Knees and leg curls

[Fenriswolf]

I feel like a bit of a dork posting in "bodybuilding" at this stage but oh well. lol

Has anyone here got knee pain from doing leg curls? I find them frustrating because I'm quite overweight and most of my fat is on my legs so it's difficult to curl my legs all the way over, but when I force it my knee gets sore.

I have weak ankles which consquently means I get low aches inside my knee, but with this pain it's hard for me to tell if it's muscular or in the joint.

I'm thinking of just strapping it and seeing what happens, but was wondering if anyone else has experienced it? It's not horribly painful, just irritating - particularly going down stairs. :?

Danke schon

[teamfatboy]

Whereabouts - it sounds like it'd be in the "back" of the knee, not the front/under the kneecap?

[trainharder]

it would probably be wise to have an instructor or someone knowledgable check your form and range of movement to see if your performing the exersize correctly.

and what i find with injuries is i would avoid exersizes which cause any pain which isnt normal muscle soreness or lactic buildup pain.

[deeepsouth_nz]

I would say possibly weak VMO or irritation of some kind at at the hamstring attachment (or you have the legcurl setup incorrectly/technique) BUT you need someone to help correct this for you ie dont try and push through it without proper help.

[Fenriswolf]

Ah ha, thank you! Basically it aches in a really odd way across the top half of the kneecap, and looking at where the hamstring attaches that's where I tend to massage. It also feels achy inside but I think that's referred.

Pretty confident it's not set up wrong as it's pretty hard to do; and very sure it's not normal muscle soreness or lactic acid because I'm obsessive about analysing pain and discomfort. It fascinates me and I kind of enjoy muscle soreness. :roll:

I've actually only just joined the gym and was mildly pressured into free PT sessions I haven't done yet so it gives me something to ask about! (Plus I'm sure they'll have good advice even if I wouldn't have sought one out at this stage.)

Oh and I really don't feel I'm doing it properly which is driving me up the wall because I am completely anal about form and I don't even feel like I can push myself because I'm failing at even doing the movement in full. :evil:

[Mrbig]

im guna say this the nicest way possible leg curls leg extensions are a complete waste of fucking time they are so bad for your knees its not funny when you do them your patella(kneecap) grinds away against your femur(thigh bone) and if you are overweight it will be worse because you dont have the muscular strength to suppourt the weight your moving hense all the pressure and load goes to your joints and knees so please stop doing them they are a piddly little exercise that will not get you slim thighs sorry if I offended you but its the truth

[Fenriswolf]

lol The only offensive part of your post is your insistence I not be offended - and assumption I'm doing leg curls for "slim legs".

I'm doing squats, leg curls, bent over rows, bench press and shoulder press to get my body used to working out and in a few weeks I'm going to start doing a three day split which I have not settled on entirely yet.

I'm working out to get strong and hit harder, not so I can look pretty. If you'd like to suggest an exercise that works the same muscle group as leg curls go for it.

Edit to add: Damn right I want to get big and cut, but it's last on my priorities.

[Mrbig]

well i only assumed that as leg curls are not going to make your hamstrings much bigger and your already doing 2 great exercises for hamstrings which are deadlifts and squats azlong az your doing them correctly and getting a full range of motion just remember to lift heavy and hard

[Fenriswolf]

Hmm, OK. Actually not doing deadlifts at present but could look at substituting. Cheers.

[Daniil]

When I get any extraordinary pain, I rest, then decrease the weight substantially and gradually add it back over the weeks. This way my joints heal and then become stronger because weight is added slowly; joints learn to cope with weight.

Do you "drop" the weight at the end?

[Fenriswolf]

Haha, not really advanced enough for that to apply. :oops:

I have added weight until I couldn't complete the movement (and I'm kind of "throwing" the weight at my butt even if I make it super light for comparison) and still didn't drop it at the end, don't know what that means? Using a weights stack for this BTW.

Since it is pissing me off and I don't want to see the PT until I'm a bit more comfortable with the routine I'm going to switch to stiff legged deadlifts until we start a split then maybe I can add it back in with legs and see how it goes.

Thanks for the advice - what I have seen googling VMO and hamstring attachment pretty much advocates exercise to strengthen the hamstring carefully anyway, but will definitely seek professional advice if I think I'm gonna pop my knee! :shock:

[becbec]

Have you tried leg curls on the swiss ball?

Lie on the ground with you calves on the swiss ball, arms at your side and lift your hips up, bend your knees up and roll the swiss ball towards your bottom and then back out.

I've got really weak knee joints because of my arthritis and find these a lot less uncomfortable.

[rose]

im guna say this the nicest way possible

He might have said it badly but IMHO he's right. They are a waste of time. Stick with compound exercises using barbells and free weights. Better for your balance and you'll get better results. Things like stiff leg deadlifts or glute ham raises or good mornings...

Hamstrings

[Fenriswolf]

Oo, thank you becbec! I might change to stiff legged deadlifts for now but try the swiss ball leg curls as well to get my body into the movement.

