Knees making "crunch" sound during squats...

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khall86790
khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So this isn't actually about me but my boyfriend who started a strength training routine yesterday.
It's the same one I follow which has some squats in it, before now he hasn't taken part in much exercising apart from running once a week (if that!) and some cycling.

When he was doing full body squats, his knees were making a strange crunching/clicking sound but he said he felt no pain and couldn't really feel anything at all in them when they were making the sound.

Anyone experienced this? Should he continue with squats or not? He said he hasn't had any old injuries or anything like that to explain it.

Replies

  • SamanthaClarexo
    SamanthaClarexo Posts: 353 Member
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    My shoulders sometimes do this and it's mainly to do with me being dehydrated.

    Make sure he's properly hydrated before he starts :smile:
  • tmaree2
    tmaree2 Posts: 37 Member
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    I have had this in my left knee for years and unfortunately neglected getting it seen to. just recently I changed doctors and he xrayed my knees and gave me quite a stern talking to for leaving it çrunching' for so long", it is now in need of a full replacement. the crunching is the tears and floating bits of cartilage etc between the bones.

    your boyfriend should get it checked ASAP, and no I didn't have pain in it either.
  • Poods71
    Poods71 Posts: 502 Member
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    Don't really know what causes it but would be interested as I get this too. I do have some joint problems thought and can't really run as my knees end up swelling up.
  • QuietRain
    QuietRain Posts: 157
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    My right knee does that, I have a feeling along with the noise though. Not pain, just feeling the crunch.
    At first I put off squats thinking that it would make it worse, or cause pain, which it did at first. But when I improved my form it's been getting better. Not as loud as before.
    Though, his mileage may vary / I am not a doctor.
  • jaxxie
    jaxxie Posts: 572 Member
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    I am guessing, from your post, he doesn't workout much....my body makes all sorts of fun noises to remind me that I need to move it more. A proper warm up for me is essential, it could be a by product/combination of all sorts of things. My guess is....proper warm up and consistent exercise....rinse repeat. Good luck to you both!
  • SamanthaClarexo
    SamanthaClarexo Posts: 353 Member
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    I have had this in my left knee for years and unfortunately neglected getting it seen to. just recently I changed doctors and he xrayed my knees and gave me quite a stern talking to for leaving it çrunching' for so long", it is now in need of a full replacement. the crunching is the tears and floating bits of cartilage etc between the bones.

    your boyfriend should get it checked ASAP, and no I didn't have pain in it either.

    Oh wow...... That sound's serious! Definitely getting straight to the doctors if anything starts 'crunching' x
  • SGSmallman
    SGSmallman Posts: 193 Member
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    I had an ACL reconstruction on my left knee a couple of years back. after a heavy leg session it will click for a while it could just be air escaping as the joints move but it is always worth getting checked out if something starts acting differently to how it did previously
  • DonttrythatwithME
    DonttrythatwithME Posts: 214 Member
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    I would say

    occasional crunch = fine
    persistent crunch = bad

    I am not a doctor, however i have experienced a bad leg break and have since suffered from latent problems due to postural misalignment.

    My advice is get it checked, its better to know its nothing then wonder if its something.
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
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    Thanks for the replies so far guys.

    He does drink quite a lot of water, I'm not sure he is hitting his limit every day but he does try to drink at least 1.5L most days. I think maybe we will do some tests on this and I'll get him to drink his whole 1.5L one day and do this in the evening, see if it could be dehydration.

    I have also read online people saying as they continued to practice squats, it eventually went away all together. But I am not sure if I want to tell him to test that theory incase it's a potential injury and could be making it worse.

    His form looked correct to me as he was doing it.

    Anyone else got any ideas?
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
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    I would say

    occasional crunch = fine
    persistent crunch = bad

    I am not a doctor, however i have experienced a bad leg break and have since suffered from latent problems due to postural misalignment.

    My advice is get it checked, its better to know its nothing then wonder if its something.

    Yeah, it happened on almost every crunch.
    Funnily enough when I got him to slow down and make the move a lot steadier, the noise wasn't as loud and on a few it didn't do it at all.
  • TheRightWeigh
    TheRightWeigh Posts: 249 Member
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    So...I am starting weight training soon and this post just kinda freaked me out...

    Will be looking out for a crunch now...lol
  • dawningr
    dawningr Posts: 387 Member
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    My knees used to creak and crunch when I went upstairs, squatted, etc.

    I started taking Glucosamine supplements about 2 months ago. About 2 weeks I noticed less crunching, now.. none.

    I get the giant bottles at Costco, pretty reasonably priced.
  • arl1286
    arl1286 Posts: 276 Member
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    Sounds like it could be condromalacia (although if it is, I'm surprised that it doesn't hurt him). I've struggled with it for years. Have him wear a brace and ease into exercise. In the long run, the squats should make it better :)
  • elleesbelles
    elleesbelles Posts: 1
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    Don't know if you still want advice on this... I recently started having exactly the same problem and saw the physiotherapist at my gym. He said I have a muscle imbalance in my quads and that the outer quad is a lot stronger than my inner (the VMO). This means the patella is pulled off track (patella-maltracking) resulting in the same. In order the resolve the problem and avoid causing cartilage damage I am avoiding any depth exercises (currently my squats don't go below parallel etc) as that's where the problem is, and am doing exercises to strengthen my VMO muscle :)

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