Squats--is this normal?

Tajdancer
Tajdancer Posts: 82 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I’ve started doing squats, as deeply as I can manage without killing myself. Krista of Stumptous.com has some good exercises to help develop/stretch your muscles in preparation for deep squats, and I’ve been doing those.

I’m not squatting much weight yet—just 27 lbs (including the barbell). I’m doing this at home without a spotter so I’m concentrating on form right now.

Here’s the problem: My legs feel wobbly now. I’ll step up on a staircase and my knee will shudder. Almost as if it’s going to give out. Like, maybe I’ve overstretched the knee ligaments doing the full-depth squat practice (holding onto something and going all the way down). Is that possible? Should I stop doing the full depth stretches? Should I stop doing squats? After 3 weeks, I’d have thought my legs would feel stronger, but instead, they feel oddly weaker. Is this normal?

I should also mention that I’ve been suffering from plantar fasciitis for months; which also contributes to feelings of weakness, although I’ve been working lately on strengthening my feet.

Can’t afford a trainer or a physical therapist right now. Just looking for ideas.

Replies

  • wildboar1
    wildboar1 Posts: 88
    If you've never done squats before, you're CNS is having a panic attack with trying to deal with the CNS stimulation. It's common. I get it too sometimes when I have an extra strenuous squat day. Sometimes my quads will involuntarily spasm for a time.

    Also, doing full depth squats is much better for your ligaments/tendons than doing half squats. Continue doing full depth squats unless you have a physical problem that makes it painful.

    All I can say is that make sure you eat enough, get enough sleep, and give your legs time to rest so the CNS can reset itself. Otherwise you might have some sort of medical problem.
  • cutie2b
    cutie2b Posts: 194 Member
    If you feel pain in your knee stop. It's never worth blowing out your knees. However, weakness isn't uncommon in your legs where they feel wobbly after working them out hard. It gets better as you get stronger. I am working on depth too right now and form. I am working on that "3rd world squat" as described on Stumpuous.com and T-Nation and being able to stay there to get stronger. Don't add weight. In fact go back to just body weight to get better and deeper before you add weight. If you have to add weight, try goblet squats. They help with depth and balance strength before you get to the back squat. But really just do body weight right now until your legs are stronger. It takes a while to really build up the hip flexors and some of the lesser used muscles. Holding on to a railing and just sitting in a low squat has helped me stretch things that haven't been used in years. I am sore just after doing simple things like that.
  • Tajdancer
    Tajdancer Posts: 82 Member
    Thanks, wildboar, for the reply. I'm not used to doing them, but I was surprised at how sore I was after the first couple of sessions with such light weight! But it's the feeling of knee weakness that I find strange.

    Let's *hope* it's not a medical problem! :frown:
  • logatha
    logatha Posts: 5
    I agree with WildBoar. My legs can feel "wobby" sometimes after a tough lower body workout. I especially noticed this when I first started working out vigorously.
    My knees dont ache and hurt like they are going to blow out though. If its just the wobbles, shouldn't be an issue.
  • Tajdancer
    Tajdancer Posts: 82 Member
    If you feel pain in your knee stop. It's never worth blowing out your knees. However, weakness isn't uncommon in your legs where they feel wobbly after working them out hard. It gets better as you get stronger. I am working on depth too right now and form. I am working on that "3rd world squat" as described on Stumpuous.com and T-Nation and being able to stay there to get stronger. Don't add weight. In fact go back to just body weight to get better and deeper before you add weight. If you have to add weight, try goblet squats. They help with depth and balance strength before you get to the back squat. But really just do body weight right now until your legs are stronger. It takes a while to really build up the hip flexors and some of the lesser used muscles. Holding on to a railing and just sitting in a low squat has helped me stretch things that haven't been used in years. I am sore just after doing simple things like that.

    Thanks! I'll think about cutting the weight for now. Maybe I got a little over-eager to do them with weight.
  • Tajdancer
    Tajdancer Posts: 82 Member
    I agree with WildBoar. My legs can feel "wobby" sometimes after a tough lower body workout. I especially noticed this when I first started working out vigorously.
    My knees dont ache and hurt like they are going to blow out though. If its just the wobbles, shouldn't be an issue.

    Thanks, that's reassuring. My knees don't hurt at all, just feel wobbly.
  • littlesis412
    littlesis412 Posts: 314 Member
    I agree with WildBoar. My legs can feel "wobby" sometimes after a tough lower body workout. I especially noticed this when I first started working out vigorously.
    My knees dont ache and hurt like they are going to blow out though. If its just the wobbles, shouldn't be an issue.

    I'll second this. I just started exercising regularly and some days when I go all out, I get this feeling. It's not like it hurts but for some reason your knees/legs are just giving out under you. I'll agree that it could just be your body's own protective responses. It's tired and not used to the workload you're placing on yourself. So, just give it some time and go slow. And if it starts being painful, not just weakness, stop. You'll know the difference.
  • dusty8907
    dusty8907 Posts: 350 Member
    I do atg squats and basically i just warmup with lighter weighta for 2 sets. Also after leg day i feel this wobbliness as well.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    i know what you mean
    i am doing squats too, and after doing 120 right now, my legs feel so weird and wobbly
    but i guess that it is just the muscles in my body because i havent been doing them
    for over a week...
    but in your case that is kind of strange
    just make sure that you aren't over stressing your leg muscles
    make sure that you can do many reps
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    If you've never done squats before, you're CNS is having a panic attack with trying to deal with the CNS stimulation. It's common. I get it too sometimes when I have an extra strenuous squat day. Sometimes my quads will involuntarily spasm for a time.

    Also, doing full depth squats is much better for your ligaments/tendons than doing half squats. Continue doing full depth squats unless you have a physical problem that makes it painful.

    All I can say is that make sure you eat enough, get enough sleep, and give your legs time to rest so the CNS can reset itself. Otherwise you might have some sort of medical problem.

    Can't say much more than this other than just make sure you get a good warm-up in and stretch afterwards.

Categories