As the title says I have arthritic knees and I am about to try the "gel" injections to help with that. My ortho doesn't want me to do squats and 10 years ago I would just ignore him and let my ego tell me what to do, but being 46 and not 36 I am going to try to follow his advise. My question is has anyone tried to substitute anything for squats? I really want to give this a go, but I also want to be able to golf and hike up and down mountains in 20++++years to hunt and fish. I am open to any and all thoughts for consideration.
Arthritic knees
- Thread starter BigD85
- Start date
I am certainly not an Orthopedist but I do know that an unused joint with arthritis is worse than one being used. Any exercise that does not increase pain is a good exercise. Proper form is critical, however.
Why discontinue squats? A good semi-alternative is box squats but making sure you keep your shins vertical. Never let your knees extend beyond your toes. Sit down on to the box for a full 1-2 seconds and do not bounce off of it. Use a box that allows you to go no further than a 90 degree leg/shin position. (Ass-to-grass squatters with healthy knees will disagree.)
Even leg extensions can be very good as long as you follow the vertical shin rule and do not lower the weight beyond the vertical shin point.
The list is endless:
Leg Presses
Deadlifts using a shrug bar
Lunges
etc.
Keep reps relatively high, i.e., >8.
Form is the key and exercise is the cure.
Why discontinue squats? A good semi-alternative is box squats but making sure you keep your shins vertical. Never let your knees extend beyond your toes. Sit down on to the box for a full 1-2 seconds and do not bounce off of it. Use a box that allows you to go no further than a 90 degree leg/shin position. (Ass-to-grass squatters with healthy knees will disagree.)
Even leg extensions can be very good as long as you follow the vertical shin rule and do not lower the weight beyond the vertical shin point.
The list is endless:
Leg Presses
Deadlifts using a shrug bar
Lunges
etc.
Keep reps relatively high, i.e., >8.
Form is the key and exercise is the cure.
Last edited by a moderator:
nativetroutbum
Member
I don't have arthritis but I substituted leg presses for squats due to shoulder flexibility issues. Doing squats aggravates the heck out of my left shoulder, leg presses do not. Obviously not as much of a full body exercise, but proper leg presses are very good for building quads.