Been lifting casually for a few years but really got into it around 2016-17 which was when I made my best gains; from 150lbs at 6’1” to 175-180lbs.

I began focusing on legs since it’s easy for me to develop my upper body while my quads and hams were slow to catch up. I could squat heavy and walk away without pain and problem free until I met a guy in the gym who suggested I change my form, spread my feet further and push my knees outward to keep them from going over my toes.

After a while I would feel an intense pain in my right knee that’ll sometimes shoot down to my shin but it’d go away after a while with some rest. Because of this pain I did some more research, realized that advice was phucking stupid and switched back to how I squatted before. But the damage, whatever exactly it was, had already been done. One day the pain in my knee got so bad I had to limp back to my car and it was never the same again.

Since then I’ve only managed to do body weight exercises for my legs but I would still feel mild discomfort in the knee. Even when standing, doing nothing, I notice almost all of my weight is shifted to my left foot. With that in mind, is there a way past this if I want to get back into the gym? Will seeing a doc do any good at this point? Are there any leg developing/strengthening exercises that are easy on the knees? Or should I just forget about leg day forever?



Cliffs
-Op’s knee hurts
-Can’t squat anymore
-Plz help opie