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How Andy fixed his knee pain and added 100kg to his deadlift

  • Writer: cillianoconnor94
    cillianoconnor94
  • Sep 26, 2024
  • 2 min read

Updated: Jun 24



In this article, I'm going to break down how my client Andy was able to to fix his knee pain, and more than double his strength on the deadlift.


How Andy started


Andy came to me with a knee injury he had been suffering from for many years, and a plateau in his strength progress.


His knee pain had dented his confidence with activities he loved like climbing and cycling. Dancing on nights out was starting to feel like a knee injury waiting to happen.


This had caused a plateau in his strength and muscle progress. He was only deadlifting about 60-70kg, and struggling to achieve callisthenic goals like a pistol squat and a muscle up.




Andy started at 60kg, and worked his way up to 160kg. He has since gone on to do 180kg!



Andy's results


Within a few months, Andy's knee pain was no longer a hinderance. He had even unlocked the ability to do a full range of motion pistol / single leg squat, something he never thought possible.


Less than a year later, he had deadlifted 160kg with ease, twice his bodyweight at the time.


He had also gained enough strength to get his first muscle up, and do multiple pistol squats on each leg (lifelong goals for him).




Andy's original pistol range of motion, versus where he got to!



How we did it



Progressive loading and poking into pain


We carefully and progressively loaded the areas that Andy found most worrisome for his knee. This is the only way to build true resilience and confidence in the joint.


This meant making gradual increases in load for exercises like deep squats and lunges, as well as training the supporting musculature like the hamstrings and glutes with jefferson curls, leg curls, RDLs etc.


As this became manageable, we introduced more advanced exercise like plyometrics (jumps, hops, bounds, etc.)



Exposing Andy to challenging positions for the knee (like deep lunges)

has been key for building strength and confidence.



Consistency


Andy rarely if ever missed sessions. After showing he could execute 2 days per week with >90% consistency for about 6 weeks, I then moved him to three times per week. You simply cannot underestimate the importance of showing up week in and week out for rehabbing and gaining strength. We have always stuck to the number of days that Andy can do with 90% compliance or more.


When life has got busy, the plan has adapted to suit it.




Andy achieving his first ever muscle up


Protein


We discovered that a major gap in Andy's current approach was his nutrition, where he was at least 20 grams below the minimum RDA for protein.


We slowly and sustainably implemented habits to get his daily protein intake to 100+ grams per day, which was when he really started to see his results skyrocket.


As you can tell, we are both fantasy fans / nerds



Want to get results like Andy?


I help normal guys get seriously strong and out of pain, without overthinking everything and spinning their wheels.


If you’re stuck, I can help. Let’s build a plan that actually gets you there - and makes you feel confident under the bar.


📩 Book a 1:1 coaching consult here


 
 
 

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