I feel like I'm going to have to get rid of squats please help :(

[Mbt1990]

So everytime I Squat I feel a massive irrating pressure on the inside of my right knee, just outside of the knee cap, even Bodyweight it's still the same.

(Alittle insight - I train In a home gym so I have access to dumbbells, barbell, squat stands (no rack) bands and me)

I do alot of mobility to try and offset it and nothing works, the doctor can't figure it out as he said my knees are fine from an examination standpoint.

So I've been told to wear wraps and sleeves but ultimately, I feel this just masks the problem and doesn't fix it even though wraps help.

So the only thing that doesn't hurt is leg extensions which I've always said are inferior to squats (obviously) - I don't want to give up the squat pattern as its my favourite lift and I've made tremendous gains, but even low bar and high bar squats its bugging me, even after having my form checked out by a PT, there is physically nothing wrong with my form.

My mobility routine is this

Upper Body
A) - 40x Pullaparts
B) - 25x Open Close Chest
C) - 30x Banded External Rotation
D) - 10x Jefferson Curls (empty bar)

Lower Body
A) - 60s Deep Squat Hold
B) - 30x Good Morning
C) - 2x30 banded Leg Curl
D) - 50x Leg Extension (10kg) - no lockout or full 90degree
E) - 30s x 2 standing Quad Stretch Superset Lean Back Stretch
F) - 30s x 2 Ham Stretch
G) - 5 reps of 5 sec Glute Squeezes (activation)

Cooldown
A) - 20s Quad Stretch
B) - 20s Ham Stretch
C) - Foam Roll Legs/Glutes/Hips

So I don't know what to do, do I give up squats for Leg extensions due to the fear of messing up my knee for good? Or continue squatting and pray it will be fine?

Thankyou

[Heisman2]

Have you tried elevating your heels and varying your feet width and toe angle? Also consider activating your glutes at the beginning by both spreading the floor with your feet and externally rotating your legs while your feet are on the floor (basically driving your knees outward).

[BeginnerGainz]

If you’ve had an MRI and went to a sports physio (if you haven’t done either, do so) and they say your knees are fine, then maybe, you’re just weak.

[air2fakie]

Have you tried leg press (in a gym), whether as an alternative or just to see if the pain is something specific to squats only?

If you give up squats for life, that might be a worthwhile addition to your home gym.

[EliKoehn]

If you’ve had an MRI and went to a sports physio (if you haven’t done either, do so) and they say your knees are fine, then maybe, you’re just weak.

That's a bit rude. IIRC you don't even do it yourself unless it's with an SSB to work around a mobility issue... But maybe if he just said that they "piss off his knee" he'd have an excuse not to bench, I mean squat.

[Darkius]

General practitioners probably have a max number of MRIs the insurance company lets them order per month. They always try to do a cheap inspection that would only find the most glaring injury. Ask for an MRI. And don't do any more movements that cause pain.


How long have you been doing squats?

[GrouchyUSMC]

How low do you go in the squat before your knee starts bothering you?

Have you tried goblet squats? You can do these with a dumbbell.

[BenMcLeodNZ]

You're smart to know not to mask the problem, eventually you'd have the same amount of pain with the wraps and a lot more without it.

You might have a meniscus issue, or a leg-length discrepancy which is pretty hard to diagnose and easily miss. An extremely basic way to test would be to do some body weight squats with just one shoe on, and then swap feet over and see if one of those methods helped. And if you do have a leg length difference you just need an insole professionally fitted.

[MyEgoProblem]

The pain experience and physical damage are frequently not tied together...

Most people have damage that causes them no pain ect..

Many people with pain have no real damage.. Imaging ect is frequently no use.

https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog...ining-what-do/

Start here, go down the rabbit hole.

[Darkius]

The pain experience and physical damage are frequently not tied together...

Most people have damage that causes them no pain ect..

Many people with pain have no real damage.. Imaging ect is frequently no use.

https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog...ining-what-do/

Start here, go down the rabbit hole.

In my case, the crack behind my knee cap is where I feel my pain, which I feel close to 90 degrees, even higher if it is already upset.

[MyEgoProblem]

In my case, the crack behind my knee cap is where I feel my pain, which I feel close to 90 degrees, even higher if it is already upset.

The article suggests that you

Lower the weight
Decrease the range of motion
Change variation

Did you try going lighter
Did you try stopping before it hurts
Did you try using less forward knee travel
Did you try a wider/narrower stance
Did you try a different toe angle
Did you try a different variation, Like a box squat

So many options to try