Taken from our book – Get In Shape To Train
As we get older it is in inevitable that we pick up injuries playing sports through social activities and work etc. The important thing to understand is that just because an injury or certain exercise aggravates an injury, it doesn’t mean you get fewer results from a training programme – or that it stops you from training.
As your training and biological age increases certain exercises do tend to aggravate joints, for example, some get a dull ache inside the shoulder from benching too much, whilst others find loss of range of motion and deadlifting from the floor becomes hard.
There are 2 ways of addressing these issues:
- Get a good physio and find out whether these issues can be solved via therapy and massage
- Use more joint friendly exercises that allow you to push yourself and train without aggravating the issue
Knees
‘Squats don’t hurt your knees; the way you squat hurts your knees’ Mark Rippetoe
Squats have got a bad name over the years, but properly performed squats should not hurt your knees. It’s important to remember that everyone’s squat technique is very individual, and whilst there are some general rules to follow – such as how far apart your feet are – squats are very much individualised.
When squatting there are a few basic rules to follow – especially if you have knee issues. Firstly, turn your toes out. This will create space through your hips so that you can gain depth whilst maintaining good back position and not drive the knees forward. Turning the toes out also engages more muscles – glutes, hamstrings and adductors become involved in the movement.
Secondly, you have to think about sitting down onto a box – let the hips lead and sit back. Leading with the hips ensures that there is no unnecessary driving forward of the knee, which can cause pain through the knee joint. Place a bench / box underneath you and sit back onto the box keeping your shins vertical. If that hurts use Swiss Ball against the wall. If using a Swiss Ball causes pain, then you need to see a physio asap!