Deadlifts are hurting one of my knees

D

Dvst8or

New Member
Recently (maybe because of the increased load) deadlifts have been hurting one of my knees. It hurts on the inside of my knee. And it is only hurting in my left knee. The pain is setting in after the sets, not during. And it is still a little sore the day afterwards in the morning.

Maybe its my form, but I don't think it is. Seeing as how I am no stranger to deadlifts. And I am a constant perfectictionists when it comes to form, especially when it comes to something like deadlifts.

As far as my form right now I am standing with my feet a little wider than shoulder width apart. I try to face my feet/toes straight forward. Maybe I should point them outwards more? That is why I am here asking. I take the weight all the way to the floor. My legs stay slightly bent on the way down. And I focus on pulling my shoulders back at the top.

Anyone else have this problem? Anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing this?

Thanks in advance,
Brian
 
I'm not an expert but when I point my feet, I try to aim them inline with the knee and hip joint. So, the closer they are, the more straight forward they point. Conversely, the farther appart they are, the more outside they point. Compare a standard upright dealift form to the sumo form.

Get a second opinion.

Forgot to add that I don't have the problem you have and I don't know what the cause is.
 
I probably don't use the exact form that most use, as I feel like my leg to torso ratio is a little higher than average. So I get a little bit wider of a stance than the average joe probably does. It feels a lot more natural for me when I do that. The reason I even bother going into that is because my knees would hurt a little too when I first ever did them... and when I tried a slightly wider stance (and as Martin said, with my toes slightly pointed outward) it seemed to feel a lot better.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">As far as my form right now I am standing with my feet a little wider than shoulder width apart. I try to face my feet/toes straight forward. </div>

This is a good way to introduce unnecessary lateral forces onto your knees.

As the others said above, either point your toes out or bring your legs in under your hips. Almost every person who wings deadlifts, imho, has a tendency to take a too-wide stance. Sumo is one thing, but if you're pulling conventional, I think your feet should more or less be directly under your hips.

And, failing that, yah, point the toes out.
 
<div>
(mikeynov @ Jun. 14 2007,00:21)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"> <div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">As far as my form right now I am standing with my feet a little wider than shoulder width apart.  I try to face my feet/toes straight forward. </div>

This is a good way to introduce unnecessary lateral forces onto your knees.

As the others said above, either point your toes out or bring your legs in under your hips.  Almost every person who wings deadlifts, imho, has a tendency to take a too-wide stance.  Sumo is one thing, but if you're pulling conventional, I think your feet should more or less be directly under your hips.

And, failing that, yah, point the toes out.</div>
So you are basically saying that my feet should be no more that six inches apart?

And if that doesn't work point my toes out with a wider stance.
 
<div>
(Dvst8or @ Jun. 14 2007,01:29)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(mikeynov @ Jun. 14 2007,00:21)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"> <div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">As far as my form right now I am standing with my feet a little wider than shoulder width apart. I try to face my feet/toes straight forward. </div>

This is a good way to introduce unnecessary lateral forces onto your knees.

As the others said above, either point your toes out or bring your legs in under your hips. Almost every person who wings deadlifts, imho, has a tendency to take a too-wide stance. Sumo is one thing, but if you're pulling conventional, I think your feet should more or less be directly under your hips.

And, failing that, yah, point the toes out.</div>
So you are basically saying that my feet should be no more that six inches apart?

And if that doesn't work point my toes out with a wider stance.</div>
I didn't say anything about 6&quot;, that really depends. But basically having your feet directly under your hips will allow you to point your toes forward and avoid the lateral strain on the knees.

Toe angle should be proportionate to how far your feet are spread, basically. As you spread your feet further out, you should angle your feet further out to compensate. It's the whole &quot;knees over feet&quot; and in the same plane thing.
 
Feet planted shoulder-width, toes pointing slightly out is what works best for me.

Like Mikeynov said, when squatting or deadlifting you want your toes in line with your knees when they bend to keep stress on the knee even.
 
Mikeynov,

Recently there was an article posted about the correct deadlift form calling for a wider stance that you advocate against.

It seemed easier at first, but I have experience some knee pain, so I would like your opinions on that article by Rippletoe.

-Colby
 
Colby,

I read that article a month or two back before I really got into doing deads.. so a lot of it meant nothing to me. I just reread it again, now that I've been doing them during my cycle.. and I didn't see anything in there about foot position. Mind you, I'm just as interested in the topic as well... as I really want to know the perfect form by the time I get into heavier weight. The only &quot;conclusions&quot; I saw in it were the 3 points he said at the end:

The starting point of the deadlift should meet the following criteria:
1)The back must be locked in extension
2)The bar must be touching the shins, with the feet flat on the floor
3)The shoulders must be out in front of the bar so that the shoulder blades are directly above the bar

Great article.
 
<div>
(colby2152 @ Jun. 14 2007,11:01)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Mikeynov,

Recently there was an article posted about the correct deadlift form calling for a wider stance that you advocate against.

It seemed easier at first, but I have experience some knee pain, so I would like your opinions on that article by Rippletoe.

-Colby</div>
I might be on crack, but where are you seeing Rippetoe advocate a wider stance in that article?

Looking in Starting Strength, he advocates 12-15 inches apart. I'm probably closer to 12 myself, but he also makes a point of suggesting to point the toes slightly out.

&quot;Shoulder width&quot; is certainly fine, I think my training partner liked it even a little further out than that. Just make sure you're compensating by angling the toes out a bit to keep the knees in the same vertical plane as the feet, and everything should be gravy.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What this boils down to is that there are exactly three
criteria for a correct starting position for the deadlift:
1) The back must be locked in extension.
2) The bar must be touching the shins, with the feet
flat on the floor.
3) The shoulders must be out in front of the bar so
that the shoulder blades are directly above the bar.</div>

I think I took #2 and combined that with a recommended wide stance on squats which is something I read during the same time.

I DO WANT THAT BOOK (STARTING STRENGTH) as perfect form is something that all of us need to continually focus on.
 
I have the exact same pain in the left knee due to a sports injury, but deadlifts don't give me problems as long as I don't force my feet to point in any particular direction.  I place my feet as wide as is comfortable for me (about 12&quot;) and let my feet point where they feel right, which means that they point out in a fairly wide &quot;V,&quot; which does follow the angle of my knees.  But I think everyone is different in that knee/foot alignment.  Try doing a few deadlifts with no weight and see what feels best on your knees.  I searched on &quot;water on the knee&quot; as a wild guess based on the swelling and found this:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water-on-the-knee/DS00662/DSECTION=1
I'm pretty sure I have a meniscus tear, since I felt and heard it when it happened.  You might want to get it checked if it continues to hurt or worsens over time.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Looking in Starting Strength, he advocates 12-15 inches apart. I'm probably closer to 12 myself, but he also makes a point of suggesting to point the toes slightly out.</div>

Thanks Mike for the clear up... I change my stance today. I will post about that and the no-shoes set in my log.
 
Sorry for the necromancy, just experienced the same pain on the right knee joint on the inner side after a PR 385 x 3 @ 155. Any experience dealing with the problem?
 
I depends on the pain. The easy thing is just move it around over the next few days and see if it goes away, maybe some Ibuprofen...maybe some beer... If it persists, I'd go through a bunch of stretches and active release using balls, foam rollers etc on all of the muscles one joint above and below the pain (so like calves and thighs). Then when you find pain areas look up some rehab for those zones and see if it provides you some relief. If that doesn't work, it may be a bit more serious.

Also can you post a video of your lift?
 
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