Post: #1

When I do squats without any weights my knees make a noise, a creaking type noise.

Any cure?

What should I be taking?

Post: #2

It's called old age.

Post: #3

(08-02-2013 07:57 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  It's called old age.

LOL - You are so right.

Do you have the same ailment?

Post: #4

Yeah. Using knee machines helps me more than anything, plus less weight/higher reps on squats. Take glucosamine and amino collagens for joint health.

Post: #5

My knees having been doing that since 12 years old. It's air in the joints.

Post: #6

Mine started doing that a few years ago. Freaked me out at first, but now I hardly notice.

Seems worse if I miss going to the gym for a few days. It's less noticeable when I'm on my regular schedule.

I also occasionally notice it when doing push-ups.

Getting older is not for the weak.

Post: #7

(08-02-2013 08:23 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  Take glucosamine and amino collagens for joint health.

^^^ Important stuff.

Also try to warm them up a lot. My knees are my weak point and I'll spend 20mins just warming them up or else they sound like rice krispies. Wrapping them up or wearing compression pants to keep them warm will help also.

Post: #8

Fish oil also helps with joints. It'll either be an injury or wear and tear, either way if there's no pain keep lifting

Post: #9

Getting older in the weight room means setting aside ego.

I don't do any squats and haven't in years. I don't do power cleans. The only "hardcore" lift I do is occasional dead lifts.

It's all machines lifting for me.

Find a squat machine where you can emphasize your glutes and posterior chain. That is, one where you "squat back" rather than "bend squat."

This guy is sorta annoying, but I use this exact machine. It's amazing.

http://youtu.be/nDAZB-EakmE?t=2m32s

Post: #10

That happened to me a couple times. Once I fixed my technique it stopped. Are you going all the way down? Are you using momentum instead of muscles? Anything you do that isn't usual for squatting could be the problem.

Post: #11

I had the exact conversation with my dad the other day. He is old, his knees make noise. But so do mine when I do not think about what I do when squatting (lean forward). And I am young. So what is going on here?

Within the same track MikeCF said: "Squat back" instead of "squat forward". Pretend you have an elastic band going from your ankles, along the back of your legs attached to the top of your glutes. When you descend, keep tension in this band (you will have to consciously flex glutes, hamstrings, calves). Once the band is "fully stretched" (cannot go deeper without rounding the back and taking tension off), explode upward. The descent has to be controlled; too fast and your quads take over on the way up. That way you squat with very little quad activation getting out of the hole. The quad attachment to the top of the knee is structurally weak in a lot of people (including myself), and does not like having to generate a huge amount of force from an unfavorable position.. a position that other muscles are designed to deal with.

This of course requires non-tight hamstrings, and mobile hips. Your joints may be weaker from old age, but I think using the correct muscles for the movement (the way the body is designed to do) without a faulty recruitment pattern that comes from sitting too much over decades (lots have been written about this elsewhere) will go along way in keeping your knee joints healthy.

So the better question is: How many hours a day do you sit? For how many years in the past? How much time per day do you spend alleviating this?

Edit: Oh yea, ankle mobility also gets worse with age, but for a relatively young guy (under 40?) I think it is mostly from the repeated use of shoes on hard ground; the ankle has no need to keep mobile. Immobile ankles will mess up your squat and make it impossible to do the "squat back".

Post: #12

What about knee wraps? Like the ones powerlifters use.

Post: #13

(08-03-2013 01:11 AM)MikeCF Wrote:  Getting older in the weight room means setting aside ego.

I don't do any squats and haven't in years. I don't do power cleans. The only "hardcore" lift I do is occasional dead lifts.

It's all machines lifting for me.

Find a squat machine where you can emphasize your glutes and posterior chain. That is, one where you "squat back" rather than "bend squat."

This guy is sorta annoying, but I use this exact machine. It's amazing.

http://youtu.be/nDAZB-EakmE?t=2m32s

This video was a game changer to me. You could see exactly where it was zoning in in his reps, I tried it once right after and I was sold.

The reverse super squat was easily the best thing I've done for my legs in a while. I can lock in on heavy-mass with no repercussion to my knees, plus it looks bad as when you have 8 plates on each side and going ass to grass with that thing. I've gotten 7 people doing that shit now at my gym lol.

Post: #14

Also look into doing box squats. Watch how Clint sits back into the squat.

Good YouTube channel to subscribe to.

Post: #15

(08-02-2013 07:52 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:  When I do squats without any weights my knees make a noise, a creaking type noise.

And what happens if you do use weights?

Your technique might be off or your joints might lack flexibility.

How long have you been squatting?

Post: #16

Sometimes this squat issue goes away if you widen your stance, as it puts more pressure on the hips and takes some from the knees. There's a lot of different factors at play depending on an individual's body mechanics. Make sure your toes align with your knees, of course.

Statsi mentioned fish oil, that's definitely great for improving joint health.
Also try to see if you're getting enough healthy fats in your diet, my knees quit creaking after I started regularly eating bacon and coconut oil.

Something worth checking out is seeing if you have a muscle imbalance. I'm pretty hammered at the moment but try to do some isolation movements on your hamstrings. A creak now (at, say, a 250 pound squat) could be serious pain in the patella at a 350 pound squat, and just doing some boring 'leg curls' or glute ham raises can correct that immediately.

Post: #17

(08-03-2013 01:11 AM)MikeCF Wrote:  Getting older in the weight room means setting aside ego.

I don't do any squats and haven't in years. I don't do power cleans. The only "hardcore" lift I do is occasional dead lifts.

It's all machines lifting for me.

Find a squat machine where you can emphasize your glutes and posterior chain. That is, one where you "squat back" rather than "bend squat."

This guy is sorta annoying, but I use this exact machine. It's amazing.

http://youtu.be/nDAZB-EakmE?t=2m32s

I probably need to listen to this advice, I am not a "young" guy but sometimes I get carried away in the gym.

I have the same machine at my gym and will probably stick to that from now on, in addition to wrapping my knees.

Yes, they creak like a rusted door hinge when I do the squat motion without any weights.

I think we need a Vitamin thread, I was curious about glucosamine!

Post: #18

(08-03-2013 01:11 AM)MikeCF Wrote:  This guy is sorta annoying, but I use this exact machine. It's amazing.

http://youtu.be/nDAZB-EakmE?t=2m32s

just curious what u thought was annoyin about him? His country accent is kind of unique. When I read your post, i thought you were going to post that Scooby1961 dude lol.

Post: #19

To anyone who's given up on barbell squatting, give the safety squat bar a look if you can locate one. Much easier to keep your back in alignment when squatting with it, especially if you're lanky. You'll feel it in your lower back more, but because it's easy to have good form with this bar, you're strengthening your lower back, not straining it.

The safety squat bar actually loads the weight a bit like that machine. It also has handles that are perpendicular to the bar, so you don't have to strain your shoulders to get your hands on the barbell.