I want to talk about my knee.
My knee has been on my mind a lot lately because I sustained a non-gym-related injury this past June. This injury resulted in a torn meniscus. Unfortunately for all of you, my marketing manager firmly insisted (with love and exasperation) that nobody cares about the epic tale involving either the circumstance of the injury, nor my fruitless efforts to fix it on my own (if you are interested, however, be on the lookout for my impending dramatic screenplay).
But okay, here’s the CliffNotes version - I have a torn meniscus, and I want to not have a torn meniscus. So, I was recently referred to a local sports medicine specialist. Finally. When I go to see this specialist, this medical doctor, this pantomath of human performance, he asks me to demonstrate a squat for him. After showing him two (flawless, probably) air squats, here’s what he tells me - “Well there’s your problem right there. Humans aren’t meant to squat that low (as in below parallel), and your knees should never go forward near your toes.”
Team, it is no exaggeration that I started to get tunnel vision at this point. I think my frontal lobe temporarily shut down. I could not believe what I was hearing from this doctor of sports medicine. Now remember that I had gone temporarily brain-dead with indignance and rage, so unfortunately the best retort I could come up with at the time was, “I don’t agree.” But now that I've had a few days to think about it, I want to very (very very) briefly refute these two claims.
Humans shouldn’t squat below parallel.
First, let me make one thing clear - every able-bodied person who is not managing an injury should have the capability to perform a bodyweight squat to full depth. Full stop. That being said, an athlete’s current mobility and injury history also need to be taken into account when determining optimal squat depth. Often athletes will ignore pain in their pursuit of gains, which of course is a direct path to sport-related injury. For example, if an athlete is already injured or has poor movement patterns, and has knee pain as a result, deep squats may not be the best choice while healing and improving techniques. The depth of the squat should be limited to a pain-free ROM if we want to stay healthy and remain injury-free.
Furthermore, as mentioned above, squat depth should also be limited if the movement cannot be performed with good technique. Poor movement only increases our risk for injury, especially as we increase weight and repetitions. You can only lift so much weight poorly for so long before your body sustains an injury.
Now let me be clear, squatting below parallel (with good technique and without pain) should be the expectation and the goal. Full-depth squats are not only one of the most basic human movements (akin to standing and walking), but they will build a stronger low back, improve knee strength and stability, improve and help maintain mobility, and improve and maintain pelvic floor strength (particularly crucial for women, especially those who have or who plan to give birth).
The knees shouldn’t go forward of the toes.
I will concede that many athletes who squat poorly by moving their knees forward first will often develop pain. However, limiting the knees from moving excessively forward only addresses the symptoms of a bigger problem, not the problem itself. The issue is actually with balance.
One of the facts of squatting is that our center of gravity should remain over the middle of our foot. This allows our body to remain balanced, work efficiently, and limit excessive strain on any given joint. During a bodyweight squat, our center of gravity is located around our belly button. When weight training, however, the barbell becomes the center of gravity. The efficiency and safety of our movement is partially dictated by how well we can maintain this center of gravity over the middle of our foot.
When the knees hinge forward too early in the squat, the athlete’s center of gravity can be shifted forward onto the balls of their feet. In this circumstance, the cue to limit the knees from moving forward is most often correcting for an earlier problem and has to do with ensuring the athlete stays balanced. Additionally, the cue to limit the knees from moving forward only works to a point. In order to reach full depth safely in the squat (which should be the goal, as discussed above), there comes a time when the knees must eventually move forward. The deeper we squat, the more our knees will have to move forward in order to remain balanced. This fact is because, in order to reach full depth in the squat, the hips must eventually be pulled under the torso. This allows us to remain balanced and keep our chest upright. Because the knee is a hinge joint that moves based on what happens at the hip and ankle, it will be forced forward at this point. Because of this, it is very normal for athletes to have their knees move forward past their toes.
Even though this blog could be a textbook (and in fact, there are several great textbooks dedicated to these very subjects), I hope you feel a little more confident in disagreeing the next time you are told you shouldn’t let your hips go low and your knees go forward. Keep an eye on your technique, listen to your pain, and then feel comfortable telling the haters to fuck all the way off.