How To Stop Knees From Cracking
I’ve been squatting for close to thirty years now. And while bouts of tendinitis and knee pain have come and gone, my knees generally feel very good. I think squatting regularly has actually helped keep my knees young and strong. I also have good squat form and general mobility, and take care of my health. However, my knees have audibly cracked and popped slightly while squatting for many years now. It doesn’t cause any pain, it just never seemed quite right. But while dealing with some light tendinitis recently I happened upon a couple of methods to stop knees from cracking.
The Root Of The Problem
Through trial and error I discovered that both my light tendinitis and cracking knees were the result of the same underlying problem. Tight muscles and connective tissue upstream and downstream from my knees. I’m relatively flexible and have always stretched. But I still had a decent amount of gunked up tissue in my thighs and lower legs.
Knots in my muscles, tendons that were crunchy when rubbed, and muscles that didn’t slide past one another easily as if they were glued together. Nothing that kept me from getting into a deep squat position at will. Just enough to prevent my knee cap from tracking properly.
So I started stretching more and massaging the tendons around my knee. That all made a nice difference and the improvements were welcomed. I also continued to do some foam rolling, but I was focusing more on my IT bands than my quads. Without realizing my quads were the bigger problem.
Discovering A Useful Device
Then one day I was at the gym and saw a guy using a massage stick to dig into his quad muscles.
If you don’t know what a massage stick is, it’d pretty much what is sounds like – a stick. A stick with handles on either end and a section in between that rotates. It allows a person to give their legs a very effective deep tissue massage.
It’s a fantastic torture device. And it’s extremely effective if you can handle the pain (thankfully it’s a manual device so adjusting the intensity is easy). Effective enough that I was able to loosen up my thighs and lower legs enough to stop my knees from cracking while squatting for the first time in a long time. My patella moved across my knee joint smooth as butter. No cracks whatsoever.
So I started rolling out my legs before and during squat workouts. And on non-lifting days too. Not just my quads, but my my shins and calves. I hit every part of my legs that I can, and when I find a knot or sore spot I spend a little extra time working on it until it loosens up. Aside from the odd, stray pop I’m now more or less crackle free when squatting. And I expect the improvements to continue as regular work on my legs loosens up problem spots bit by bit.
Not to mention the tendinitis I was working through is no longer bothering me. Loosening up my quads and lower legs is preventing tight muscles from putting undue strain on my tendons and yanking my patella out of place.
Stretches That Help
As part of the stretching I’ve been doing as a compliment to the massage stick, I utilize the couch stretch. It loosens up my quads and hip flexors very deeply. I do this before and during a squat workout as well. Holding it for a full two minutes seems to make a noticeable difference for me.
I also do low lunge stretches to open up my psoas muscles/hip flexors. I personally feel a release all the way down the front of my quads when the upstream tension in my hips is reduced.
And general stretching of my whole body seems to help. Nothing in the body exists in a vacuum. It’ all connected.
Knee Sleeves
I also recommend knee sleeves (not an affiliate link). The ones I use don’t provide any real compression or assistance, although that’s an option. They mostly keep my knees extra warm. The tendons and ligaments simply feel more pliable once I’ve started to break a sweat. And therefore my knees feel better. Common sense tells me this is worth the investment.
So these are some things have helped me and I wanted to share in case they might help somebody else. Give them a try, and if anyone else has had success working through knee issues, please share what worked in the comments.