How do you protect your knees form damage?

Hey all 
 
Ive squatted for a few years my knee is now experiencing some discomfort its not pain or anything major, but im getting the sign the knee is getting damaged or somert
 
How do i protect the knee from damage 
i do sprints as cardio 
 
what should i avoid and what should i exercises can i add to help protect the knee from damage?

a good balance between quads and hamstrings, making sure everything is moving properly, correct form, avoiding kneeling down for long periods, make sure your trainers suit you when doing the sprints, , the list of things to do or avoid for healthy knees is really quite large!

Duckluck, do you have a video of you squatting shot from the frontal plane?

Might also be a good idea to switch to front squats for a while, as they take the pressure off the lower back and knees, and avoid wearing knee wraps if you can help it as they compress the knee joint too much, causing the bones to rub when going heavy.
 
 

science_to_muscle

Might also be a good idea to switch to front squats for a while, as they take the pressure off the lower back and knees

 
Front Squats will place more pressure on your knees than back squats, in the same way that high bar squats will place more pressure on your knees than low bar squats. The further forward the bar placement, the less posterior chain involvement in the movement, the more work done directly by the quads and the more force going through your knees.
 
To the OP - I am going to make the assumption that you are in fact squatting with a high bar position, as this is the default position for most trainers. If so, I would strongly urge you to switch to low bar. It will take some getting used to in terms of upper body flexibility, but your knees will thank you. Mine certainly have.

CitizenKane


Front Squats will place more pressure on your knees than back squats, in the same way that high bar squats will place more pressure on your knees than low bar squats. The further forward the bar placement, the less posterior chain involvement in the movement, the more work done directly by the quads and the more force going through your knees.

Not so, according to the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research:
 
Gullett JC, Tillman MD, Gutierrez GM, Chow JW. A biomechanical comparison of back and front squats in healthy trained individuals. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2009 Jan;23(1):284-92.
 
The authors say that the compressive forces on the knees are greater with back squats, because mainly of the higher weight lifted.  The shear stress (side-to-side, at the bottom of the movement) was similar though, and squatting produces surprisingly little shear force.  They tested this on 15 individuals who had been doing squats for more than a year, and did an EMG to measure muscle activity.  They concluded that front squatting less weight could produce the same muscle activation in the quads as back squatting a heavier weight (so in theory the same growth response, although much less in the posterior chain so presumably less overall growth).  This resulted in the greater compressive force on the knees, as well as the higher "knee extensor moment". 
 
I've found that front squats are best, CitizenKane has found the opposite, so I'd try both if I were you and see what works for your body as everyone has different leverages and biomechanical advantages.

Groundbreaking news, front squatting is quad-dominant ;)
 
OP, post a form check, both from the side and from the back views. We have no way of knowing what you are doing, but I can assure you that if you squat with good form and have no prior injury/imbalance, than you should experience no pain whatsoever. In fact your knees should only feel better.

I have front and back squated for over 25 years with no serious injuries because I do a minimum of 10 mins cardio high intensity or 20 mins steady cardio then lots of stretching from head to toe then I tend to do a lot more warm up sets than most on here. I have never used a belt knee wraps etc just a good pair of solid lifting shoes bottoms and a t shirt and very good form ALL the way on every set
 
Im now 42 and back in since October did 5x5 on 60 k slow build up 1st day now on 130 1x5 other day
 
So bottom line look at your technique or better still have someone (who knows what they are talking about) look at it and advise.

science_to_muscle


The authors say that the compressive forces on the knees are greater with back squats, because mainly of the higher weight lifted.  The shear stress (side-to-side, at the bottom of the movement) was similar though, and squatting produces surprisingly little shear force.  They tested this on 15 individuals who had been doing squats for more than a year, and did an EMG to measure muscle activity.  They concluded that front squatting less weight could produce the same muscle activation in the quads as back squatting a heavier weight (so in theory the same growth response, although much less in the posterior chain so presumably less overall growth).  This resulted in the greater compressive force on the knees, as well as the higher "knee extensor moment". 

do we need a study to tell us that less weight lifted = less compressive forces??
 

dazc

science_to_muscle


The authors say that the compressive forces on the knees are greater with back squats, because mainly of the higher weight lifted.  The shear stress (side-to-side, at the bottom of the movement) was similar though, and squatting produces surprisingly little shear force.  They tested this on 15 individuals who had been doing squats for more than a year, and did an EMG to measure muscle activity.  They concluded that front squatting less weight could produce the same muscle activation in the quads as back squatting a heavier weight (so in theory the same growth response, although much less in the posterior chain so presumably less overall growth).  This resulted in the greater compressive force on the knees, as well as the higher "knee extensor moment". 

do we need a study to tell us that less weight lifted = less compressive forces??

 
Not really ha ha, the point I was aiming for is that they showed that the activation in the quads muscle was the same for both front squats with low weight and back squats with high weight, so if quad development was the aim then front squats would provide a way of getting the same muscle activation with lower knee joint stress.

You and argue about front versus back squats all day but ANY squatting is going to be a problem if the underlying function isn't good.
 
As per Daz I would check how your technique/performance is...
 
1) Sufficient mobility and good tissue quality will 'allow' for proper healthy movement
2) The right activation/firing patterns - making sure the right muscles are 'strong' and working well together - will ensure the joint works in an effective healthy manner.
 
Kind of hard to point you in the right direction over 'tinters but making sure the glutes and hams are working well and working to keep hip and ankle mobility good will definitely lay the foundations for healthier knees. 
Is there someone at the gym like an exercise rehab specialist?

I go total fitness... 
Ive spent money in the past on PT and its been a waste...
Im not not quite sure what to do next

Ok first and fore most, consider what can affect your knees structurally. One of the most overlooked areas being the functionality of your pelvis. Commonly a rotated pelvis can cause a leg length discrepancy resulting in a longer leg. The longer sides knee can often medially rotate the femur thus adding excessive loading through the inside of that knee joint.
The shorter leg in gait and standing, will be 'reaching' for the floor to some degree therefore the 'locking' out of that knee joint can create additional stress within.
..and this is just the knee..
the foot can be functionally or structurally hyper mobile or hypo mobile, low arch, high arch, loss of forfoot stability blah blah...
 
anyway the point I am making is that there are a shed load of reasons you COULD be experiencing knee problems even if your form looks amazing so posting a video could give 'an idea' of if your tech is decent but even correcting tech wont necessarily get rid of your knee problems.
The obvious thing to do is see someone who can tell you why you are experiencing excessive loading in these joints.
From personal experience it is more often than not an area other than the site of pain that is causing the problem.
 
The points about what the evidence shows are very valid for someone considering reducing the loads at the knee joint but wishing to continue squatting

p.s. unless you have an awesome PT they are often not trained in this type of issue unless they have advanced their knowledge further.
ALWAYS ask for certification evidence and check out training providers and dates of issue

bump - just to see other replies

Squatting using a Smith machine can cause knee problems due to the travel of the bar not naturally falling - if your feet are not positioned directly underneath the bar.

squatting with the smiths is a great way of isolating the quads, with a BB its arguable a better exercise especially if you wan to hop on the low volume workout theme, but I doubt it would make any difference to your knee's.