Squat Myths
There are many myths out there about squatting, especially squatting deep. It sure seems like any activity that is difficult has a group of people that try to find reasons why that activity shouldn’t be done, why it is bad for you. Luckily for people like me, who love squatting, there really is no evidence against it. There are great benefits that come from squatting and only squatting. But that doesn’t stop people from creating myths about the exercise. Here are a few of the myths and the reasons why each of them are not true.
The Myths
Myth #1: Deep Squats are Bad For Your Knees
Back in the 60’s, there was a publication called The Knee is Not for Bending. This article tried to make the point that squatting deep stretches the ligaments in your knees, and leads to a looser joint with more potential for injury. Luckily, these findings have never been reproduced since then. In fact, there has been multiple studies done that show the opposite. But even if the ligaments aren’t being stretched, there still are arguments about dangerous forces on the knee joint at the bottom of the deep squat. Once again, there is no evidence for this argument. The idea behind it is that amount of shear forces on the knee joint increase at the bottom of the squat, but it has been shown that there is no increase of shear forces past a 90° angle of the knee joint. There was even a study that showed that there was no more degenerative joint disease in weightlifters and powerlifters than the general population. Deep squats are completely safe.
Myth #2: Knees Going Past the Toes is Bad For Your Knees
I’ll be honest, I believed this one for a while. Turns out, however, it’s false. A correctly performed deep squat will most likely cause your knees to travel in front of your toes a little, this is normal and completely safe. If I were to guess, this myth got started with some physical therapist or doctor who was trying to explain the correct “hips first” approach. Squatting with a “knees first” approach (where your knees move first and travel very far forward) puts more stress on the joint and this should be avoided. A correctly performed deep squat will load the hips with the load, a “hips first” approach. This is performed by bringing your hips back first and then dropping your hips and bending your knees. As the body is brought down towards the bottom, the knees will need to travel forward to correctly distribute the weight and stay in a balanced position. There is nothing wrong with this. The problem comes from loading your knees at the beginning of the lift. But this isn’t because there is a problem at the knee joint, most likely the problem stems from a lack of ankle mobility that causes the lifter’s weight to shift forward, or a misunderstanding of how to squat. Just about every problem in a squat that is seen as a knee problem comes from either the hips or the ankles. Do your knees cave in? There probably is either a problem with your foot caving in or having weak abductors. Quit worrying about your knees, if your ankles and hips are performing their job the knees will go where they need to go. The knee is just a hinge joint between the ankle and hip, there isn’t much it can do on its own.
Myth #3: Squats are Bad For Your Back
If someone tells you that a squat was the reason that they injured their back or why they have chronic back pain, they squatted incorrectly. There is no more of a problem with squatting for your back as there is for your knees. A correctly performed deep squat will keep the spine in a safe neutral position. If the back caves in during a squat, that will put uneven forces on the vertebral discs and that is very bad. But if the spine stays in it’s correct position, the spine can handle the weight. It is designed to do so.
Myth #4: Your Toes Should Always be Pointed Forward
Squatting with your toes slightly pointed out is completely fine. A small rotation of the toes outward will lead to more hip adductor activation. More muscle activation means more muscle mass is being used in the movement. Any exercise that uses more muscle mass can be loaded with more weight. Turning your toes out can lead to performance increases. With that being said, everyone should be able to perform a non-weighted squat with the toes pointed forward. If there is a lack of mobility in the ankles or hips, that might prevent this from being possible and that can show a deficiency that needs to be addressed. But when the goal is to lift more weight, turning your toes out slightly might help your performance.
Go Ahead and Squat Deep and Gain All of The Benefits From It
Hopefully this shows that any worry about knee or back health from squatting has absolutely no basis and is not an issue as long as the lifter’s form is good. Instead of trying to find reasons why the squat shouldn’t be performed, it would be much better to focus on how to perform it correctly in a way that makes your body stronger and keeps it safe for the duration of the exercise.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23821469
http://www.si.com/vault/1962/03/12/591405/the-knee-is-not-for-bending
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2733579
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3752342
http://vbschools.net/moodle/pluginfile.php/7251/mod_resource/content/0/Squatting%20article.pdf
http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/2056.cfm
Pereira, GR, Leporace, G, Chagas, DV, Furtado, LFL, Praxedes, J, and Batista, LA. Influence of hip external rotation on…journals.lww.com
This article originally appeared on nicolasbolt.com
