Knee pains from squats?

wllwsmmr

I am 19, female, fairly active and exercise regularly almost daily. I have had no problems with my knees in the past regardless of how much I ran, outside or on the treadmill, HIIT or slowly, walking uphill etc, elliptical, even at a very large calorie deficit and spending four hours in the gym for some intense cardio.
Lately I have been eating at least 1500 calories a day, and walking up and down stairs and/or some interval training which includes jumping jacks, high knees, rope skipping and frog jumps for 30-60min. Also been adding about 60 squats a day. There was a day that I did at least 200 squats though.
I've done the interval training in the past and had no problems with it too.

Starting this morning I felt this pain in my right knee.. Is it from the squats? Should I stop my squats?

yurika975

I think it is from the squats. Well actually I think it's from doing them so often that's the problem. If I am reading correctly, you are doing them everyday. Your muscles are screaming for rest. Also 200 squats is a lot. If you are doing that many, I think it's def time to add weight. Consider making a squat day once a week. Then you can go hard on this day and give yourself the rest of the week to recuperate. Are you not using weight? I think you should go heavy. Do not worry! You will not get bulky. Girls don't get bulky.

dgljones

You are 19, with good luck you are going to have another 80 years on the planet and you only get one set of knees, so ease up on the impact workouts and alternate with some gentler exercises on some days.

Cr01502

I would say that this is an over use injury.

Did you say a large deficit coupled with a four hour gym routine?

You're overworking your body and not giving it the proper fuel it needs.

If you continue to do this you can probably expect more injuries.

wllwsmmr

I would say that this is an over use injury.

Did you say a large deficit coupled with a four hour gym routine?

You're overworking your body and not giving it the proper fuel it needs.

If you continue to do this you can probably expect more injuries.

the large deficit with a 4 hour gym routine was in the past when I was deep into bulimia I'm out of that now!!! That was just a proof that I never had any knee problems regardless of how intense I've been working my muscles in the past! So I'm just surprised how come I'm eating much more now and exercising much lesser but yet experiencing knee pains for the first time in my life haha thanks for your advice though!!

wllwsmmr

I think it is from the squats. Well actually I think it's from doing them so often that's the problem. If I am reading correctly, you are doing them everyday. Your muscles are screaming for rest. Also 200 squats is a lot. If you are doing that many, I think it's def time to add weight. Consider making a squat day once a week. Then you can go hard on this day and give yourself the rest of the week to recuperate. Are you not using weight? I think you should go heavy. Do not worry! You will not get bulky. Girls don't get bulky.

Sadly I don't have access to a gym (many limitations including financially! but I might join one soon) so I can't do squats with weights, so I'm just doing them at home!

Yup I'm gonna try to skip squats tomorrow and see if it gets better! Thanks!

wllwsmmr

You are 19, with good luck you are going to have another 80 years on the planet and you only get one set of knees, so ease up on the impact workouts and alternate with some gentler exercises on some days.

Thanks for the advice! Could you recommend some gentler exercises instead of squats?
Also, I'm hoping I don't live that long to be honest haha

Lyadeia

I have only gotten knee pains from squats when I had poor form (knees migrating inwards, not going to parallel or below, too much weight when I wasn't strong enough, etc).

However, I just read that you were doing squats daily? It's never a good idea to use the same muscles everyday in your workouts. You need to recover. Take a break of at least a day in between working your leg muscles like that. And be sure to watch your form.

3laine75

I might be totally wrong but I thing the only way it would be the squats is if you are not going to or below parallel. Partial squats can cause a muscle imbalance putting strain on the knee - full or '*kitten* to the grass' squats will not do this. I have a dodgy knee which is much improved since squatting this way.

200 a day could be too much though.

Agree with others, everyday is too much too.

wllwsmmr

Thanks for the advice babes!!! Will take a break from squats and when I do them again I'll watch my form!!!

wllwsmmr

If you're doing squats without added weights, 60 is not THAT much. It's more a combination of doing them too often (rather than too many) and all the jumping you're doing. Even walking up stairs is hard on the knees. Basically right now everything that you're doing is going to make your knee problem worse.

