Knee Popping

[Abe Smith]

Knee Popping

[Tom Ryan]

Abe,

Well, I am certainly one of those “advanced age” lifters and I have a long history of knees cracking, off and on.

Art Tarwater may have been the first “Rice Krispies” Missouri Valley lifter, as that was what he was called because of the noise that his knees made. Bill Clark and I have joked about the racket my knees have made in competition and he brought up Tarwater.

There is friction between bones in joints when cartilage is wearing thin, but I don’t know if that is your problem. Another possible cause is a shortage of synovial fluid, which lubricates the joints.

I had a scary moment about 13 years ago when I planted my left foot when I was climbing some steps and my left knee seemed to shift. I thought I was literally falling apart and I shortly thereafter starting taking Glucosamine/Chondroiton, which I have taken ever since. That seemed to help immediately!

Glucosamine is believed to increase the thickness of synovial fluid and thus make it more effective as a lubricant. See, for example, http://www.coachroblowe.com/nutrition-glucosamine.htm

It is also believed that Glucosamine may increase synovial fluid http://www.permanente.net/homepage/kaiser/pdf/6874.pdf

I did thousands of squat cleans and squat snatches when I was in my prime and since I have always had slender legs (even when I weighed over 300) and excellent flexibility, I hit some very deep positions, which undoubtedly stressed my knees considerably.

I can’t recall ever having any knee joint pain, however, so I must have been doing something right.

Now at the age of 66, various bones crack when I get out of a chair, but not necessarily my knees. This includes bones in my lower legs and I just decided to do a test as I was typing this, so I got up from my chair and my left elbow cracked, among other bones. (I did presses yesterday, so that might have something to do with it.) I still have all of my joints and I don’t have any joint pain, so at my age I am certainly not complaining! 🙂

Tom

[Abe Smith]

I appreciate the information Tom. When I wrote the first post I would have never imagined the colorful response I would get back. I never heard rice krispies’ knees pop yet…pretty funny. The odd part is that after I press my elbows tend to pop too…

Pretty funny and thanks for the information!! Just to check I squatted the last two nights and this AM no popping! Weird games the body plays…guess I will be squattting on a daily basis.

[Abe Smith]

Just as an update….I have started to do single leg work – pistols, bulgarian split squats and find they help the popping. I think, “think” that this could be a precursor to something more problematic I need to watch out for…

[jarrod]

i’m not really advanced in age yet, but i’ve been pretty crunchy for about a decade now. several health professionals have told me that as long as it doesn’t hurt, it isn’t a problem. also, i’ve had very good luck with fish oil as far keeping down inflammation & minimizing wear & tear.

jf

[Al Myers]

I wish I could help you out with the answer to this Abe, but the secret for me to not hear the “popping” is to just turn the stereo in the gym up louder. LOL Al

[Tom Ryan]

I wouldn’t worry about it, Abe. Just try to “stay lubricated” as much as possible. I’ve been a “rice krispies” lifter for decades but there has never been any pain. All of my joints are the original ones and they feel fine.

I love your solution, Al. I don’t understand how the modern lifter can train under the very noisy conditions that one encounters in today’s gyms. I wanted perfect quiet whenever I was about to start a lift. No dogs barking, nothing.

[Author]

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