Solved a problem of 20yrs in 2 weeks (knees)

But bro work needs to come down from the douche-o-sphere in terms of how it is taught and applied. I think I remember Kyle Keough writing about how novice lifters should consider doing BB work first, then work on strength, then peak for meets.

I mean, isn't this just the way that every macrocycle that you ever do after the initial novice phase works? Accumulate, intensify, realize? I think Keo is right, but it's sort of surprising that it's so widely believed that the novice macrocycle is different and unique in this regard, and that what amounts to one long intensification microcycle is somehow optimal for the novice trainee.
 
I also put leg curls in my program just in case after reading this thread.
Well, congratulations.

Imo, and I'm gonna get hated for this, modern powerlifting and post-modern "powerbuilding" were the worst things that happened to strength sports. Everyone and their mother seems to get injured because of those, me included.

Why is that? I'd like to know your reasons.

Personally I wish I knew about "powerlifting" when I was younger. I did "bodybuilding" stuff and completely neglected my lower body and lower back because my legs always looked big. Deadlifting got rid of lowerback pain I've had for years and squatting greatly alleviated my knee pain.
 
Why is that? I'd like to know your reasons.
Huh? My reasons for what?

Personally I wish I knew about "powerlifting" when I was younger. I did "bodybuilding" stuff and completely neglected my lower body and lower back because my legs always looked big. Deadlifting got rid of lowerback pain I've had for years and squatting greatly alleviated my knee pain.
You must have had severely atrophied muscles then. The usual powerlifting routines are much too high in intensity and much too low in volume to have any significant effect on circulation in non-muscular tissue. The often reported injuries seem to confirm that.
 
Huh? My reasons for what?


You must have had severely atrophied muscles then. The usual powerlifting routines are much too high in intensity and much too low in volume to have any significant effect on circulation in non-muscular tissue. The often reported injuries seem to confirm that.

reasons for you thinking that powerlifting is the "the worst things that happened to strength sports" but you answered my question in the second part of your post. I'm total noob so I have no idea what "circulation in non-muscular tissue" means. You think it's better for people in general to do more volume with lower intensity than usual routines?
 
I've suffered from painful knees since I was 18, it started playing roller hockey, I was getting into it and my knees started clicking, pain under kneecap etc. Physio gave me an exercise to do, standing on one leg and bending it a bit for reps, his theory was that my quad was over developed on the outer side and that this exercise would train my knee correctly. It helped, maybe, but quitting rollerhocky helped more.

After decades of skateboarding, kickboxing I started really lifting heavy and playing American football. Shit got bad after 3 years of that, I was having to really curb what I did, avoiding running, no squats etc. To the point I was medicating and trying all sorts of shit, BPC-157 etc to fix. Saw another physio last year and he had me rest for months, reverse slide lunging with increasing weights.

It helped and cured my patella tendonitis but when I cranked shit up and returned to football and lifting the familiar pain returned, not being able to sit with knees bent for more than 20sec or so. Having to get out of the car to stretch every 10 min etc.


A random youtube clip on the science of hamstrings described the bicep femoris which attaches below the knee, that isn't activated at all by squats, deadlift, stiff legged deads, cable pull throughs etc. It's only really effected by resisted leg curls, an exercise I've never done.

After one session of 3x12 things felt 60% better and it persisted. After two weeks of doing the same I can sit with my leg totally bent for an hour with no pain, something I havn't done for a decade.

I've entirely healed myself, and it's incredible, literally the only thing holding me back athletically has gone, a new lease of life. I've sprinted without knee supports, squatted heavy and no pain whatsoever.

I don't blame anyone for not figuring it out 20yrs ago but man, it seems like such a simple thing to miss.

Balance of joints should be taught in school.


Any updates? Still pain free?
 
Update:

Working the bicep femoris was half the picture. I've been able to progress to the next level by reprogramming my movement patterns. I used to squat with a wide stance, feet at 45 degrees. This would be how I sat down on the can, etc etc. I realised the vastus medialis was not developed much and that ties in with the outer quad being more developed/firing sooner pulling the knee cap to the side.

I've started to squat with my feet parallel, knees to front and to focus in every movement through my day on using my legs in that plane of motion.

The result: I'm currently running smolov, a dream of mine and my knees are actually getting better as I do it.

