Successful Squatting Part 2

Part 1 of Successful squatting discussed how to save your low back. Part 2 will save your knees. And it's not what you think.

Right now you expect me to say that the knees should never pass over the feet. Hogwash! This is flat out wrong. Almost every trainer in the world has repeated this mantra as if it were Gospel. The truth is that there is a study that says this MIGHT result in knee pain. The same research also suggests that if you limit how far forward your knees move, you are more likely to INJURE YOUR BACK. Pick your poison.

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c375/ff851b69346484952590c2d1185252d7792e.pdf

What you really should be looking out for is how far IN your knees might moving. Many people have tight hip adductors (groin) muscles, and others might have weak gluteus medius and minimus muscles, but proper positioning creates the better balance.

Look at yourself while squatting. It is not hard to see if the knees are collapsing inward, yet is an extremely common mistake. Knee pain is very likely to result. So make sure your shins are as vertical as possible.

If this seems impossible, try the stretch described below. Tight groin muscles might be preventing proper hip positioning, and thus preventing proper knee positioning.

The feet need to be as wide as you can, and and straight forward as you can. Any outward rotation of the feet will result in an ineffective stretch. Then shift your body to one side and hold for 2 seconds, then the other side and hold 2 seconds. Be sure not to hold your breath.

As I stated earlier, I often use the squat as an assessment tool for people with low back, hip or knee pain. Watch yourself in a mirror facing front to check the knees for buckling in. Then turn sideways to check for "bowing". You might be surprised what you find.

Successful Squatting

Squatting is not only a great exercise, it is also a great tool with which to measure your overall biomechanics. While many people can be found in gyms squatting in many different ways, we will focus on a basic (back) squat. This is where you put a bar across your shoulders behind your head. Truth be told, most people have such poor form, they should start with their own body weight anyway. However, a broomstick across the back can actually help you start off with the right form.

There are at least 2 very common mistakes made when squatting. One of them is adding a bow at the end of the squat. The squat movement should come from the hips and not the back. This means that the depth of your squat is dependent upon your hamstring flexibility. If your hamstrings are tight, only way to get low is to bow, or to round your lower back, or both. This happens by either the weight shifting forward, and/or with the lumbar spine going into flexion. Either one increases your chances for low back injury.

The best way to overcome these habits is to 1) make sure that your hamstrings are flexible and 2) only go as low as you can without leaning forward or rounding your back. If it so happens that you can only squat down 10 inches with good form, then that is as far as you should go.

Avoid the temptation to stretch the hamstrings by touching your toes. This movement involves rounding of the low back. Teach the body to use the hips by laying on your back and using a strap, cord or jump rope to wrap around the foot, and lift that leg as high as you can while keeping the knee straight. I prefer a two second hold. Repeat 10 times on each leg, and remember to not hold your breath.

The second common squatting mistake will be the topic of the next blog. Stay tuned!