Squatting and knee pain

Upstate_Dunadan

Myth. Letting your knees pass your toes keeps the tension on the quads. Not letting them pass will shift it to the low back and hips.

Watch yourself climb stairs. Bet your knee goes past your toes.

I consider myself widely read, and I've never seen this myth discussed. But, some quick searching seems to indicate you are correct. Thanks for the education. Here is the explanation of how this has gotten so garbled -

What we really are trying to avoid here is excessive (there's that word again) forward travel of the lower leg. This is simply an issue of improper squatting mechanics, and not the knees over the toes. Length of levers and positions vary too much amongst individuals to make this a good guideline.

One less thing to stress over on squatting day

dvflyer

Forgot to add that I find my knees hurt more if I've been sitting for longer periods of time during the day. If I get up from my desk and stretch/ flex my legs now and then, I have almost no pain.

Emilia777

HamsterManV2 wrote: »

YOU HAVE TO GO TO PARALLEL OR LOWER TO AVOID KNEE PAIN WITH SQUATS

...

Good luck!

for using Starting Strength . OP, I’d also highly recommend you use a foam roller on your IT bands, and maybe look into a hip/psoas stretch. These are some things that I think have helped me with knee pain.

ninerbuff

sm4astan wrote: »

Myth. Letting your knees pass your toes keeps the tension on the quads. Not letting them pass will shift it to the low back and hips.

Watch yourself climb stairs. Bet your knee goes past your toes.

I consider myself widely read, and I've never seen this myth discussed. But, some quick searching seems to indicate you are correct. Thanks for the education. Here is the explanation of how this has gotten so garbled -

What we really are trying to avoid here is excessive (there's that word again) forward travel of the lower leg. This is simply an issue of improper squatting mechanics, and not the knees over the toes. Length of levers and positions vary too much amongst individuals to make this a good guideline.

One less thing to stress over on squatting day

Trust that I also adhered to that thinking because peers around me (trainers) were harping on it when I was a "newbie" trainer. Then I actually continued my studies in physiology and kinesiology and found out it was incorrect. It's always good to get correct information.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

skeo

Tagging this! Hamster presented some visuals that will help me explain to my friends who think squatting a quarter of the way down is the way to go because ...I don't even know why.

psuLemon

Don't mind me, just cleaning up the nonsense.



And in to learn more about better squats.