...Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes
Welcome to another Technical Tuesday! This week, let’s talk about your knees…where should they go when you are squatting?
When performing a squat, a cue you should always remember is to have them track over your toes. For some people, when sitting into a squat their knees will tend to bow inward, a condition we refer to as knee valgus. This is regardless of whether your feet are parallel, pointing out or in a wide stance like a sumo squat. You can check this by taking a video of yourself performing a squat with your arms overhead. Watch your knees: do they cave in? Do they wobble in and out during the movement? If the answer is yes, here are a few things you can start doing:
1) Stretch out your legs, including your TFL/IT band, outer quad, and inner thighs. These muscles tend to be overactive and pull the knees inward for a movement.
2) Strengthen your glute med and glute min by doing exercises such as banded walks and lateral leg lifts. These muscles help stabilize the knee and when they are underactive, lead to a lot of knee pain and injuries.
3) Pay attention to your squatting position! Slow down your squat when you lower down; try doing it to a four count and really focus on keeping your knees tracking over the toes.
Note: If you’re having issues, you may want to talk to a physical therapist.
Okay, so now the big question…can your knees go over your toes in a squat? For many years, we’ve heard trainers say to keep your knees behind your toes. Why? Well, a study way back in the day (click here for a video that talks all about this) showed that people who squatted with their knee going over the toe placed more stress on their knees. And apparently people ran with that advice: knees past toes = BAD.
But something else happens when you restrict your knees in a squat…you end up putting a LOT more strain on your hips and lower back. In fact, while knee strain increased by 28% by having the knee extend beyond the toes, back strain increased by 1000% when you kept your knees behind the toes. Yikes! In reality, your bones contribute to how your knees bend…if you have long limbs, there’s no way your body can really help keep your knees back; you’re just not built that way. And that is OKAY!
Instead of focusing on your knees going past your toes, what you should be watching for is whether your heels lift off of the ground during the squat. Doing this often causes you to lean forward more, again placing stress on your lower back. If this is happening, you can try placing something sturdy under your heels to allow them to maintain contact with the ground, thus making you more stable and allowing you to keep your torso more upright. However, you may want to work more on the root cause: your ankles are tight! The reason your heels lift is because you’re limited in dorsiflexion, or pulling your toes towards your shin. Working on improving range of motion can, over time, help you keep your heels down and help you perform a better squat.
So, the takeaways:
1) Regardless of how your feet are positioned, make sure your knees track over the toes instead of wobbling or falling inward.
2) When performing a squat, don’t fret if your knees go past your toes; this is natural.
3) Make sure that your heels stay on the ground during the squat.
Check out my YouTube video before for more!
References:
https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/blog/562/is-it-ever-okay-for-your-knees-to-extend-beyond-your-toes-while-doing-squats-or-lunges/
NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training, Sixth Edition