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I've got my girlfriend into lifting, and she loves the basic approach of Bench Press, Barbell Squat, and Deadlift. She wants to lose weight and get stronger. The problem we are seeing is that even with rigidly proper form, she experiences severe knee pain after only a few reps of her Squats. Even without weight, her knees start to give her problems. My question is what kind of alternative exercises or possibly rehabilitative movements I can suggest to her to still work similar muscle groups and hopefully get her squatting properly. Fitness Goals Exercise Preference Body weight 220 Power lifts Bench Press, Squat, Deadlift Olympic lifts Current Physical Stats Gender Female Age 26 Height 5 foot 4 Weight 220 Previous Training History Past Programs Kettebell presses and Swings How long 6 months to a year Current Training Present Program Monday: Bench Press 5 sets of 5 reps Wednesday: Squat 5 sets of 5 reps(currently limited or even canceled per this issue) Friday: Deadlift 5 sets of 5 reps Every Day: Handstand training (currently able to hold a 45 second full push-up position plank, working toward 60 seconds before starting wall walks) How long 2 weeks Current working weights Bench Press: 65 (working toward 5x5) Squat: 45 (sets/reps in question per this issue) Deadlift: 45 (working toward 5x5) Current Diet Mostly Paleo (80/20 with the occasional soda or grain based food) Daily Calories Not counting Daily Macros Not using Current Resources/Limitations Gym Access Bench Press and Squat Rack in apartment Pull Up Bar/Dip Station/Leg Lift Station "Power Tower" in apartment Adjustable Dumbell Pair up to 50 punds each Kettlebells of 25, 35, and 50 pounds. Work/School Schedule Mon-Fri 7-3:30 Time Allowed Approximately 3 hours on weeknights and all day on weekends.

So I just realized, that as of, I think either yesterday, I have now been doing weightlifting for a full 33 days. I have to say that, for a month of increasing weights by 5 lbs each time, I'm impressed with how fast I have been progressing. On my squats, I am about to reach 105 lbs. I WAS going to hit that mark yesterday, but for some reason, after I warmed up with body squats and was about to do a warm-up set, not only did I not feel entirely flexible enough in my legs and lower back to do a proper squat, but I began to feel a pinching pain behind m left knee. From what I've been told by one trainer, and according to what I've researched, it's either something called "Patellar tendinitis", or "Baker's cyst". Or maybe it isn't those, after reading. The pain is almost more like inside my knee, behind my knee cap, not actually behind my knee. Basically, it's where something in my knee is grinding against my knee cap because it isn't sitting right, and the best thing I can do for it is to let it rest by not doing squats for two weeks. It's so strange. It was so sudden, and my knee feels much better, now, but I'm a bit paranoid about squatting to find out, and I don't want to risk tearing something or popping a bone out of place. I might try to do squats again next Friday, but that's it. And I might use a knee brace, from now on. Besides that, I'm up to 145 lbs in deadlifting. I actually deadlifted before squatting, and instead of going from 135 lbs to 140 lbs, I went up to 145 lbs. I don't know if that had anything to do with my knee, but if it doesn't, I'm going to try and continue progressing by 10s on deadlifts until I hit 205 lbs. On my OHPs, I'm up to 75 lbs, and I almost did 80 lbs, yesterday. I did 1x3, and 1x4 with a push-press (or what's it called) assisting on the last rep. I didn't finish, though. I meant to, but I let myself get distracted and offended by someone at the gym. My bench presses and power cleans are up to 85 lbs, and I'm getting closer and closer to 105 lbs, on those. This was supposed to be a woot room post, but I've noticed that I express more concerns and failures here, rather than bragging. I mean, I really am happy to hit these milestones, but I'm more concerned about continuing.

The Question: just what it says. The site: b-reddy.org. The author: a personal trainer named Brian Reddy who specializes in rehabbing people with various kinds of joint pain. A good, short sample article: 3 Common Weak Muscles. A longer one that I found fascinating: Scapular Winging Causes and Treatments. So: has anyone seen this guy before? Is he full of crap, or does he seem to know his stuff? The grounding in anatomy and physiology seems solid, but his explanations of common dysfunctions (like overhead shoulder pain or anterior pelvic tilt) are... a little unorthodox for someone who's mostly been educated on this stuff by the Internet. Thoughts?

