyn

Running and Quad work are inevitably REALLY HARD ON YOUR KNEES. and i once heard this from my grandma "take care of your knees, youll miss them when theyre gone", she said this after having double knee replacement.

if your knees hurt, dont limp, focus on your form. It will protect your knees. I have knee problems from ballet and running and weight lifting so if you flail them around your only risking straining something. if it starts hurting dont stop, slow down, beucase stopping will only piss off other muscles and cuase more pain everywhere.... obviously.

Go to the doctor. talk to him, cuz even if youre hurting now, it WILL (i promise you) come back later and haunt you. Youre still growing and injuring them now is the WORST TIME cuz it will affect you for the rest of your life.

If worse comes to worse, they will tell you to stop for awhile. take up somethign less destructive to add to your workout. You knees will thank you later

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i saw a sports medicine doctor for that very reason when i was running (years back)
the strength of your quadriceps is directly related to the impact injury on yours knees!
this is especially true for women as they hips are set wider and the angle/impact of running is thus harder on the knee.

my sports med dr. definately encouraged me to do quad work! be careful though with the leg press and putting on too much weight to fast, as that can also aggrivate the knee joint.

he recommended actually just sitting, straight legs forward... straight back... with various weights around my ankles or calves... then lifting and holding my leg above the ground (working in timed sets). It worked great for me... no pressure on the knee (like in a leg press) but really strengthed my quads in a way that alleviated the pain...