It's stupid, tiny changes I could have done decades ago. I'm a decent athlete but I missed out on some serious lower gains, silver lining is that now at 40 I'm getting stronger and more pain free rather than going downhill.

I've also fixed lower back pain with hip flexor and quad stretching. I'm considering retraining as a physiotherapist as the ability to make life changing differenceals with just a little knowledge is intoxicating.
 
your PT didn't have u do seated leg curls?

I messed up my hamstring few weeks back and one of the first things we did when I was able to start doing resistance work was the standing leg curl and seated leg curl machines

happy to hear your back on the mend
 
your PT didn't have u do seated leg curls?

I messed up my hamstring few weeks back and one of the first things we did when I was able to start doing resistance work was the standing leg curl and seated leg curl machines

happy to hear your back on the mend

No,

Back when I had one a couple years ago he was having me do reverse lunges on a slide pad, I guess he was trying to program the knee to track vertically. working hamstring etc, but his main aim was to reduce the jumpers knee so working legs without the tendon strain?

He definitely helped the patella tendonitis but further than that there's been the inflammation from the knee tracking poorly.

Wish he had.

I've used Nordic hamstring curls for a while now and they're great. Would like a seated leg curl machine but home gym etc etc
 
Interesting. I was getting sore knees the next day or 2 after lifting but never while lifting. A narrow stance while squatting was helping but not 100%.

Hadnt actually seen this thread till posting this but have been doing hammy curls the past few weeks and since doing them have yet to get sore knees even going heavy or rep intense sets.

Good work bringing this back up, hope it helps out more peoples.
 
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had a slight problem with my knees a couple of years ago and yeah those hammy curls really are a miracle. Add some regular wall squats and calf raises in there and you’re good to go!
 
Saw this video today of Stan Eferding schooling a YouTube bodybuilder dude on squatting and it looks a lot like how I've started squatting.

I reckon my feet/knees are a bit closer in but otherwise it's bang on. I'd been using a box as a cue and it's like he said, it's the same position as standing up off a chair.

 
I also put leg curls in my program just in case after reading this thread.


Why is that? I'd like to know your reasons.

Personally I wish I knew about "powerlifting" when I was younger. I did "bodybuilding" stuff and completely neglected my lower body and lower back because my legs always looked big. Deadlifting got rid of lowerback pain I've had for years and squatting greatly alleviated my knee pain.
i had to check to see if this was my own post!
same story, exactly.
 
ACL injuries stem from weak hamstrings. I found this out too late.
 
I did a quick search to find a demonstration of this.... especially for guts who like bodyweight training. Especially since it's considered to be easier on the joints.
 
ACL injuries stem from weak hamstrings. I found this out too late.
Not necessarily.

Hamstrings definitely plays a role, but there's a lot more going on. Both the hamstrings and calfs protect against forward translation of the shin (which is some of what the ACL prevents), that is true, but ACL injuries are commonly rotational with knees collapsing inward.

Strength and stability of the hips, knees and ankles all matter.
 
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I was thinking about this the other day. I don't train any direct knee flexion movements, so my hamstring work is solely hip extension movements. It made me wonder if all three heads get sufficient activation during hip extension. Guess I have some research to do.
 
I was thinking about this the other day. I don't train any direct knee flexion movements, so my hamstring work is solely hip extension movements. It made me wonder if all three heads get sufficient activation during hip extension. Guess I have some research to do.
Don't know what you mean by three heads, but they don't. The short head of the biceps femoris is not bi-articular (crossing two joints) as the rest of the hamstrings are, and therefor only crosses the knee joint. Hence, it's used in knee flexion. Further than that, some evidence suggests that the semitendinosus responds better to knee flexion than hip extension, given its moment arm. Either way, it's definitely not the same even for the rest of the hamstrings.
 
I was thinking about this the other day. I don't train any direct knee flexion movements, so my hamstring work is solely hip extension movements. It made me wonder if all three heads get sufficient activation during hip extension. Guess I have some research to do.

The short head biceps femoris is the only one joint muscle of the hamstrings so it isn't an agonist during hip extension. It exists to flex the knee and rotate the tibia. All of the other HS muscles can do both knee flexion and and hip extension. Sprints can really work the hamstrings overall if you're not into doing leg curls or GHRs.
 
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