Hello all. Generally I have a pretty good grasp on fitness, but my health problems make things more challenging than I prefer. Since moving across the country, I've been off my routine for a while now which was following the c25k running plan and doing a core routine. So I'm working on getting back into it. The trouble I have is largely with my knees. I can't do squats or lunges or even sprints. The problem thankfully is in my tendons and not in the joint itself, but still the pain prevents me doing some of the most basic exercises. Does anyone have any recomendations for alternatives I could incorporate?

Greetings Members of the Rebellion! I'm Anna, an almost 30-something from Texas, with a few health challenges that I'm hoping I can overcome in my quest to "level up" my life. I've already participated in one challenge (as a Druid - the challenge in June/July) and I was quite successful, but I never really became part of the bigger community, so I thought I would introduce myself. I have EDS-III (Hypermobility ) in a fairly mild presentation. Basically, I am SUPER BENDY. I am extremely flexible in almost all of my joints, and several of my joints sublux fairly frequently - which is to say I can partially dislocate my shoulders and hips, at will. This makes for weird party tricks where I gross everyone out, but I'm not supposed to do that because it's actually kind of bad for the joints. As well, this makes me both prone to injury and highly susceptible to joint pain and early onset arthritis. My fingers/elbows/knees also bend in weird directions and are fairly unstable. As a result, I have fairly significant joint pain that I am managing with my rheumatologist through pain meds, diet, and exercise. (And lots of sleep. I MUST sleep 8-9 hours a night or I am a mess!) Anyway - this pretty significantly reduces the exercises I'm allowed to do. I can only run intermittently, for short distances, on soft surfaces (like grass or a track), and my doctor prefers that I don't run at all. For cardio I'm allowed to walk, bike, and swim, but not do anything that would create impact on my joints. I'm also not allowed to do heavy barbell training because of the risk of dislocating something. My elbows bend 25-30 degrees in the wrong direction, which makes things like overhead presses really hard. What I CAN do is resistance training with my own bodyweight and exercise bands, and light barbell work (like dumbbell rows). I'm impacted differently day-to-day - some days are very hard, others are easy. Some days my hands are strong enough to open that jar of pickles, other days I just can't do it. This is very frustrating, and is part of my motivation to "level up" - I want to be strong and healthy, and more able to do things. This means building my muscle strength to make up for my joint weakness. For the last year I've been Walking to Mordor - right now I'm about 50 miles shy of Rivendell. I wear a pedometer (fitbit Zip) daily, and am trying to do things like walk a lap of the building every time I use the bathroom, or use a printer that's farther away, to increase my daily steps! This week I've started two things: Beginner's Bodyweight Workout - I can do two circuits. I'm lifting a bocce set instead of a dumbbell for the rows, but it works! (Completing this workout nets me 1 extra mile in my Walk)Moderate intensity interval training - walking quickly (3.5 mph pace) for 2 minutes, jog (2.5-3 mph pace) for 30-45 seconds. I'm on a concrete walking trail, so when I jog I move over into the grass. (This workout takes me about 2 miles to complete, but I just count the steps for this, no extra credit on my Walk)I have major IBS issues and celiac disease - so aside from occasional oatmeal or rice, I'm already grain-free! I'm moving towards a more paleo diet, though I am hard pressed to give up my daily yogurt, or milk in my tea (I've tried soy milk and almond milk, and while both are fine in coffee, in tea they are not my favorite). Also I love dark chocolate, so I'm loathe to give that up, even though I only eat it in small amounts (one square a day, max!) At 5'7'', I have a little bit of weight to lose (15 lbs ish) to be where I feel most comfortable (currently at 165, hoping to be at a strong and fit 150). IRL I'm a desk jockey working in the oil and gas industry (doing sales writing), a WoW gamer (Human Paladin/Troll Druid, mostly RP, a little bit of PVE raiding, though I'm a retired hardcore raider), an avid D&D player (currently a 3.5E Elf Ranger in one game, a 4E Dwarf Cleric in another), and the Chief Distributor of Gooshyfood for two cats (Max and Charlie). I also enjoy gardening and crafts, but my job and commute have made that less of a priority in my life lately. I am hoping with some support and community I can stick with this increased intensity of working out, get strong, and be better at life in general! Progress will be slow, since I recover slowly, but any progress is good progress. I am thinking about joining the current challenge, looking forward to the Rebel Women's Academy, and ready to kick life in the butt. I want my body to work WITH me, not AGAINST me, and I want to feel like it's my ally, not my enemy.