I'm trying to incorporate more lower body weight workouts into my exercise routine, but I'm having a really hard time with it. I only have access to free weights, and can't do squats and lunges because my knee pops and hurts. :sad: What else can I do to strengthen my quadriceps? Also, I'm doing hamstring deadlifts for my hamstrings but I'm concerned about the effect they may have on my back. Anything else work?
Hmmm. If your quads are really weak, start with leg lifts. If you have a bit more strength than that, you could try wall squats. I have bad knees also, so I spent a few weeks on the wall squats with one of those balls before building up to regular barbell squats.
I think the trick with deadlifts is to keep your back very straight; it prevents you from hurting your back. You can also not bring the weight all the way up--stop at the point where your body switches from using hammies and glutes to using your lower back. By the same token, I like deadlifts because they help to strengthen my lower back.
Thanks, baffled. I don't think my quads are THAT weak; I've been biking for 6 months and running for 3, so I've gained SOME strength. By leg lifts do you mean without any weights, laying down kinda thing? How do you do squats with a ball?
Ha! I've just completed 2 months of physical therapy for my knees, and squats using a ball is one of my exercises. Use a smallish (45? 54?) and put it between your back and a wall. Squat shallowly, rolling the ball down the wall. You can get down and hold it there, which helps with quads too. Another exercise to do is knee extensions. I do them with a cable station, set low. At the therapy office, there is a band that goes around my ankle. So I sit on a bench with my back to the cable station and do knee extensions with just a little weight. Not explaining this well, I can tell, but bascially the weight is behind. My PT does not recommend the knee extension machine. I can get sort of the same effect at home using a resistance band around the leg of a kitchen chair.
It's hard to give you advise without knowing what is wrong with your knee. Is their structural damage? Are they bothering you because the surrounding muscles are weak? Are they sore because the quads are tight and overactive due to weak hip flexors? There are a variety of possible causes of knee pain and each would require a different exercise regimen.
I would have this assessed by a professional.
For what's its worth, my best guess based on what you have told us is that you hip flexors are weak. This would be consistent with both the knee condition and the back bothering you on deadlifts. In this case, I would recommend pull-throughs and supine hip extensions on the swiss ball and really concentrate hard on getting the glutes to fire. Again, this is a best guess based on an internet post. See a physical therapist or at least a qualified personal trainer who may be able to assess your issue or give you a referral to a physical therapist.
It truly amazed me when the PT had me doing hip exercises to strengthen my knees but it really helps!
I second Depalma's advice. I knew my knees bothered me and that it was a patella (kneecap) problem, but not how to fix it. Turned out one knee was much worse, and needed lots of stuff you can't fix with exercise (breaking up adhesions and scar tissue), but much that you can. I'm much happier with them now, and am encouraged to keep doing the exercises now that I know they work.
Thank you for the responses. What are pull-throughs and supine hip extensions??
Honestly, I simply cannot afford a physical therapist or personal trainer at this point in my life. My boyfriend and I are both in school, and living off of one pitiful income. I can, however, give a bit more background about my knees...
They don't HURT, per say, just "pop" when I do squats. Occasionally I'll get a tinge of knee pain going up or down stairs. It didn't happen until I started running; however, they don't hurt AT ALL when I run. I think part of the problem was that my stationary bike seat was set too low, so that my legs were occasionally at a less than 90 degree angle when biking, which I've heard puts stress on the knees. However, I started biking 4 months before I started running. Maybe it just took that long to start? I don't know. I've also heard that if your quads aren't strong enough, when you run your kneecaps can slip out of place, so I've been trying to strengthen my quads... which is hard when you can't do squats. I hold my legs out straight and parallel to the ground when sitting in a chair at work regularly, but I'm not sure this is enough...
I have occasionally (and prior to starting running and biking) hurt my cyatic nerve - it always goes away within a day or so, but it's happened about 4 times in the last year. I sometimes have hip pain associated with that.
