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Dave:
Knee pain can be caused by a variety of factors. Some people have serious injuries that prevent them from doing certain exercises while others may have a genetic weakness that limits the types of activities they can participate in.

If you are suffering from knee pain it’s important not to self diagnose your injury. I wish I had a dime for every time I heard someone say, “I can’t work legs because I blew my knee out”. What does that mean anyway? Did they actually blow their knee out of the joint? Who told them that? That’s why it’s important to see a doctor to find out what your limitations are and plan a workout program accordingly.

Whenever I work with a person that complains of knee pain the first thing I do is check to see if they are using proper form. Many people fail to realize that poor form will put unnecessary stress on the knee joints and could cause future injuries. I have met many people that were convinced they had bad knees when all they really needed to do is change the way they were performing their exercises. A simple change can make take the pressure off the knee joint and put it on the muscle where it belongs.

In my opinion there are three things you can do to keep stress off your knees.
 The first thing to remember is whenever you are performing an exercise that requires you to squat down, make sure your upper thigh and your lower leg form a 90 degree angle. This means your leg should look like an upside down letter L. As you lower your body you’re thighs should be parallel with the floor. This technique keeps the pressure off the knee joint and on the muscles where it belongs. If the knee is allowed to surge forward over the toes it can cause joint pain and injury. Instead keep you’re body weight over you legs instead of you’re knees.

The second thing to remember is proper foot position. Whenever you squat, hack squat or leg press it is important to adjust your feet correctly. Place you’re feet shoulders width apart and angle them so you’re toes point slightly outward. This allows the knee joint to bend properly without causing friction. Since we all come in different shapes and sizes you may have to adjust your stance accordingly. You should never descend into a squatting exercise with your toes pointed forward. This also can cause stress to the knee joint.

The last things to remember is to monitor you’re depth. As you bend you’re body into a squat position it is important not to descend past 90 degrees. In other words your butt and you’re upper thigh should be level with you’re knee joint.This keeps the stress on the quadriceps and off the knee. Competitive power lifters are required to go much deeper however the normal person will not benefit from this.

Remember it’s always important to see a doctor before starting any workout program. However using proper form may be all that is needed to relieve knee pain.