Knee Pain from Lifting Weights (A Helpful Guide)

When you lift weights, the quadriceps and hip flexor muscles become stiff and tight over time due to overuse. These tight muscles overstretch and cause inflammation in the quadriceps tendon, patellar tendon, and knee joint. This circumstance results in tendon injuries and ache during strength training exercises such as squats, lunges, leg press, deadlifts, and leg extensions.

If you experience knee pain while lifting weights, or pain in your knee after working out, you've come to the right place. Knee tendonitis and knee pain is common among athletes and those involved in weight training. Weight lifters and gym-goers can experience knee pain during squats, lunges, leg press, deadlift, and leg extensions. It’s something I struggled with for years (watch video). It’s frustrating, painful, and demoralizing. I cured my knee pain. By the end of this article, I will show you exactly how to do the same.

What causes knee tendonitis and knee pain in athletes and weightlifters, and why does it happen? The root causes of knee pain from lifting weight are:

1. Chronic Inflammation
2. Magnesium Deficiency
3. Muscle Restriction

Weight training builds and strengthens muscles, but it also inflames tendons, ligaments, and joints in the body. When the workout target or involve the knee, (e.g. squats, lunges, leg press, leg extension, deadlifts), it inflames the knee tendons and joint. Inflammation of the knee tendons causes a “burning” sensation of pain around the knee. The condition is a type of tendonitis known as quadriceps tendonitis and patellar tendonitis.

The burning feeling and pain around the knee are signs of acute inflammation – meaning the pain is temporary. With time, the body heals the knee tendons, and the pain goes away. However, when the knee tendons cannot heal and recover, and the inflamed tendon pain continues for three months or more, it becomes a chronic inflammatory condition.

Chronic inflammation is a state where the inflammatory process that enables the body to heal injured muscle, tendon, and ligament is not working, and the body is no longer able to heal on its own. In this case, it leads to chronic knee tendonitis. Left untreated, chronic inflammation in the knee becomes degenerative and leads to irreversible deterioration of the knee joint.

Athletes, gymgoers, and weight lifters with knee pain experience pain and discomfort in the knee during:

Calcium helps muscles contract. Magnesium helps muscles relax. When the body has excess calcium (which is often the case), muscles cannot relax and remain tense. When a muscle is tense, it pulls and puts tension on the tendons and joints, which inflames the tendons and causes pain, in this case – knee pain.

Magnesium also dissolves calcium and prevents the calcification of soft tissues. Calcification occurs when there is excess calcium in the body. Calcification hardens soft tissues like tendons and muscles. In this case, calcification of the quadriceps muscle and tendon leads to quadriceps tendonitis, patellar tendonitis, and knee pain.

According to The Magnesium Miracle (which is a scientific reference on the health effects of magnesium on the body), heavy exercise, physical activity, and factors such as caffeine, stimulants, diuretics, stress, and dehydration, deplete magnesium in athletes. As such, it is crucial for athletes and those involved in weight training to actively replenish magnesium in the body.

When you lift weights and perform exercises that target or involve the knee, the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstring muscles contract, become stiff and tight, and after some time, lose their elasticity. Muscle restriction occurs when inelastic muscle fibers become shortened and unable to release and lengthen back to their normal relaxed state.

In the case of knee pain, lifting a weight that’s too heavy, or using bad weightlifting form overstretch the quadriceps muscle and causes them to become restricted. This is usually the trigger that initiates the knee pain. When the quadriceps muscle gets restricted, they become shortened and get tighter.

Tight quadriceps muscle pulls and puts tension on the quadriceps tendon. As a result, it inflames the knee and causes knee pain when lifting weight and during exercise. In some cases, restricted muscles also causes instability and weakness in the knee. Athletes, gymgoers, and weight lifters with restricted quadriceps experience:

• Sharp or severe pain in knee while lifting
• Burning pain in knee joint after lifting
• Instability and weakness in knee when lifting
• Difficulty and pain bending knee after working out
• Difficulty and pain straightening knee after working out
• Clicking and popping of knee joint and patella while working out

This section of the article will covers the types of knee tendonitis and knee pain related conditions athletes experience when lifting weights or during exercise, including:

1. Knee tendonitis (quadriceps tendonitis and patellar tendonitis)
2. Clicking and popping of the kneecap (patella) or knee joint
3. Instability and weakness of the knee

Muscle anatomy chart of thigh and leg. The thigh is made of the quadriceps (rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius) and hamstrings (semitendinosus, semimembranosus, biceps femoris). The muscles of the leg include the gastrocnemius, soleus, fibularis longus, and tibialis anterior. The thigh and leg muscles contribute to knee tendonitis, knee pain, and knee instability and weakness.