Does that help? I just realized that probably not many people (if any) will read this, but I'm really hoping someone can help, since I truly can't afford a PT.
If you do not have access to a cable machine, these exercises can be duplicated at home by attaching a resistance tube or jumpstretch band to a secure low position.
You might now the hip extension as a hip bridge or even glute bridge. The below demo uses a swiss ball which I prefer also but you can use a bench or even with feet on the floor to start. As you progress with the swiss ball you can even combine it with a leg curl by bringing your feet in toward the body at the end of the movement.
You may need to subscribe to a free membership to view these videos. However, due to the multiple views, slow motion, and the ability to pause the video and then move it frame by frame smoothly, I think these are some of the best demos out there.
If your problem is with the hip flexors (and this is definitely not a diagnosis) then these may help. If at any time you feel pain doing these. Stop! I also think trying the ball squats as baffled and WaterRat suggested are great ideas as well. If need be, start with a partial range of motion and see if it improves over time. Once again, first sign of pain, Stop! Do you have insurance through your school? Perhaps you can get your knee looked at and physical therapy may be covered.
There's a book that has been out for years called
World Class Legs
by Felix Schmitt and Cynthia Tivers.
I always liked this book, and now I'm seeing that magazines are just now starting to put these exercises in their routines. Don't know why it took them so long. The authors are funny, too - they're like "don't put that in your mouth if you know darn well it'll make you look fat!" Good advice, but yeah, they are pretty militant about diet. Abs are made in the kitchen, but legs can benefit from that, too......
Many of the exercises involve a chair or a small playground-type ball. You can do wall ball squats with a ball, too. I find that the ball is better for squeezes (inner thigh muscle workout) than the Pilates magic circle. These workouts also help your balance & core.
Actually, if you are on a budget, you might consider buying a Swiss ball. It really is a great workout tool. I bought mine online and also bought a 4-poster set of exercises to do with it. The posters turned out to be a good buy & expanded my workouts considerably.
Another workout that is good for leg muscles is YOGA. Many of the standing poses really help strengthen the leg muscles. Just be sure your instructor knows that you have knee problems & they can help you with that. Yoga will help you stretch and strengthen your entire body.
Gads, you do have to register for Precision Nutrition, and you have to get an email to activate, and then you have to download QuickTime to see the videos. Wouldn't be so bad if each one didn't start a new IE session.....
Anyway, thanks for the links. The pull-through looks good, and I already do bridges, but I think I'll try these with the ball. Always up for variety...
I found a video of what else he has me doing for hip strength here and here These can take a while to load, can't they? Thanks for the site, btw.
if your quads aren't strong enough, when you run your kneecaps can slip out of place, so I've been trying to strengthen my quads
That's only half the equation. If your hamstrings aren't proportionally strong, your knee can also be unstable. MANY runners who do no cross-training have this problem. Google patella-femoral syndrome. Again, we certainly can't diagnose over the internet, but popping sounds usually are caused by ligaments snapping across bone. If there's not actually pain involved, it can just be normal for you. My son can't walk down a hallway without everyone knowing where he is due to snapping ligaments, but several orthopedic specialist have said there isn't anything wrong with him. But if there is pain involved, it's not normal.
A trainer isn't certified to diagnose. A physiotherapist really isn't certified to diagnose, either. Only an orthopedic specialist can do the diagnosis. The rest of us are just hazarding educated guesses.
If you truly have no health insurance, my suggestion would be to work on both your hamstrings and your quads, and stop running until you get the back pain diagnosed. Running is murder on joints.
Ain't it amazing how everything is connected to everything else? No good training/strengthing just one part, eh? Now today, the arthritis in my middle finger on my left hand is acting up, making me type some funny words.
Need exercises for legs!
but it really helps! 
No good training/strengthing just one part, eh? Now today, the arthritis in my middle finger on my left hand is acting up, making me type some funny words. 
