hey guys, im looking for a good strengthening routine in which the main goal is to strengthen the tendon and ligaments in the knee. Ive never had any major knee injuries and i squat heavy pretty often but ive always noticed that my knees are my weak link, i have a family history of arthritis in the knees.
I am just started using heavy partials to try to strengthen the knees but an outline for a routine would help me in my mission. If any of you guys who are pretty experienced with heavy partials and or other knee strengthening workouts could plan out a pretty basic routine for me it would help alot.
O, and in case some1 asks some history about me. Ive been squating heavy for about 2 or 3 years and i squat about 1-2 a week currently
Thanks in advance,
EDIT... just to clear things up i do know that partial range squats are BAD for the knees, their are many groups that argue for and against it, those that argue for it say that you should do it only occasionally to strengthen your tendons and ligaments and that they are a dangerous workout tool. If your against partials please just offer on alternative knee strengthening routine/exercise
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Thread: knee strengthening
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11-07-2010, 10:16 AM #1
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knee strengthening
Last edited by qdiddy69; 11-07-2010 at 09:14 PM.
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11-07-2010, 12:08 PM #2
I would do full range squats, i.e. as far down as you can go while maintaining good form (what others call ATG)
Doing heavy partials would have the opposite effect of promoting strong healthy knees in my opinion.Training Journal - http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=120458841
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11-07-2010, 12:12 PM #3
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yeah you are right, as far as my experience full range squats are the best for keeping the knees healthy. But this is how i have been lifting and it doesn't fix the problem that my hips are alot stronger then my knees. I would assume that heavy partials would strengthen the knees in the long run, while in turn making them less healthy in the short run
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11-07-2010, 12:31 PM #4
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11-07-2010, 12:48 PM #5
Get a band I got some from jump stretch.com a few years ago. The bands I got are like big rubber bands not the surgical tubing type. Next loop the band around the standard of a squat rack about knee height. Pull it until it makes a half hitch type knot. Now step inside the loop the band should be going around behind your knee. Bend at the waist and put hands on squat rack. Now move away from the rack keeping hands on the standard that the band is around. Bend knee slightly the band should be taught. Then straighten leg out the band should provide tension that makes it a bit difficult to straighten the knee. This will strengthen the vastus major, and bicep femoris at their insertion points near the knee. This mimicks some of the same muscles used in a leg extension without widening the knee joint during the radial movement of the joint. I can make a video and post it if you need me too. I have a lot of miles on my body and I do these before leg workouts because I am torn the hell up pretty bad.
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Personal best lifts without equipment just a belt, knee wraps, or wrist wraps=
Benchpress 365 Squat 600 Deadlift 675 I weighed 187 lbs when I did those.
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11-07-2010, 01:12 PM #6
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just downloaded starting strength 1st and 2nd edition, didn't know the torrent for these books were still alive thanks mate...
just read the squat portion of the first edition, it does state what you said. but its only explaining the correct form of the squat, which we all know is to parallel. It states why doing partial reps creates an imbalance and adds stress to the knees compare to the parallel squat, but it doesn't talk about the use of assistance excercises to strengthen an imbalance that is already present. Most advocates of the partial rep squat (this is all from what i have read on forums) state that partial reps are very stressful and shouldn't be overused; its more of an assistance excercise to strengthen the tendons and ligaments.
Get a band I got some from jump stretch.com a few years ago. The bands I got are like big rubber bands not the surgical tubing type. Next loop the band around the standard of a squat rack about knee height. Pull it until it makes a half hitch type knot. Now step inside the loop the band should be going around behind your knee. Bend at the waist and put hands on squat rack. Now move away from the rack keeping hands on the standard that the band is around. Bend knee slightly the band should be taught. Then straighten leg out the band should provide tension that makes it a bit difficult to straighten the knee. This will strengthen the vastus major, and bicep femoris at their insertion points near the knee. This mimicks some of the same muscles used in a leg extension without widening the knee joint during the radial movement of the joint. I can make a video and post it if you need me too. I have a lot of miles on my body and I do these before leg workouts because I am torn the hell up pretty bad.Last edited by qdiddy69; 11-07-2010 at 01:46 PM.
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11-07-2010, 02:00 PM #7
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11-07-2010, 02:09 PM #8
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11-07-2010, 02:16 PM #9
by hips stronger than knees do you mean you have weak quads? If so program in some heavy front squats. If you are concerned about injuries to your knees down the line do the rectus femoris stretch with your knee up on a bench after workouts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_hQSJVIN3c and just foam roll to keep healthy. I'm not sure what youre exactly addressing though
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11-07-2010, 02:28 PM #10
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thank you, thats actually my most popular stretch lol. And also no my quads are probably stronger then my hamstrings, which is the weird thing ( i have always squated to parallel before my recent interest in partials) its just that whenever i do too much volume or too high of an intensity, my knees tend to tell me to slow down while the rest of my body can take more. I suspect to just have genetically weaker knees, but i might also have a problem with generating hip drive
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11-07-2010, 03:02 PM #11
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11-07-2010, 04:01 PM #12
This is a great exercise, I do them 3 times a week. They are called "terminal knee extensions". Here is a link from elitefts.com, or do a search on youtube. some people call them "TKE's" for short.
http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/default.a...=33895&tid=115
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11-07-2010, 04:10 PM #13
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11-07-2010, 04:39 PM #14
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11-07-2010, 04:56 PM #15
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11-07-2010, 05:22 PM #16
- Join Date: Jan 2008
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god you powerlifting thread guys are so defensive; I knew some of you guys would take my posts the wrong way. Partly because my profile picture is from my high school days that make me look like a db and i never changed it and partly because I was sort of condoning what seems like voodoo to most power lifters
Bottom line is i asked for a routine to strengthen my knees and the only one who really gave me anything was stu and cameron which has helped, i just tried stu's advice and it feels great.
As for it looking like im ignoring the advice on partials i wasn't. I'm just stating that starting strength doesn't offer any knowledge on whether occasional partials can offer added stimuli or not to the knees. note that i commented that the information i gave on partials was obtained through forum chat, which was my way of saying that it could or could not be reliable. i was just trying further elaborating on the theory so that i could be given better advice. Sorry for being misguiding, and for sounding unapreciative of the advice.I aprreciate all the input guys. Like i said i have no experience with partials so i am relatively unknowledgable on them
Its just hard to decifer the information you guys are giving me when you say things like full squats are healthier and partials are unhealthier, that was never a question. Theirs a book by pete cisco, that talks about the advantages of partials its called power factor. Although Pete advises on using them to strengthen tendons and ligaments he places equal emphasize on how dangerous they are. Sort of a double edged swordLast edited by qdiddy69; 11-07-2010 at 05:30 PM.
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11-07-2010, 06:45 PM #17
partials = bad for knees
partial squats put the knees in a bad postion to drive the weight up which is why they are bad in the knees.
full squats fully engage both quad and ham which is better on the knees
all you need to know.
full squat
/threadKuzuri
"All right, pump those numbers up, those are rookie numbers in this racket. I myself, I jerk off at least... twice a day."
-Mark Hanna
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11-07-2010, 07:32 PM #18
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11-07-2010, 07:53 PM #19
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11-07-2010, 09:09 PM #20
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11-08-2010, 05:19 AM #21
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