Knee clicking during squats

jesspen91
jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hey. I need some advice. My left knee (always my left) clicks and pops during squats. This happens even at bodyweight when I go anything lower than parallel. Its not painful at all but just feels a bit uncomfortable and 'funny'. Any suggestions for how to correct this? Should I change my stance? At the moment my feet are hip width.

I've also been doing some single leg work in case it is an imbalance but I appear to be equally strong in both legs so I don't think this is the issue (I get the same popping with single leg work on my left leg too)

Replies

  • SarahObrien2017
    SarahObrien2017 Posts: 12 Member
    Totally happens to me too! Like snap crackle pops haha
  • jdscrubs32
    jdscrubs32 Posts: 514 Member
    jesspen91 wrote: »
    Hey. I need some advice. My left knee (always my left) clicks and pops during squats. This happens even at bodyweight when I go anything lower than parallel. Its not painful at all but just feels a bit uncomfortable and 'funny'. Any suggestions for how to correct this? Should I change my stance? At the moment my feet are hip width.

    I've also been doing some single leg work in case it is an imbalance but I appear to be equally strong in both legs so I don't think this is the issue (I get the same popping with single leg work on my left leg too)

    My knees used to do this quite a lot and while they still do but not as much. Try fish oils as that helps reduce the clicking and popping.
  • Silkysausage
    Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
    Try an elasticated knee support as it may be your patellar in misalignment. I had this when I started running...not something I do anymore...but it helped.
  • jesspen91
    jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
    jdscrubs32 wrote: »
    jesspen91 wrote: »
    Hey. I need some advice. My left knee (always my left) clicks and pops during squats. This happens even at bodyweight when I go anything lower than parallel. Its not painful at all but just feels a bit uncomfortable and 'funny'. Any suggestions for how to correct this? Should I change my stance? At the moment my feet are hip width.

    I've also been doing some single leg work in case it is an imbalance but I appear to be equally strong in both legs so I don't think this is the issue (I get the same popping with single leg work on my left leg too)

    My knees used to do this quite a lot and while they still do but not as much. Try fish oils as that helps reduce the clicking and popping.

    That's interesting I don't take fish oil supplements but I do eat a lot of oily fish. Do you know what the reasoning is behind this? I feel like it's something more anatomical as Its always in the same knee.
    Silkysausage wrote: »
    Try an elasticated knee support as it may be your patellar in misalignment. I had this when I started running...not something I do anymore...but it helped.

    Thanks, I will look into this.
  • poisonesse
    poisonesse Posts: 527 Member
    My knees have done that since I was around 4 years old, parents used to ask me to squat when company was over, they thought it was hysterical for a little kid's knees to pop. And I was taken to the docs first... was told it's perfectly normal, your joints are just expanding a bit and make noise. I'm now 67, and while I do have a problem completely bending my knees, I've been told it has nothing to do with that lifetime of popping.
  • mndamon
    mndamon Posts: 547 Member
    Knee supports as Silky mentioned were huge for me in stopping this. Especially as I was going heavier. I noticed that slightly adjusting my foot position a little more so the toes pointed a little more out to the side helped too but that's more of a YMMV since each body is different.
  • mike_bold
    mike_bold Posts: 140 Member
    My knees are also very noisy, I went to the physio and he said sorry I can't cure old age :( But he made sure I had a balanced leg work out. Make sure you are getting glute, calf, hamstring work. I was spending too much time in the squat rack and getting knee problems. Now that I have addressed this over the last 6 months or so, the noise seems to have lessened.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    You need to actually work the muscles of your whole leg to stabilise the knee. The whole leg from ankles/calves to quads/hamstrings. Mine used to click all the time, they very rarely do anymore. Check out @ coacheugeneteo on IG he has a massive amount of content on problems and how to fix them through exercise rather than wearing an elastic knee sleeve. His stories have a lot of stuff too, not just the page. Sometimes stuff makes it on the stories and not on the page when he was Q&A sessions
  • rosiorama
    rosiorama Posts: 300 Member
    Silkysausage wrote: »
    Try an elasticated knee support as it may be your patellar in misalignment. I had this when I started running...not something I do anymore...but it helped.

    Do you mean a sleeve that covers the whole knee or the narrower band that goes under the knee? Mine has just recently started snapping/clicking too.
  • Silkysausage
    Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
    edited March 2019
    rosiorama wrote: »
    Silkysausage wrote: »
    Try an elasticated knee support as it may be your patellar in misalignment. I had this when I started running...not something I do anymore...but it helped.

    Do you mean a sleeve that covers the whole knee or the narrower band that goes under the knee? Mine has just recently started snapping/clicking too.

    Knee wraps need to be properly done, a whole knee sleeve is easier. They usually have a hole over the patellar.

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B005BINV84/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1551830096&sr=8-2&keywords=knee+support&dpPl=1&dpID=41KPB52C7KL&ref=plSrch

    Or compression sleeves without the bulk for squatting.

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Support-Sleeve-Concaved-Version-Single/dp/B07GH6DLHM/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1551830096&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=knee+support&dpPl=1&dpID=51NnsNfPsoL&ref=plSrch
  • jesspen91
    jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
    Thanks everyone for the advice. I am doing Strong Curves which is very lower body focused so I feel like I do get a good leg workout. As well as squats I do hip thrusts, bridges, deadlifts, split squats, step ups, lunges (walking and static) etc. I guess it might be just a matter of keeping working on these and hopefully the clicking will subside. If not I'll look into getting a sleeve.
  • rdthoms
    rdthoms Posts: 61 Member
    Turn up the music! I usually work out in a fitness class with music going on. Sometimes I go into the same room by myself and it's dead quite. The sounds of my knees during lunges and squats is horrifying ;)
  • Cant_think_of_a_username
    Cant_think_of_a_username Posts: 97 Member
    Mine make a horrendous noise - on the stairs too. I got them checked out just after Christmas and I have narrowing of the cartilage gap in the left knee. Lunges are actually painful so I don't do them but squatting though noisy is fine as long as I strap my knees and don't go too heavy. I've been working on some exercises I was given to strengthen supporting structures but the bottom line for me is that it will never go away and one day I'll end up with a plastic knee.

    It's worth getting them checked as crepitus is not necessarily a problem apart from noise but there are other reasons for knees to make noise that could need more attention.
  • jdscrubs32
    jdscrubs32 Posts: 514 Member
    rdthoms wrote: »
    Turn up the music! I usually work out in a fitness class with music going on. Sometimes I go into the same room by myself and it's dead quite. The sounds of my knees during lunges and squats is horrifying ;)

    When I was going to a PT, he was so surprised by the noise of my knees during squats that he was shocked that I never heard the noises myself. He got me to use fish oils which have helped to a degree but thankfully the gym I go has loud music so I cant hear the noise.
  • rosiorama
    rosiorama Posts: 300 Member
    I was in a ski accident when I was a teen, and a bone got chipped. I had surgery to remove the chip and ever since then my knee has made crunching noises loud enough to make an echo in concrete stairwells. The clicking is new this year. I don’t remember doing anything to warrant this new development... besides aging. 😔
  • Silkysausage
    Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
    Just so you know, not all clicking is bad when no pain is present. Gas 'pops' and ligaments and tendons 'snap' when joints are moved.
  • msurkus
    msurkus Posts: 23 Member
    Mine been doing that for the last 30 years, never had a serious problem develop from it though. I still can’t get over that, “Oh that can’t be good” feeling every time it happens.

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