Hello everyone!

I've been lurking around the forums for a while now, but finally I had to post.

I've been doing weights for a couple of months now, and making modest gains. I started off using nautilus equipment, but now I've moved all my core exercises to free weights. Except one - I have a problem with squats.

I tried doing them a while back, and found that my right knee kinda click/pops a bit. It's not the same way people crack their knuckles, and it doesn't hurt either, but it had me worried. So I stuck to using the leg press.

I tried doing squats again today, with the hope that my legs would have become stronger in the meantime. Nope. I've tried different stances, and while my technique is by no means great, it's not terrible either. And I'm using really low weights, just 40kg. I did 5 sets of 10, just to see if I would warm into it. Nope.

Should I just carry on, assuming that my right knee will cope with it eventually ? Or is this something I should be wary of ?

P.S. I'm sorry if this thread is a dupe, I did search the forums, but couldn't find a discussion that answered my question exactly

P.P.S. I don't have any previous knee injuries

I've had knee pain in the front of the joint doing squats/sled. This is my solution, which may be all wet. Stance: feet shoulder width or a bit narrower, pointed straight ahead. Keep the bar over the balls of your feet. Don't go deep-never go until your thighs are parallel with the floor, don't go much past a 90degree angle in your legs.

If you have popping, it means that two parts in your knee are sliding/riding awkwardly. It will probably lead to pain if you can't make it stop. So be careful, injury sucks.

I've had knee pain in the front of the joint doing squats/sled. This is my solution, which may be all wet. Stance: feet shoulder width or a bit narrower, pointed straight ahead. Keep the bar over the balls of your feet. Don't go deep-never go until your thighs are parallel with the floor, don't go much past a 90degree angle in your legs.

If you have popping, it means that two parts in your knee are sliding/riding awkwardly. It will probably lead to pain if you can't make it stop. So be careful, injury sucks.

I'm by no means a squat expert, but from what I understand, not going deep or at least parallel actually raises the stress placed on the knees. Also, bar over the balls of your feet? - this seems like way too much forward bend would be needed to accomplish as oppsed to keeping the back as straight as possible, "finding a spot on the wall" and looking up, and having the weight over the rear delts and middle/low traps staying behind the heels of your feet.

I think another thing to remember with all squat type motions is to not let the knee go in front of the toes. In other words, imagine a pane of glass running from the floor at your toes straight up. When you squat, make sure your knees would not bust that imaginary glass plane - this will force full synergy between the glutes and quads (and hams, hip flexor, and core.)

Just my $0.02

phitness-you're right, what I'm describing is entirely different from the accepted squat position.

Hello everyone!

I have a problem with squats.

I tried doing them a while back, and found that my right knee kinda click/pops a bit. It's not the same way people crack their knuckles, and it doesn't hurt either, but it had me worried. So I stuck to using the leg press.

I've tried different stances, and while my technique is by no means great, it's not terrible either. And I'm using really low weights, just 40kg. I did 5 sets of 10, just to see if I would warm into it. Nope.



I don't know about noisy knees. But be careful. You didn't mention age but we tend to make noises as we grow older.

Do your knees make noises when you use leg extension or presses? If not, you should focus on squat form. or see if your gym has a squat machine, well designed machines usually force good form to come into play. A full squat is better than a parallel one.

I doubt you can lube the knee by increasing sets or reps

Thanks a lot for the responses.

In response to rtestes's questions, I'm 27, and no, I don't experience this doing leg presses or extensions. I haven't tried the hack squat, maybe I should. And to clarify, it's not really noisy, just that I feel something click in my right knee when I go down to parallel or so. I will take your advice and work on my form, hopefully that will improve things.

Thanks again everyone !