# Is this a safe exercise? Or can you injure your knee?



## moonhill99 (Sep 24, 2016)

I was looking at the exercises this guy does to lift heavy to get really strong!! And it got me thinking over time can this cause knee problems?

Is knee injures common with this exercises this guy is doing?





_common lifting exercises this guy is doing like this Instagram video below._*
*
*Instagram video by Diego Romero • Dec 1, 2015 at 12:22pm UTC*


I know lot of powerlifters like this exercises but is it hard on your knee? Are injures common?


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## Charlemagne (Sep 24, 2016)

moonhill99 said:


> I was looking at the exercises this guy does to lift heavy to get really strong!! And it got me thinking over time can this cause knee problems?
> 
> Is knee injures common with this exercises this guy is doing?



The front squat and overhead squat are common with Weightlifters as they are essential parts of the Clean and Jerk and and the Snatch, which is how they compete.  And no, they aren't by themselves going to lead to knee problems.


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## moonhill99 (Sep 24, 2016)

Charlemagne said:


> The front squat and overhead squat are common with Weightlifters as they are essential parts of the Clean and Jerk and and the Snatch, which is how they compete.  And no, they aren't by themselves going to lead to knee problems.



So I take it knee injures are not heard of? The weight goes out and not on the knee? That is the worse thing for the knee to do the major lifting if such person lacks not enough body muscles.


The reason I ask is I was climbing and running up a steep hill some months ago and my knee was giving out.

A friend of mine was playing basketball and his knee was locking up.

And some people say running will destroy your knee!! If you running on the ground and not grass.


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## Charlemagne (Sep 24, 2016)

moonhill99 said:


> So I take it knee injures are not heard of? The weight goes out and not on the knee? That is the worse thing for the knee to do the major lifting if such person lacks not enough body muscles.



Resistance training is protective of the knee, barring some sort of pathology or acute trauma.  In fact, a good predictor of joint injury is the strength of the musculature that surrounds it, and the same types of exercise stimulus that cause muscles to get stronger will lead to strengthening of the ligaments as well.  Olympic Weightlifting, which is where you often see those exercises, has one of the lowest injury per hour of participation rate of any physical activity.  So, while knee injuries are not impossible, they are far from common, providing one has competent instruction on how to perform the lifts safely.


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## KangTsai (Sep 25, 2016)

Proper form will always keep your knee safe.


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## Tez3 (Sep 25, 2016)

moonhill99 said:


> So I take it knee injures are not heard of? The weight goes out and not on the knee? That is the worse thing for the knee to do the major lifting if such person lacks not enough body muscles.
> 
> 
> The reason I ask is I was climbing and running up a steep hill some months ago and my knee was giving out.
> ...





Life is dangerous, just living and breathing can cause problems, it's usually best to stay in bed all day and do minimal movement, have rails around the bed because falling out can be dangerous too.


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## Touch Of Death (Sep 25, 2016)

You are more likely to hurt your knee with poor karate form.


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## jks9199 (Sep 25, 2016)

KangTsai said:


> Proper form will always keep your knee safe.


Proper form is essential,  but there's no way to say squats will NEVER cause knee injuries.   They do place stress on the knee, injuries can happen, but proper form greatly mitigates the risk.  

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


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## JR 137 (Sep 25, 2016)

jks9199 said:


> Proper form is essential,  but there's no way to say squats will NEVER cause knee injuries.   They do place stress on the knee, injuries can happen, but proper form greatly mitigates the risk.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk



Proper form and progression.  Doing too much too soon, or loading on too much weight will cause problems, no matter how good your form is.


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## JowGaWolf (Sep 25, 2016)

moonhill99 said:


> I was looking at the exercises this guy does to lift heavy to get really strong!! And it got me thinking over time can this cause knee problems?
> 
> Is knee injures common with this exercises this guy is doing?
> 
> ...


 You know how old martial arts guys are always telling young people to focus on their techniques?  Well here's a good reason.  If you lift with bad technique then you'll injure something.  Technique is so important and it's unfortunate that many young people don't understand it until they get a serious injury from improper technique.

