LCL Sprain & Squats

[Sam Putnam]

I seem to have sprained my LCL doing squats and am wondering if anyone has any ideas for how to prevent sprains to the LCL (stretches?) and what form break down might be contributing to the sprain.

I try to follow the squatting form proscribed in Starting Strength but I suspect that I'm probably shifting too much weight onto my toes on the way up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Jerimiah Childress]

Give a little more information, what were you doing when it happened, what caused it, and why do you think it was your LCL?

[Sam Putnam]

I was squatting 215# x 5 x 3 (after warming up with lighter weights) and on the last set I started to feel pain in the outside of my right knee.

Because I feel it in the ligament near where the fibula meets the femur, I'm assuming it's LCL.

Now if I squat down without weight I feel pinching there and pain.

I think it may have been caused by shifting my weight forward too much on the way up from the bottom of the dip, or from not having my knees wide enough out, or knees not aligned over my feet properly.

I'm icing it for the time being.

Thanks!

[Jerimiah Childress]

Sounds like a possibility, continue to rest and ice.

[Dean W. Bryan]

Sam,

I'm not convinced that it is a LCL injury. But it is hard to give a definitive answer through an email. But My guess is you prob. have either hamstring or IT-band issues that are causing your pain. For the LCL to sustain an injury there has to be some type of stress (Varus Stress) on the knee. In a squat there is little stress placed on the LCL. What else causes your pain? What kind of warm up do you do? What kind of stretches do you do? (pre and post) workout.

[Sam Putnam]

The pain comes when squatting, especially at the very bottom of a squat. There's also some pain when I stand on my tiptoes. Up or down stairs my knee cracks.

When doing a Crossfit work out, I do the CFWU. When doing squats as part of Starting Strength, I start with an empty oly bar and increase loads in even increments till I get to my work set load (e.g. 45#x5x2, 95x5, 135x3, 180x2, then a work set of 215x5x3). I generally don't stretch pre or post workouts, other than the samson stretch as part of the CFWU.

I'm a little afraid to stretch before workouts because I feel more aches and soreness during and after workouts if I stretch beforehand, especially when running.

I hadn't considered the IT band, but that makes sense as a possible cause.

Thanks

[Steven Low]

Hmm, don't like to cross post but...

wfs
http://www.board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=30199

Read the symptoms and see if they sound familiar. Then scroll down to my post and read the article.

Like Dean said.. I also doubt it's LCL really because there's virtually no stress on that ligament unless your knee buckles outwards when you squat. IT band can become tight which may contribute to such a problem.. although that may or not be the cause.