Squat Without Knee Pain

Squat Without Knee Pain

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If you are one of the thousands of weight trainers all over the world that gets sore knees from squatting then you should take a few minutes to enlighten yourself about some facts that may help to alleviate any knee problems in the future.

When doing a squat your technique or form that you use to do a squat is everything in this movement which is called the king of all exercises. Many bodybuilders fall into the trap of only looking at their form in the mirror while squatting and this can seriously affect your centre of gravity.

Knee problems will start for a number of complicated reasons but if you are squatting with your weight too far forward when you are at the bottom of a squat then it is only a matter of time before you start getting knee trouble. Your centre of gravity needs to be directly over the middle of your feet.

You need to be able to push from your heels and to feel the weight in your heels and not your toes. If the weight is resting on your toes or the front of your feet you will be putting too much stress on the musculature that is around the knee, instead of the hip joint where it should be.

Probably the most common mistake when squatting is to start the squat by bending the knees and not the hips. If you are not using sufficient hip movement then your squat will definitely be coming too far forward when you are at the bottom of the squat.

Another good reason why one could get knee pain when squatting is when your knees go over the point of your toes when squatting. But it is also very common to see people squatting without pushing the knees out enough so that too much of the lower back is used as well as too much stress directly on the knee joint.

Some people seem to work against themselves by slightly rotating or shifting the weight that they have on their shoulders directly on to one leg more than the other. This is obviously going to cause some serious imbalance and possible rupture of a ligament if you squat heavy.

There are quite a few ways that you can correct your technique to avoid any knee injuries in the future. From using a squat box or a bench so that you can concentrate on your form and it will allow you to adjust the height to suit a parallel or higher type of squat to see where your knee hurts the most.

It is however a good idea to first get a friend to video your squat from the side and from behind so that you can examine your form correctly. Another possible solution is to hold a weight in front of you to act as a counterbalance while you squat and make a difference to your form by helping you sit back into the squat a lot more effectively.

If you have a problem in getting your knees out when you squat you could also use a band around your knees which will offer you some resistance to push against in order to encourage your hips to do most of the work while you are squatting which is how you should squat.

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