Technique is everything.


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## KangTsai (Sep 26, 2016)

jks9199 said:


> Proper form is essential,  but there's no way to say squats will NEVER cause knee injuries.   They do place stress on the knee, injuries can happen, but proper form greatly mitigates the risk.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


Proper form and two working synapses will keep your knees safe.


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## Dirty Dog (Sep 26, 2016)

Yes, it's safe. Yes, you can injure your knees.

The two are not even remotely mutually exclusive.


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## jks9199 (Sep 26, 2016)

KangTsai said:


> Proper form and two working synapses will keep your knees safe.


Things can go wrong, even with good form.  A back muscle tweaks, a little shift in the bar, lean a little too far forward, place your foot a bit off...  or just lose a lift at the bottom and drop through to the ground hard.  A tremor or muscle cramp hits unexpectedly...

There's no way to say that you will never hurt your knees or back or even forehead (watched someone do it!) doing squats.  That said -- it's quite possible to do them with reasonable safety, even for people with "bad knees" or a bad back.  Work with a trainer, learn the proper form, be conscious of your body's alignment and movement, and you'll almost certainly be fine.


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## moonhill99 (Sep 26, 2016)

Charlemagne said:


> *Resistance training is protective of the knee, barring some sort of pathology or acute trauma.  In fact, a good predictor of joint injury is the strength of the musculature* that surrounds it, and the same types of exercise stimulus that cause muscles to get stronger will lead to strengthening of the ligaments as well.  Olympic Weightlifting, which is where you often see those exercises, has one of the lowest injury per hour of participation rate of any physical activity.  So, while knee injuries are not impossible, they are far from common, providing one has competent instruction on how to perform the lifts safely.



Lot what I read that can cause knee injuries is blow to knee, fast twisting motion . Also jumping or running where you change directions really fast. That can  can cause a ligament tears, such as the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or MCL.

And the ligaments or  tendons can get torn like abnormal twisting or bending the knee. 

A tear in the rubbery cushions of the knee joint the (meniscus).

Not sure what you mean by *''Resistance training is protective of the knee, barring some sort of pathology or acute trauma.  In fact, a good predictor of joint injury is the strength of the musculature''
*
But there are knee strengthening exercises on youtube. The idea is if you have weak muscles the knee may bent inwards you may not know that happen. Where knee strengthening exercises will put less weight on the knee


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## moonhill99 (Sep 26, 2016)

Tez3 said:


> Life is dangerous, just living and breathing can cause problems, it's usually best to stay in bed all day and do minimal movement, have rails around the bed because falling out can be dangerous too.



I probably got really minor ACL or MCL and is why my knees where giving out. Cause I had no pain or swelling.

Or it also could have been weak muscles and unfortunately the knee did most of support.

And unfortunately I neglect doing knee squats and other knee strengthening exercises.


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## Charlemagne (Sep 26, 2016)

moonhill99 said:


> Not sure what you mean by *''Resistance training is protective of the knee, barring some sort of pathology or acute trauma.  In fact, a good predictor of joint injury is the strength of the musculature''*



What I mean is that, the strength of the muscles that surround the knee, namely those which make up the quadriceps and hamstrings groups, is a pretty good predictor of the chances of that joint becoming injured.  The stronger they are, the stronger the bones and connective tissue which make up the joint are likely to be.  In addition, the muscles surrounding the knee joint prevent anterior translation of the tibia on the femur, which takes stress off of the ACL at deeper angles of knee flexion. 

Long story short?  Doing exercises like the squat, or in this case, the front squat, is a good way to decrease the chances of your knees getting hurt.  In addition, to the premise of the video you posted, whole body resistance exercise, to include movements like the back squat and deadlift, have been demonstrated to lead to higher muscle activation in the deep muscles of the spine over isolation exercises.  A recently published research article also showed that they led to a greater reduction in pain over isolation exercises as well.


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