I have a bad right knee too Mine is from an accident though, not exercise related. But it will begin hurting when I do pretty much anything you're doing, regularly.

For jumping exercises, I would not do them at all unless you're already pretty light. Your best bet is an elliptical, or walking. (definitely NOT running) Also dancing is really good cardio, and you don't have to jump at all.

For squats, be very very careful of your form. Bad form will make the problem much worse. And you need to give yourself days off from squatting. I do squats, but only once, max twice a week. I also work out at home, try one legged squats. You definitely won't be able to do as many, so you will get results with less repetition too.

In general, you can focus on your upper body instead of legs. There's a ton of room for improvement there, surely?

I'm no expert and I can't tell if you have an actual injury, so your issue MIGHT go away if you reduce all the impact you're forcing on your knees. If it persists, you definitely need to see a doctor, but I still haven't been so I shouldn't be talking ha ha

Last: It would be best if you can get some good running/aerobics shoes that will reduce the impact of your cardio moves.

@clairmuffin: Thanks for taking the time to respond
I'm def not light but ain't very heavy too, currently about 142lb at 5'8?
I have no access to a gym so I can't use the elliptical ): And I'm currently living with quite a lot of people in a small apartment so I don't really have a place to dance, and I do all my workouts at the stairway

I've actually never had any problems with my knees regardless of how much running i've done in the past!!

I think I'll lay off squatting a few days and see how it goes!

Might also use this chance to ge another pair of shoes

Thank you again!!

Lupercalia

I might be totally wrong but I thing the only way it would be the squats is if you are not going to or below parallel. Partial squats can cause a muscle imbalance putting strain on the knee - full or '*kitten* to the grass' squats will not do this. I have a dodgy knee which is much improved since squatting this way.

200 a day could be too much though.

Agree with others, everyday is too much too.

This. I have a weird left knee that hasn't given me any trouble with squatting--I do bodyweight squats, goblet squats, barbell and dumbbell squats regularly (I like squats). I do squat properly. I am also careful to warm up, cool down, stretch, and foam roll each time I exercise. Foam rolling helped a lot with tendon problems I was experiencing a couple years back, so I got really into it then and have just kept with it.

I'd be more inclined to think it's the running and high impact exercise you're doing--jumping around and stuff.

Hope you get it sorted and feel better soon. :flowerforyou:

GiddyNZ

Hi there..

I did have some trouble with me knee when I started doing squats, found that form was an issue.. so I got some tips from the trainer..

When you do go back to squats proper form means that your feet are at least shoulder width apart, feet turned out slightly (i.e. not straight forward) then when you squat, butt back like you are sitting on a pretend seat.. chest out.. head up, butt no lower than your knees. Make sure that the middle of you knee points in the same direction as the middle of your foot. If your back muscles are tight then move your feet a bit further apart.. this will work the upper inner thigh more than a regular squat..

Use a broom stick or similar on your shoulders will help to keep the chest out, if there is nothing else available

wllwsmmr

@lupercalia: Thank you for the advice and well wishes I can't wait til it heals too (Hopefully it isn't permanent damage )
Thing is I have never had ANY trouble with my knee in the past few years of crazy excessive exercising which is a ton of cardio like running, jumping around etc... That's why I'm suspecting the squats are it!!

@GiddyNZ: Thank you for teaching me about squatting form!! Really appreciate it I have no trainer nor access to gym and hence was just doing squats as I thought it was! I feel like I shouldn't be too far off from the right form but I've never been conscious about it and I haven't done squats in two days (resisting the urge to so that I can heal!!!) but when I finally do squats I'll check my form!!!

Been two days and the only 'high impact' exercising I've done is walking up and down stairs in the morning but reaaaaaally slowly!