Soreness in outside of lower leg during squats

June 6, 2009 3:20 PM

I am getting soreness/discomfort in a strange place while doing squats: on the outside of my right leg only, 4-6 inches above my ankle. I'm returning to weightlifting after a year off with unrelated shoulder injury, and this happens with very little additional weight beyond just the bar. Should I be stretching, starting with less weight, or something else?
posted by stopgap to sports, hobbies, & recreation (10 comments total)

If you're squatting, your form does need to be pristine. Try full range of motion squats with no weights and add weight once you are confident of your form.

What you feel could be simple muscle tightness, or tendonitis, or (less likely, but not impossible) a stress fracture of the fibula. Have you been doing a lot of walking or running on bad surfaces or in bad shoes? If you press in and near the area of the soreness, on the bone, does it hurt? I speak from experience, because I developed a stress fracture in my fibula, a little closer to my ankle, that only felt sore if my leg was stressed or twisted, and was even more sore when direct pressure was applied.
posted by maudlin at 3:39 PM on June 6

Maybe try stretching the inside and outside of your leg? I suspect your IT band on down, right through to your foot is tight. (But I know nothing, so don't take this too seriously.) I just went through this over six months, learning how to squat correctly. I do dynamic stretches:

1) Lying on my back, alternating legs, I swing a straight leg with flexed foot over my body and tap the map, then switch. That gets the outside of the leg.

2) I squat, supported by my hands, with one leg out. Then I smoothly transition so the leg that's out becomes the leg supporting my weight, knee bent, and the other leg is now sticking out to the side.

Also, I squat with no weight a few times, holding onto the weight rack (so I can approximate perfect form), and then I can explore how my hips and knees bend with a static back on the way down. (You have to be careful with this because it tends to deactivate crucial muscles, given you're holding onto a pole.) It's been really helpful though to troubleshoot and on reflect on my form.

I hope that helps. Problem solve each issue as it comes up, one by one, and take your time!!!
posted by zeek321 at 4:06 PM on June 6

*map = mat
posted by zeek321 at 4:07 PM on June 6

It might be a good idea to use a Smith Machine for awhile to reinforce proper form while you rebuild your strength.
Barbell standing calf raises could be useful too.
posted by aquafortis at 5:17 PM on June 6

As others have said make sure you are using great form. I suggest Rippetoe's book "Starting Strength" or search for youtube.com for Rippetoe. The main queues suggest are "sit back" (don't let your knees come to far forward when you descend) and when you start coming back up imagine the weight is at your lower back and you are pushing it up from there (again not pushing your knees too far forward). This helps you engage your hamstrings/glutes more and will guard against knee injuries.

I would not suggest a smith machine. It will totally screw up your form and in itself is more dangerous to your lower back because people tend to lean backwards or forwards to be able to compensate for weaknesses.

What I would suggest is getting a foam roller (you can get them at Target) and rolling the area (and all along the outside of your upper leg as well) daily. Rolling my IT band, the inside of my knee, and my hip flexors did wonders for my squat.

I suspect it might be a one time thing though, I have minor aches and pains that come randomly and go away just as randomly all the time.

Good luck.
posted by wolfkult at 6:45 PM on June 6

The muscle that *might* be sore is the peroneus longus. It has the action of raising the outside of your foot relative to the inside. If you're squatting, and perhaps pushing more with the inside of your right foot (or if you can feel yourself pushing off with your big toe), the peroneus might be firing in order to keep your foot flat on the floor.

Of course, I am not your gym instructor.

Get someone to check your form, especially your foot placement and knee action.
posted by flutable at 7:33 PM on June 6

Okay, thanks all. It doesn't seem to be a stress fracture. I'm already using Rippetoe. I'll keep to just the bar or maybe even a broomstick for a while until I'm sure the form and foot placement is right, and I'll try stretching regularly or look into the foam roller. Thanks again.
posted by stopgap at 7:59 PM on June 6

I'm no expert but I've been getting over an inflammation of my peroneus ligament and found that trying to push off while my foot is over extended gives it the most trouble (ie-letting my foot stay flat on the ground too long before pushing off). You might be lifting your heels a bit at the start of the lift when your ankles are bent the most.
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:55 PM on June 6

Are you warming up by using the treadmill for at least 10 minutes? That will get that muscle area ready for squats, also maybe do 5 minutes of cycling. I was a competitive powerlifter, and these were absolute requirements my trainer insisted upon.
posted by ~Sushma~ at 8:36 AM on June 7

In case it needs to be repeated, do not use the Smith Machine, it's not going to help. It's hard to tell if you're doing something wrong without a video. I don't think you are, necessarily. Foam rolling is a good suggestion, as is warming up. Rippetoe recommends the rower for general warmup, but almost any light activity will do.
posted by ludwig_van at 7:04 PM on June 7