Quadriceps tendonitis is a type of knee tendonitis where pain occurs at the top of the knee, above the patella. It’s also common to experience pain on the inside or outside part of the knee. To fix and get rid of it, we need to target and release all the four quad muscles: rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and vastus intermedius.

These four thigh muscles combine into one tendon (quadriceps tendons) that inserts into the patella. When the quad muscles and quadriceps tendon get restricted, it pulls on the kneecap and causes knee pain during squats, lunges, leg extension, deadlifts, and leg press. Releasing these muscles will also get rid of pain on the inside or outside part of the knee.

Patellar tendonitis is a type of knee tendonitis where pain occurs below the kneecap. This pain is caused by strain and inflammation of the patellar ligament. The patellar ligament is a tissue that connects the kneecap to the shin bone. Patellar tendonitis is an extension of quadriceps tendonitis. By fixing quadriceps tendonitis, we also fix and get rid of patellar tendonitis.

It common for athletes and weightlifters to experience clicking and popping of the kneecap and knee joint during leg extension and leg press. There are two causes for this.

1. When the quadriceps muscle gets restricted, they pull on the quadriceps tendon and kneecap, which causes a “clicking and popping” sound in the kneecap during exercise. To fix and get rid of clicking and popping of kneecap, we need to target and release the quadriceps muscle.
2. The thigh bone (femur) attaches to the leg bones (fibula and tibia) to form the knee joint. When the leg muscles (fibularis longus, gastrocnemius, and soleus) get restricted, they pull on the leg bones (fibula and tibia), which causes a "clicking and popping" sound in the knee joint during exercise. To fix and get rid of clicking and popping of knee joint, we need to target and release the leg muscles (fibularis longus, gastrocnemius, and soleus).

Instability and weakness in the knee is caused by restricted glutes, leg muscles (gastrocnemius, soleus, fibularis longus), and hamstring muscles. The quads are the power muscles of the thigh. The hamstrings are the stabilizing muscles of the thigh. The hamstrings, along with the leg muscles, help stabilize the knee. When the hamstrings and leg muscles become restricted, it causes instability and weakness in the knee. To fix and get rid of instability and weakness in the knee, we need to target and release the hamstrings and leg muscles.

A young man performing traditional back squats at gym. The traditional squat exercise involve the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, spinal erectors, and leg muscles. Traditional squats and other squat variations can aggravate quadriceps tendonitis and patellar tendonitis. Athletes and weight lifters might also experience instability and weakness in the knee during squats.

A man and woman performing dumbbell walking lunges. The lunge exercise involve the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, and leg muscles. Lunges, including walking lunges, standing lunges, or lateral lunges, can aggravate quadriceps tendonitis and patellar tendonitis. Athletes and weight lifters might also experience instability and weakness in the knee during lunges.

A young woman performing leg press on a Leg Press machine. The leg press exercise involve the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, and leg muscles. Leg press can aggravate quadriceps tendonitis and patellar tendonitis. Athletes and weight lifters might also experience instability and weakness in the knee during leg press.

A man performing leg extensions on a Leg Extension machine. The leg extension exercise involve the quadriceps and leg muscles. Leg extensions can aggravate quadriceps tendonitis, patellar tendonitis, or "clicking and popping" of kneecap. Weightlifters might also experience instability and weakness in the knee during leg extensions.

A man performing traditional deadlifts. The traditional deadlift is a compound exercise that targets the major muscle groups in the body, including the shoulders, arms, back, glutes, thighs and leg. Deadlifts can aggravate quadriceps tendonitis and patellar tendonitis. Athletes and weightlifters might also experience instability and weakness in the knee during deadlifts.

What is TitaniumPhysique? It's the fastest way to cure and counteract chronic tendonitis and pain from weightlifting, including:

1. Sharp or severe pain in knee while lifting
2. Burning pain in knee after lifting
3. Instability and weakness in knee when lifting
4. Difficulty and pain bending knee after working out
5. Difficulty and pain straightening knee after working out
6. Clicking and popping of knee joint and kneecap while working out

 It is based on current and extensive scientific research relating to the following: tendinopathy, sports medicine and sports injury, weight lifting injuries, musculoskeletal pain treatment and management, nutrition, supplementation, and, strength therapy and conditioning.

