Leg Pain and Alternate Exercises

Hi everybody,

I will try to keep it short and sweet.

I compound fractured my tibia/ fibia in 2016 and ended up with a rod and some screws in my leg. I got into lifting and subsequently using barbell med templates later in 2019 and trained very consistently without leg pain through the beginning of 2020 where I began to feel some very slight pain in my leg when squatting heavy. My training faltered due to the pandemic, but my pain has trended up even when not training (walking has intermittent pain). Squatting has become painful and re-racking the bar feels unsteady and painful. I am waiting for my referral to an ortho doc since this has become a long term problem and hasn’t improved over time. Hopefully the doc can help until then I am looking for some advice to work around my leg pain.

I am hoping for some suggestions on exercises I can use to train legs in place of squats? I plan to continue to try to squat and see if it improves, but am hopeful I there is another movement I can use to train my legs more effectively than I can doing squats. I have a home gym with a weight rack etc. if that helps with recommendations.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

I agree with your plan to consult with your physician. If their evaluation is unrevealing, a consult with our team may also be helpful.

Aside from bilateral squatting with a straight bar, you can try any sort of unilateral movement (e.g., split squats, lunges, box step-ups) or machine work (leg press, belt squat, leg extension/curl), although of course the latter may require venturing out of your home gym environment.