Topic: Knee Pain

[Andy Dick]

No swelling.  No soreness today in the problem area.  Good to go still.

[Andy Dick]

Snatched today, I only went to 55kg for 3 sets, so pretty light but IT WAS GLORIOUS!  It felt soo good to start getting back into olympic lifts again, and my knee still feels good which is also a plus.

[Andy Dick]

This will probably be my last post on this topic.  Right now my knee is "managed" as per the athletic trainer that has been helping me with my knee.  I am still lifting the Olympic lifts but increasing weights very slowly.  Some days are good and it feels fine some days not so much.  I have been using the time at a lighter load to really focus on getting reps with better technique.  I am still far below my competition and training bests but I am hoping that will not be for long.  Hopefully given time with diligence in listening to my body, stretching, and care on my knee I will be back.  There will probably not be much to report on my knee until it is 100% again.

[Matt Erdman]

Good luck man. I know the struggle. 

[Mike Frost]

Andy,

I've had issues with pain in my right knee but never left. And I strengthed my hip flexors more which helped(emphasis on the right of course)

glad to hear its getting better for u. Ive read 3 pages of this thread and seen nobody mention hip flexors which suprises me, look into that.

Good luck

[Andy Dick]

I hit hip flexors quite extensively in my stretching routine.  I don't know if I mentioned it but my routine pre-workout for flexibility is foam rolling, inch worms and sumo squat to stands.  Post-workout I do "squat stretch" (this entails me sitting in a full squat for 20 secondsx5reps, which really helps me feel comfortable sitting in a full squat and keeping flexible in that position), quads, hammies, hip flexor (twice as much when they are really tight), groin, butt, calves.

[Andy Dick]

Ok, I guess I was wrong about that being my last post.  I have a point of interest to report on.  The athletic trainer has perscribed super slow negatives (20 second descents) on back squat and front squat (2 days, 1 day for each exercise).  The load is about 70-80% of my 1 rm.  I have done it 2 weeks now and my knee seems to be responding positively to it.  I do the negatives at the end of my workout and stretching post-workout.  During the negative sets it has helped alleviate some soreness during the workout if there is any however post-workout it will get sore again (the trainer said this was to be expected).  On the plus side, it has decreased the time my knee is sore.  It seems that the day following the negatives which for me are off days the soreness subsides.  This may be a point of interest to those who may suffer from the same issue in the future.

I will include a break down on my most recent workout week so an idea of how I use the negatives can be understood:

(to help with confusion, all olympic lifts and pulls are in kgs, and squats and anything else are in lbs)

WORKOUT #1 - Monday
Cleans  77.5x2  82.5x2  82.5x2  87.5x2  87.5x2  87.5x2
Sn. Pulls (3x3)  70 kgs
Back Squats (2x2)  315#  320-1 (heavy back squat day)

WORKOUT #2 - Tuesday
Bench (3x3)  200#  205  210+1
Pull-ups (3x5)  10 lbs (+1 last set)
Shoulder Press (3x5)  125#  130-2  135-3
Core

WORKOUT #3 - Wednesday
Snatch  52.5x3  57.5x3  57.5x3  62.5x3-1  62.5x3  62.5x3
Cl. Pulls (3x3)  97.5 kgs
RDL (3x3)  255#  265  275

WORKOUT #4 - Thursday
C&J  85x1  90x1  90x1  95x1  95x1  95x1
Back Squats  (2x2) 280#  (light squat day, 10% less of monday)
Back Squats Negatives  (2x2) 275# - I use a spotter to help me back up
Core

Friday is a complete rest and recovery day

WORKOUT #5 - Saturday
Snatch  55x2  60x2  65x2  67.5x2  67.5x2  67.5x2
Snatch Pulls  (3x5) 52.5 kgs
Front Squats  (2x2) 270#  275+2  (heavy front squat day)
Front Squats Negatives  (2x2) 245# - I do this differently, I don't use a spotter, I lower to full front squat set the weight on the crash bars, take the weight off, lift the bar up, reload and do another rep.  This allows for better negative attempts for me and saves my elbows from getting destroyed due to fatigue.  Plus, Saturdays I lift at a fitness club and it is hard to find a spotter.
Core

Sunday - complete rest and recovery day

[Arturo Gómez]

I don´t understand the relation olimpic lifts x squat in that training.