As an athlete and weightlifter, I created TitaniumPhysique for athletes and anyone who does weight training. I've combined these scientific studies and nine years of experience as a personal trainer, nutritionist, bodybuilder, physique athlete, and wellness coach to create the TitaniumPhysique Formula. To learn how the TitaniumPhysique Formula works, and why it heals chronic weight training tendonitis, check out this helpful article (and video).

Here is an overview of how to cure knee tendonitis pain using TitaniumPhysique:

1. Reduce chronic inflammation in the body. When you reduce chronic inflammation, injured and inflamed knee tendons heal and recover faster.
2. Supplement with magnesium to replenish muscle magnesium levels. Magnesium reduces inflammation and pain. Magnesium can help relax tense quadriceps muscles, and it can decalcify the quadriceps tendons, patellar ligament, and knee joint.
3. Massage the thigh and glute muscles. You can use myofascial pain relief tools, like a massage ball, to massage and release the quadriceps muscles, hamstrings, and glutes.

The food you eat is critical in getting rid of inflammatory pain. It is either going to cause and aggravate inflammation in the body or fight pain and provide relief. According to The China Study Solution (the most comprehensive scientific study on nutrition), animal foods and animal food products aggravate inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract.

Combined with the stress frequent and prolonged weightlifting creates on the tendons and joints, the body unavoidably gets into a chronic inflammatory state. This systemic cycle of inflammatory foods and physical fitness is the number #1 reason most athletes and gymgoers experience chronic inflammatory pain after a few months of weight training.

Joint supplements cannot fix chronic inflammation from weightlifting because it is a systemic problem. To cure chronic knee tendonitis pain, you can use a simple two-week whole-food plant-based regimen to reset and eliminate chronic inflammation in the body.

Is a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) diet right for you? Can a plant-based nutrition regimen help you eliminate chronic inflammatory knee pain? The following five questions can help you decide:

1. Do you lift weights or workout 4x or more a week?
2. Do you experience a dull pain or stiffness in your knee when lifting, or burning pain in your knee after lifting?
3. Do you experience concurrent tendonitis symptoms (e.g. knee discomfort, elbow ache, shoulder injuries, wrist pain, and foot pain)?
4. If you experience tendonitis when lifting weights, has the pain lasted more than three months?
5. Does your nutrition consist of mostly protein from animal food and animal food products (e.g. chicken, meat, dairy, whey/casein protein)?

If you answered YES to any of the questions above, a WFPB regimen can help you reduce inflammation, heal tendonitis from weight training, and cure chronic knee pain. Implementing a whole- food plant-based regimen to reset chronic inflammation does not require becoming a vegetarian or vegan if that is not your goal. It is simply a tool to reset.

There is a specific way to use this strategy to get the fastest and best results, especially for athletes and weight lifter focused on building muscles, strength, losing weight and burning fat. The TitaniumPhysique Program provides a step-by-step plan to achieve this.

Magnesium is a potent anti-inflammatory that can help reduce pain. It also plays a vital role in helping the muscles relax. Twitching muscles, muscle cramps, and muscle spasms in the arm are signs of low magnesium levels in the body.

Heavy exercise, sauna therapy and workout stimulants deplete magnesium in athletes. As such, it is crucial for athletes and those involved in weight training to actively take steps to replenish magnesium and use the right kind of magnesium to get the therapeutic effect.

Is magnesium therapy right for you? Can it help you cure and alleviate chronic knee discomfort? The following six questions can help you decide:

1. Do you lift weights or workout 4x or more a week? Is your job physically demanding?
2. Do you use workout stimulants: pre-workout, coffee, caffeine, diuretics?
3. Do you frequently use sauna?
4. Do you experience chronic stress (highly stressful job, stressful lifestyle factors and situations)?
5. Do you experience muscle cramps and muscle spasms after lifting or working out?
6. Do you eat a high protein diet? Does your nutrition include large amounts of added sugars?

If you answered YES to any of the questions above, magnesium therapy can help you reduce inflammation, heal tendonitis from weight training, and alleviate chronic pain. The TitaniumPhysique Program provides an easy-to-follow magnesium supplementation plan for athletes and weight lifters.

