Knees cracking every time I do squats?

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  • cpiton
    cpiton Posts: 380 Member
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    Mine crackle like a bowl of Rice Krispies when I do static lunges. They used to be bad on squats but, as I do them more and more, I find they are crackling less. Static lunges just kill my knees, though.
    Thanks for posting this. Some good advice here. I'm going to try wrapping mine on the lunges.
  • catatoniccutie
    catatoniccutie Posts: 9
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    Okay, I'm gonna come out and say this right now - I'm genuinely impressed with how helpful all of you are! Most of the fitness sites I've been on have either opted not to answer my questions at all, or treated me like an idiot for not knowing the answers. I'm already very fond of you. :3 I very obviously made a smart choice by asking for help -here-!

    When I do my squats, I try to keep my back as straight as possible. My heels rarely leave the ground - When I learned how to do a squat, a lot of emphasis was put on those two points, straight back without leaning too much and trying to keep as much of the foot on the ground as possible. I never heard about doing knee circles before an exercise though, so thanks for that, I'll start doing those before I work my legs.

    Though no, I unfortunately can't do video, or I'd be all over that. I want to know what I'm doing wrong.

    However, on that note, trying out the different suggestions I'm getting on this post, I've found a couple of methods that do NOT put undue stress on my knees and cause them to pop painfully. :D I'm a very happy little bunny right now.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    I don't know that you want to be on your heels, you never want to be in an unbalanced position. The weight should be distributed more mid-to-heel than just on your heel. And yes, don't want your knees collapsing into the middle.

    I have osteoarthritis and a lot of knee work like squats and lunges really kill me. My trainer said, yes, push the weight into the heel during these types of exercises. It'll take stress off the knee and put it on to the hip. It has helped me immensely. (but like he said, don't actually balance on your heels, that's just where the focus is)

    Yup, pushing from and staying balanced on the heels aren't the same. The last thing you want is to fall backwards with an *kitten*-load of wait on your shoulders. :)
    When I do my squats, I try to keep my back as straight as possible. My heels rarely leave the ground - When I learned how to do a squat, a lot of emphasis was put on those two points, straight back without leaning too much and trying to keep as much of the foot on the ground as possible. I never heard about doing knee circles before an exercise though, so thanks for that, I'll start doing those before I work my legs.

    In addition to this make sure your hip flexors get a good stretch as it will help you improve the entire lift.

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