Chondromalacia of Patella

[Temple]

I am sitting here on the verge of tears after seeing the Ortho this am - and I NEVER cry.

The above was the diagnosis of my knee problems with the additional
softening of the cartilage which may be the laymens term for the above.

The basics of the conversation were"
(he is looking at me like I am a mutant as he is saying this)
Why do you want to squats and press so much?
No woman should ever squat 200# unless it is an olympic endeavor.
You can get some really nice "tone" to your quads by doing a few light set of one exercise per week
You should focus on your cardiovascular health
If you continue to squat heavy you will destroy your knees within 5 years so NO HEAVY SQUATS, NO LUNGES PERIOD AND NO HEAVY PRESSES

Somebody who knows what this is PLEASE help

 

[NY Muscle]

bad knees are bad knees hun, unless you get surgery you have to be careful and avoid certain excercise, BOTH my knees are a MESS, and i have to stop squatting someimes when they really hurt, and just do leg presses, not too heavy either.

 

[NY Muscle]

GErrrrr I HATE DOCTORS.

Temple, you may have to stop doing somethings, but if can still do squats, do them sumo style. Wide stance, feet at a 45 or so and make sure the knee goes over the big toe. This is the bio-correct way we were made to lower our bodies. Doing squats with a shoulder width stance and feet forward is hard on the knees.

wait a second, you WANT the knee to travel OVER the big toe? or is that a typo??

 

[Gladiola]

I'm sorry to hear that!

Do you run or do any other hi-impact activity? Chrondomalacia is a VERY common injury among aerobics instructors as well as other athletes that 'jump' a lot (volleyball, etc.) - I read up on it back when I was afraid I might have it & it's referred to as 'jumpers knee'.

I'm kinda suprised he would attribute the damage primarily to squats - after all, don't you only do maybe only 5 sets of heavy squats 1X per week? That's nothing compared to an hour jumping (doing aerobics) most days of the week.

 

[Gladiola]

oh yeah - & regarding drs... I was so afraid my ortho was going to say what all my friends & family was saying, "Stop doing step aerobics so much!" I was doing 4-5 classes per week at the time, which really isn't that extreme!!!

He didn't say that, nor did my general practicioner. Matter of fact, he said, "No, we wouldn't want you to limit your activity. We want to be sure you can maintain your activity level."

I suppose it helps he was involved with Sports Med!!!

 

[Iron Queen]

Temple,
I know exactly what you feel like. I went to the dr when I first started my contest prep because my knee was really bothering me when I was doing leg extensions, right at the top where your leg is straight, right?? All underneith the patella, inside... Well he said that I have subpatellar chondromalacia and I was told to get an MRI just to confirm. I did and it said the same thing. The radiologist I work with read the films and went over it with me and said that long term when it gets seriously bad they can do a whole cartilage transplant but (from past experience with cartilage transplant, it wouldnt be worth it unless the technology is extremely better) so otherwise I'm sure knee replacement would be the next solution, LONG TERM of course...
Just be careful with the squats u do. Use the smith machine and dont go so heavy on leg extensions (those seem to bother me even more for some reason)
Also not sure of your AAS experience but I noticed an extreme difference when I am taking deca. For all my joints it really makes such an improvement. So if you dont take that already, might want to? And there is always the glucosamine/chondroiton route but I'm not sure if I'm a huge believer of either of those?

Let me know what happens. Good luck, I'm with ya!

--Iron Queen

 

[Temple]

Thanks everyone!!!!!
I took a nap - amazing how the world looks better after a little sleep. I have forgotten that sumo style thing.

This was caused by running, when I first started all this 2 years ago and was the size of my fridge one of my skinny/fat runner friends convinced me that the only way to get it off was to run.
Cows should not run! But it's done so we go on from here.

I really believe that half the lecture that I got was because this skinny little ortho guy had a problem with the fact that I could squat more than he weighs. It was really the first time I had experienced someone taking a negative attitude about my bodybuilding and it really threw me.

He did tell me that there was nothing that could be done other than knee replacement surgery and at the rate I was going I would need it in 5 years. I refuse to have a couple of shitty joints stop me PERIOD. Am I going to modify what I do and pay close attention to the pain as that is the indicator? Absolutely

The up side is that if I have a good bodypart it is my quads - they respond easily Thank God. My glutes are a whole different story (my ass is almost concave) and the squats have been the only thing that made them feel really worked. Other than deadlifts what are the next best ass building exercises? I have a friend building me one of the butt blaster things. Glute kickbacks don't seem to do much. I am squeezing till my butt shakes on the RDL's.

Why don't regular deadlifts bother my knees and squats do? My deadlift form is really strict so I am not compensating in some way to take the stress off the knee.

BTW - extensions don't bother my knees.

What I need help with is a plan to maximize muscle involvement that minimizes joint stress. So we have Sumo Squats...what else?

 

[fit1]

Hey there Temple...I have the exact same problem...I noticed it after a game of softball...I was seeing a physical therapist for awhile, but that got mega expensive...I was told the reason for it is because the inner thigh is less developed/weaker than the outside. So, the PT gave me exercises to do to strengthen the inner muscle. I haven't been a good girl though by keeping the exercises up...which I should and will...but BrickGirl said that she does the inner thigh machine (forgot what it's called)...she said that has helped a lot...if I'm wrong, correct me Brick...
I do the wide stances that Warlobo suggested...they seem to not hurt my knees...I don't really do the leg extensions though...

 

[Flagirl27]

I don't know if these would bother your knees or not, but this exercise really works my butt - one leg squats on the smith machine. I prop my one leg up on a bench and concentrate on squeezing my butt on the way up from the squat. I usually do these the same day I do hamstrings (I train hamstrings and quads on seperate days). Maybe these won't bother you.

 

[Arioch]

Get a second opinion, and find a doctor who actually knows something about lifting.

Good luck.