Research shows high protein foods and sports supplements create acidity in the body. When your body is alkaline, you will have more energy and less pain. Going alkaline is simple. Anyone can take simple steps to become more alkaline and less acidic. Here are four simple ways to become more alkaline.

4 Simple Ways to Alkaline

1. Wheatgrass and MSM powder. Mix water, wheatgrass, and MSM powder, and you get the perfect alkalizing drink.
2. Dark leafy green vegetable smoothie. Most vegetables, especially dark leafy greens, beets, and fruits, are alkaline.
3. Lemon water. The rich alkaline mineral content in lemons produces an alkalizing effect that exceeds the level of citric acid in lemons.
4. Apple cider vinegar. A mixture of apple cider vinegar, honey, and hot water produces an alkaline shift in the body when taken on an empty stomach.

Restricted quadriceps muscles pull and put tension on the quadriceps tendon, which causes knee pain. When you release tight muscles in the thigh and glutes (e.g. quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes), it will increase elasticity in the quadriceps tendon and immediately reduce knee pain.

Step 3 of the TitaniumPhysique Formula focuses on releasing chronically tight and restricted muscles in the thigh and glutes to stimulate repair and cure knee pain. Chronic knee tendonitis cannot heal if the body is in a constant inflammatory state. After reducing chronic inflammation (Step 1), we can heal knee injuries easier and faster.

Restricted quadriceps muscles, that cause knee pain, develop over many years. As such, it is necessary to use the correct treatment technique to get the best results. During this process, it is also vital to strengthen the knee, by doing mobility and strengthening exercises for the knee joint.

Strengthening exercises are therapeutic and can help the knee tendons heal faster and regain full strength for maximum performance. The following mobility exercises for knee pain target the stabilizing muscles of the knee joint and strengthen the knee tendons:

1. Bosu Ball Squats
2. Lateral Side-Steps
3. Step Down Exercise
4. One-Legged Squat
5. Chair Squat

Included in the TitaniumPhysique Program are treatment video (to release restricted quadriceps muscles) and knee strengthening/mobility exercise video (to stabilize the knee joint).

Restricted quadriceps muscles pull and put tension on the quadriceps tendons and patellar ligament. As a result, the quadriceps tendons become inflamed and cause pain while lifting weights or after working out. The ROOT causes of knee pain from lifting weights are chronic inflammation, magnesium deficiency, and muscle restriction. Athletes and weight lifters with knee tendonitis experience the following when lifting or after working out:

1. Sharp or severe pain in knee while lifting
2. Burning pain in knee joint after lifting
3. Instability and weakness in knee when lifting
4. Difficulty and pain bending knee after working out
5. Difficulty and pain straightening knee after working out
6. Clicking and popping of knee joint and patella while working out

Traditional remedies like painkillers, joint supplements, knee sleeves, knee braces, and topical anti-inflammatory creams can help with acute knee tendonitis but are not effective in treating chronic knee tendonitis. With traditional remedies, the tendonitis comes back and often gets worse as you continue to lift. To cure chronic knee tendonitis and knee pain:

1. Reduce chronic inflammation
2. Replenish muscle magnesium levels
3. Release restricted muscles

The TitaniumPhysique Formula is an innovative strategy for tendonitis treatment. The TitaniumPhysique program will show you the fastest way to reduce chronic inflammation, replenish muscle magnesium levels, and release restricted muscles. It can help you get rid of and prevent weight lifting knee injuries.

Tendonitis can turn your passion for fitness into a chore and rob you of the motivation to work out. Yet, everyone who lifts weights experiences knee tendonitis at some point. You don't have to give up your passion for lifting because of ineffective traditional tendonitis remedies.

Claim your passion and power back by grabbing your copy of the TitaniumPhysique Program today. Take advantage of our special promotion and get it at 50% off for a limited time.

*97% Satisfaction - 5-Star Rated Program

Written by: Nurudeen Tijani

Nurudeen (aka T.J.) is passionate about helping people build the body they desire through weight training. He is a physique and fitness trainer, nutritionist, yoga instructor, vegan natural bodybuilder, National Physique Committee (NPC) competitor, and founder at TitaniumPhysique. Nurudeen is a member of the International Association Study of Pain (IASP) and the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA).

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