Hey guys. I'm asking this question for my brother. He weighs 135 lbs and can deadlift 180lbs 12x, and bench 135 lbs 3x. However he can barely squat 145lbs.

He messed up his knee when he was younger, it looked dislocated at the time (pretty ugly sight...personaly I laughed my behind off but I'm a jerk). Anyway, he thinks his knee is affecting his squat because it pops like crazy when he does them and it kind of hurts.
He says his knee does not bother him when he does deadlifts though.

What exercises do you guys reccomend for him to do instead of the squat. He has acces to a home gym but it's free weights, barbells, and a simple pulley system. In other words he can't really do leg presses.

Thanks.

Lunges? Might have the same knee problems, though....

He messed up his knee when he was younger, it looked dislocated at the time (pretty ugly sight...personaly I laughed my behind off but I'm a jerk). Anyway, he thinks his knee is affecting his squat because it pops like crazy when he does them and it kind of hurts.

This is one for some physiotherapist or qualified trainer to do an assessment and recommend whether remedial exercise is important. You don't just load up and bang on a knee that has an injury history and has pain.

This is one for some physiotherapist or qualified trainer to do an assessment and recommend whether remedial exercise is important. You don't just load up and bang on a knee that has an injury history and has pain.

I second this. Knees and shoulders are not something to mess with :nono: If a qualified person gives him the green light, then I'd say to do squats with a ROM and weight he's comfortable with. Even if it's just quarter squats and work from there.

I have a bad knee and have given up squats forever or in fact any leg strengthening that is not directly a result of cycling. I had done squats for years but the clicking/popping always hurt the squat and I could always out-bench my legs.

Lunges will probably hurt him more than squats. The best he can hope for is probably partial-range squats, maybe going with high weight or doing bodyweight single-leg squats. I would say, though, that if he can do deadlifts, he may have to stick to that.

I have come to fully appreciate now that my knee will never, ever be able to withstand the forces that a knee has to take to have bulky, strong quads. I don't really care, though, so that's not a big deal. If your brother has a knee that's historically been problematic like this, he needs to go very easy on it and forget exercises that put vast forces through it, particularly at a highly bent angle.

If he has other problems with it, it may be worth seeing an orthopoedic surgeon who at least can do an xray or mri, though if time has not healed the knee fully, the only solution could be surgery, and it would be insane to get surgery just to be able to squat (and in any case would not allow him to anyway). Generally, people with joint problems will stop doing the activity that flares up the joint. If the activities that flare it up become highly numerous, that's when surgery is considered.