Squats and proper position

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capriqueen
capriqueen Posts: 974 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have noticed that squats are affecting my knees quite badly.
I am following all the rules: I'm avoiding rounding my back, I'm making sure I don't bend my kness beyond toes. However, I still feel terribly sore--does this mean I'm not squatting right, or do squats affect knees in general?

Also, could it be that this means I'm not exercising the right muscle groups?

Replies

  • Bakkasan
    Bakkasan Posts: 1,027 Member
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    My wife has great form and it messes with her knees too so she uses the leg press instead.
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
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    I have noticed that squats are affecting my knees quite badly.
    I am following all the rules: I'm avoiding rounding my back, I'm making sure I don't bend my kness beyond toes. However, I still feel terribly sore--does this mean I'm not squatting right, or do squats affect knees in general?

    Also, could it be that this means I'm not exercising the right muscle groups?

    are you doing them at home or in the gym? Are they body weight squats or weighted squats? Are you stretching afterwards?

    I do mine in the gym, and probably once a month I have the trainer or fitness monitor check my form to make sure it is still OK.

    I do both body weight squats and barbell squats.

    I noticed a MAJOR reduction in soreness once I started stretching my leg muscles after my workouts...
  • jpierc
    jpierc Posts: 31 Member
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    In my completely uneducated and knuckle-head way of thinking, squats should not hurt your knees if done properly unless you have some type of form issue or physical misalignment.

    What about your foot position? I find my stance was very wide and that caused some issues in my knees. Also, watch how wide/open you point your toes. Initially, my stance looked like a penguin with my feet well beyond shoulder width and my toes pointed at about 50 degrees from straight ahead. I have found that if I tighten up my stance a bit (now roughly shoulder width, maybe a touch beyond that) and point my toes more forward (closer to 30 degrees open), I have less issues with my knees.

    My other issue was that my knees tend to cave inwards at heavy weights. I have to consciously press my knees out to keep things as they should be.

    You may not have any of these issues, but these are the things I experienced and how I have attempted to correct them. I hope it helps.
  • Bumbeen
    Bumbeen Posts: 263 Member
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    Are you going deep enough? Have a photo posted.
  • jayche
    jayche Posts: 1,128 Member
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    It's terribly hard to work something other than your legs while doing squats even with the most atrocious form out there. You mentioned two different things, soreness and knee pain, which is it? Muscle soreness after squats isn't a rare thing at all, the joint pain you mentioned (at the knee) would probably raise concern are you sure it's at your joint and not at the muscle right above it?
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    I'm making sure I don't bend my kness beyond toes.

    This could be your issue right here......not letting your knees extend past your toes is a myth, and a bad one at that. Your knees naturally go over your toes when doing everyday activities such as walking up stairs, forcing them to stay back forces you into an unnatural position

    http://www.liftbigeatbig.com/2012/09/dont-let-your-knees-go-past-your-toes.html
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
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    It's difficult without a video or something, but I'd first suspect that perhaps a twisting force is being applied to your knees. Make sure that your toes are pointing in the direction that your knees are as you bend your knees, to make sure they track along the path your toes point.
    Make sure your knees don't buckle in or out at any stage of the lift. In short, ensure your 'hinge joint' knees are only being asked to simply hinge.
  • theologynerd
    theologynerd Posts: 264 Member
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    My weak spot is letting my knees tip inward when I do my squats. Keeping them apart is where I mess up if I'm not paying attention, and then I will get knee pain from that. I don't hear people talk about that when they discuss form, I hear about keeping the back straight, how far down they go, foot position, etc. Those are all important, but maybe check to make sure that your knees aren't trying to sneak in when you go from the squat to standing.
  • capriqueen
    capriqueen Posts: 974 Member
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    It's terribly hard to work something other than your legs while doing squats even with the most atrocious form out there. You mentioned two different things, soreness and knee pain, which is it? Muscle soreness after squats isn't a rare thing at all, the joint pain you mentioned (at the knee) would probably raise concern are you sure it's at your joint and not at the muscle right above it?

    Thanks for replying, everyone.

    The muscle above my knee is sore, true. But my right knee joint actually aches, as opposes to my left knee muscles, which have dull aches and stronger soreness. In fact, I don't feel so much soreness in my glutes and hamstrings, which I thought would be exercised.
    @theologynerd: I do keep my knees apart, I go down to perhaps half my height. Whatis it about knees sneaking in when going from squat to standing?
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    You need to really push your knees out and not let them collapse in as much as you can, You should aim to get you quads parallel to the ground or below ( see '*kitten* to grass' squats).
  • Strength2Succeed
    Strength2Succeed Posts: 126 Member
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    bump
  • Frazzlenz
    Frazzlenz Posts: 32 Member
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    My bootcamp trainer says in additional to not letting your knees go over your toes you should turn your knees out and put your weight on your heels so you can wiggle your toes. Oh yes and toes pointing forward.

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