Why all the leg curl hate? The only reason why we started with that is because my partner has never felt any other exercise has worked his hamstrings as well. I mean it's not an either/or as when we start doing a three day split we were thinking something like this for legs:

Squats

Leg press

Leg extensions

Leg curls

Stiff legged deadlifts

Standing and seated calf raises

But that's not for a few weeks!

[deeepsouth_nz]

im guna say this the nicest way possible leg curls leg extensions are a complete waste of fucking time.....but its the truth

They have their place like any other exercise when performed correctly.

[Daniil]

Hell yeah I advocate them Leg Curls. I did them on Sunday (along with Straight-Leg Deadlifts) and my hamstrings are still sore!

[roadie]

hi, do you keep the pressure of your front of hips and thighs on the bench constant when doing the exercise?

it is important to isolate the hammy and you need to concentrate on not moving any other part of the legs/hips

also from what i understand it is not too important to get a real max ROM.

start movement out at 160deg and come up to say 80.....(just past 90 anyway) and then back down...dont try to touch the pad on your bum

trying to 'throw the weight at your bum' sounds like a move best kept in the bedroom......as it is probably causing you to mimick what the old boy does when on top

please also if you are struggling with this machine be careful learning to deadlift (using any method) as if there is a problem with your hammy you may well end up wrecking your back

hope you get it sorted

[roadie]

one other thing....the leg routine you posted

i would do extensions as a warm up first

and do the stiff legs before curls

see ya

[Mrbig]

Hell yeah I advocate them Leg Curls. I did them on Sunday (along with Straight-Leg Deadlifts) and my hamstrings are still sore!

are they bigger or stronger than last week

[agent86]

3. Leg extensions can be harmful to your knees. The position of your legs in the exercise place a lot of torque on the connective tissue in the knee joints. Heavy leg curls, especially if you use momentum, can really mess your knees up. Back off on the weight and focus on the squeeze instead.

Had problems with exercise myself but went light until the knee recovered and then slowly increased the weight again.

[rose]

Why all the leg curl hate?

are they bigger or stronger than last week

They have their place like any other exercise when performed correctly

I wasn't hating on them. I was agreeing with Mr Big based on the information you provided:

I'm working out to get strong and hit harder, not so I can look pretty

If that's the case, I feel the compound moves will be of more benefit. If you were lifting for cosmetic reasons (i.e. bodybuilding), then sure, do leg curls til the cows come home. Good luck.

2c

[Fenriswolf]

Cheers all.

Rose, asking "why the leg curl hate?" was a more casual way of saying "is there any particular reason why multiple people see them as pointless?"

Bulking up is really not a focus at the moment, and the assumption I'm training to be slim really gets up my nose, but eventually I do want to train for size so I want to get in the habit of training that way. And as I said it's not an either-or equation for me, I plan to do compound and isolation exercises - though fair enough it's not important right now.

All I really want to know is how I can do this exercise without injuring my joints, and if people have had experience with this or if I should be looking at some other element of my training that's causing the issue.

I can make my own decisions as to what exercises feel good and get results with my own body, so unless there's a generally accepted reason that a given exercise is "useless" for most people opinions like that really are not what I'm looking for in this thread.

Your comments were fine, but the initial one was both obnoxiously phrased and not at all relevant to what I asked. You seem to have taken my comment as irritation with you, where I was just trying to get more opinions on the subject.

Basically I do appreciate your opinion, but I will weigh it against others opinions and my own experience which I am currently building. Thank you.

hi, do you keep the pressure of your front of hips and thighs on the bench constant when doing the exercise?

it is important to isolate the hammy and you need to concentrate on not moving any other part of the legs/hips

also from what i understand it is not too important to get a real max ROM.

start movement out at 160deg and come up to say 80.....(just past 90 anyway) and then back down...dont try to touch the pad on your bum

trying to 'throw the weight at your bum' sounds like a move best kept in the bedroom......as it is probably causing you to mimick what the old boy does when on top

please also if you are struggling with this machine be careful learning to deadlift (using any method) as if there is a problem with your hammy you may well end up wrecking your back

hope you get it sorted

Ahh, thank you! (a) Ya, keep pressure on front of hips and thighs constant, pad sits about 2" above my ankles and I keep my upper body slightly raised but relaxed if you know what I mean. (b) So why is it not important to touch the pad to your arse? Because if it's not then I have no problem with the exercise, and can play with it to see if it no longer stresses my knee doing it that way.

No comment on the bedroom part. :grin:

[roadie]

hi, i dont really know why keeping the ROM down a bit helps but if you keep the form good and it feels better its a good thing.....increase the range if/when it feels ok.

[rose]

:pfft:

[Fenriswolf]

No, I was not referring to your initial post. I thought that was abundantly clear. I feel you are deliberately misinterpreting my posts and when I bend over backwards to say I appreciate your opinion I most certainly do not appreciate you being passive aggressive in response.

I do not need internet drama, so how about you leave it the hell alone.