Sunday, September 15, 2013
30 Days of Squat! (Day 15) - Reasons Why People Shouldn't Squat
I enjoy the lists put up by Movement Restoration Project on Facebook - very clear, easy to understand, and fun to look at.
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3 comments:
I've read in many places than when squatting, knees should not go past the toes. This seems mechanically impossible to me without falling on your ass. And looking at post 1's right photo, the knees are way past the toes. Can you explain what people mean when they say this?
Hi Peter,
For example, if you maximize ankle and knee flexion, and the knees track straight forward, you will be in a full squat position, but the hips will not be anywhere close to full flexion. I talk about this briefly in Squat Rx #4.
It depends on the person but, generally speaking, it's fine if the knees track forward of the toes a little. BUT, if you do everything you can (consciously or unconsciously) to minimize hip involvement in the squat, then the ankles and knees are going to have to make up for that and, over time, this might not be the best...
I don't know if that answers the question. Let me know.
Peter, there's little research (to my knowledge) which actually backs up the claim of not allowing the knees past the toes - however, unfortunately, it continues to be propagated. Near as I can tell, it started with a poorly designed study by Klein in the mid-60's, which he later himself refuted (all of this, and more, was covered by Brad Schoenfield in an NSCA Hot Topic article a few years back). Assuming you can maintain neutral hips, and have the requisite ankle mobility to keep your feet flat while squatting deep, there shouldn't be an issue.
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