Articles: Physical Therapist's Corner

Knee Pain and the Log Press:

By Mike Johnston, PT, CSCS

Recently, a friend called and complained of severe anterior knee pain while pressing a heavy log. He reported that he had the log in the shouldered position and on dipping he experienced a bolt of pain in the front of his left knee. I first ran through a checklist to see if anything might be torn. Once he and I were satisfied that it was acute patella tendonitis we discussed acute symptom management. He asked me why this would happen now. He had bouts of anterior knee pain before, but his knee had felt great lately. I know he is an excellent presser with tremendous shoulder strength and great explosive leg drive technique. So, what had he done differently to exacerbate the anterior knee pain?

The answer was definitely in his technique. My friend was recovering form a knee surgery on the right knee. His post-surgical rehab went smooth and his strength was excellent. However, mentally, unknowingly he was favoring his operative leg, thus, putting more stress on the “good” leg. He also changed his upper body position. In order to get comfortable with the weight he employed excessive back bend. (On a strict press this is okay, but once he engaged the leg drive…BAM! acute anterior knee pain.) In other words bad form lead to the re-injury.

Anterior knee pain while log pressing can be avoided. It is important that the leg drive has hip flexion as well as knee flexion during the decent phase. If the hip flexion is lacking during the decent the knees will ride over the toes and place excessive forces on the anterior knee structures. Balance during the shouldered position is extremely important. The culprit in this case was the excessive back bend. If you have difficulty with the shouldered position you should try rack presses. Set the log on a low pin low; enough to get a sufficient dip. Have spotters lift the log to your shouldered position. Try to keep the log in front of you and dip as fast as possible. (Initially, treat this exercise as speed work until you get more comfortable with the balance aspect of the shouldered position during the dip.) Also, work on your hamstring flexibility. It is important to maintain an arch during the dip, but doing so requires good hamstring flexibility. If you don’t have the flexibility the log will either dump forward or the hips will not flex causing the knee to shear over the toes.

If you have specific Strongman technique or injury questions you may ask here on the Anvil or catch me at www.elitefts.com.

Keep Lifting Heavy Stuff!

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