So any of you that reads my blog posts know that I lift. I work with heavy weight and do low but intense reps. I noticed about 2 weeks ago my left knee is making an audible "click" when I squat down. No pain involved, but it is definitely noticeably and has caused a bit of concern. Being married to an RN has made me leary of anything that is out of the ordinary with my body. I always try to make sure when I lift I stay focused and use proper form ALWAYS.. Or so I thought.

I got out the video camera, as I do every few months just to see if my form is still in check. What I saw during my squat set really shocked me, to say the least. I thought my form was spot on, but it turns out it wasn't. The problem? I am NOT hitting parallel on my squats. Basically, my hip joint is NOT getting just below the line of my knee joint. Some people that don't know might say "yeah, so? What's the big deal?"

The big deal is that causes muscle imbalance. To properly squat, you need to activate your glutes FIRST by leaning back so it transfers the pressure off the knees. Kinda like going to sit on the toilet (I know, but it's the best way to describe it) you basically push your butt backwards. Your knees theoretically should not go past your toes during a squat, but that can vary depending on your build. Now, when you are not getting past parallel, your quads are doing most of the work to launch you back up out of the hole, so this is where the imbalance comes from. Your quads build, but your hams and glutes don't because they aren't being activated, therefore causing the quads to do most of the work to lift the weight.

I have seen some articles saying it is caused by fluid rushing from one side of the joint to the other, kinda like cracking your knuckles. No real pain, but quite loud. There are others who say it might be patellar maltracking. This particular situation usually causes pain, which I don't have. It is usually the result of your outer quads being stronger than your inner. Makes sense I guess. Still, others say it is nothing to worry about, and many people have noise coming from their joints. I don't know what is causing it and am definitely no expert, so it warrants a trip to my Doc (RedSonja influenced the decision as well, lol). He is very good and board certified internal medicine, so maybe he can get me on the right track.

I still believe it is from my form issues, so when I get back to squatting, I have to deload and really work on my form. Who knows, maybe it's just me getting older and my body's frame is complaining. The muscles have no problem supporting the weight, but we are limited by our frames that keep everything together. I hope it's just a form issue. I enjoy adding weight to the bar and knowing I'm getting stronger. This DOES however give me an excuse to concentrate more on my upper body, specifically bench and Overhead Press, which are my weak points. May turn out to not be a bad thing.

Bottom line here I guess is if you are going to lift, do it with proper form and CHECK your form either with video, or have someone watch you and tell you what they see. It makes ALL the difference.