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cracking joints

kimber26 Posts: 25 Joined: 2001/03/04	2001/03/27, 09:39 PM when i lift or do squats my knees and shoulders crack. i know alot of people have a problem with this, my question is... is this something that will end up hurting me in the future? is it something to worry about? and if so what can i do to stop it? kimber
Spedward Posts: 101 Joined: 2001/04/16	2001/03/30, 08:33 PM eat more calcium.....
skeld2001 Posts: 271 Joined: 2001/02/10	2001/04/01, 04:28 AM Is there pain involved? My knees have always been very vocal but I have never had a knee injury or pain. I squat over 300lb. and you can hear my knees in the next county. The only reason I don't squat more is because of my concern over an old back injury. On the other hand if you feel any pain at all or if you have fears about the health of your knees I would talk to my doctor about it. For joint health you may want to look into supplementing with glucosimine and chondrotin sulfate. There are more than 20 university studies that attest to its positive effects on joint health.
skeld2001 Posts: 271 Joined: 2001/02/10	2001/04/01, 04:35 AM My wife has bad knees. She takes the glucosamine and says that it has improved. I had chronic elbow pain, an injury in my wrist, and suffered pain near the site of my back surgery but since starting this supplement most of my pain is gone and I still lift as heavy as I can. I only do squats on a smith machine btw.
kimber26 Posts: 25 Joined: 2001/03/04	2001/04/01, 12:42 PM yes, i have a bad knee but it doesnt give me any problems unless the weather changes. i will try the glucosamine i just dont want this to be something that hurts me when i am older. kimber
skeld2001 Posts: 271 Joined: 2001/02/10	2001/04/03, 12:28 AM Good luck. I wish I'd thought about the things that were going to cause me trouble later in life. As for the glucosimine I suggest you stay away from the sports supplement brands of this particular supplement. They are very costly and as this is a long term proposition that makes them unattractive to me. The best deal I found was at Sams' Club, if one is available to you. Failing that I would go to the vitamin section in my local grocery store. If you try it you should give it at least 10 or 12 weeks to produce results.
moogle Posts: 3 Joined: 2001/03/12	2001/04/05, 10:22 PM This cracking is usually synovial fluid in your joints... don't worry too much about it unless it is accompanied by pain in the area during or after a workout. You should try to include a small warmup session where you target the specific joints that will be used in the exercise and work from there.
skylar Posts: 156 Joined: 2001/01/29	2001/04/07, 10:39 PM The cracking occurs due to a loss of "cushioning" in the joint i.e a loss or decrease in synovial fluid or in the bursa sac that acts as a cushion between the articulating sufaces. Continous friction between these sufaces will result in the connective tissue being worn off the bone ends that protect and help with the articulation of the joint. If this is occuring with squats then maybe you need to re-evaluate the pros/cons of doing squats and try other exercises i.e the sled(s) and see if doing quad work from a different angle helps to eliminate the joint compromise. Do your shoulders "crack" with shoulder work i.e lat raises, etc.
kimber26 Posts: 25 Joined: 2001/03/04	2001/04/14, 01:05 AM with my knee, that started when i injured it playing softball and no matter what i am doing anything from walking up stairs to leg lifts (anything where the knee bends) it cracks. the shoulder only does it sometimes so i am not as worried about that, but i have heard that joints that crack could lead to arthritise (sp), i am 26 yrs old and dont want to do something that may end up causing me to not be able to work out when i am older. thanks kimber
skylar Posts: 156 Joined: 2001/01/29	2001/04/14, 08:25 PM There are some joint "savers" out there, sharks cartliage, glucosamine/chondroitin that you may want to try to invigorate your joints. I believe like all things that treatments are individualized so you may have to try several to see which one(s) work. I know an ex-softball pitcher who buried her trap into the C-spine vertebra and has constant headaches. Sports injuries can remind us forvever.
skylar Posts: 156 Joined: 2001/01/29	2001/04/15, 08:42 PM See skelds dissertation on the pros of glucosamine/chondroitin from first hand use in the older community section of ft
dtcb Posts: 1 Joined: 2001/05/02	2001/05/22, 05:49 AM My right shoulder 'cracks' when doing isolated bicep movements (preacher bench w/ inside grip, incline dumbells) and dumbell flat bench. It does hurt afterward and, similar to what everyone else is saying, I avoid those isolations excercises and use glucosimine and chondrotin sulfate for the joint. It has reduced the cracking in my shoulder. My shoulder pain originated from poor positioning of my right (mouse) arm while working in the IT field (not kidding). Keeping my are locked and elevated for 9 hrs straight screwed it up.