Topic: knees

[Nick Albert]

Ive heard through a couple doctors and other people that doing full squats are bad for your knees. I dont agree cus every olympic lifter does full squats and ive never heard of any that got surgery on there knee's from it. but my gf's dad did squats wrong and had to get surgery....so whats up with the whole knee thing?

[Matt Denslinger]

Ive heard through a couple doctors and other people that doing full squats are bad for your knees. I dont agree cus every olympic lifter does full squats and ive never heard of any that got surgery on there knee's from it. but my gf's dad did squats wrong and had to get surgery....so whats up with the whole knee thing?

Any type of squat can potentially be bad for your knees...If you are doing improper form you can damage your knees. Muscular imbalances can cause knee pain too. So there are a couple factors that can potentially cause knee problems, however proper squatting itself doesn't cause pain.

[Paul LaDuke]

I would ask your doctors for research that backs up this claim.  Make sure you ask in an inquisitive way, not confrontational.  I would really like to see this research.  This idea has been tossed around for years but I have never seen any that proves it.  I would love to ask one of these doctors how many people that they have seen with significant injury to the knee that they could directly link to a squat.  I would also love to ask them the same of the bench press.  I would bet you would see more from the bench and very few from the squat.

Anecdotally, I have taught the parallel squat for years but never even seen a knee injury from the squat other than muscle soreness.  You could get tendinitis, but that goes away and doesn't lead to long term damage.  I also work with several orthopedic surgeons and their opinions are that the squat is a safe exercise when performed correctly.

Matt is right, you can get injured if you perform the squat incorrectly.  This is true of any exercise.  I would even venture to say that the bench press has more injuries than the squat.  And long term heavy benchers are almost guaranteed bad shoulders, but squatters aren't guaranteed bad knees.  And the benchers will harm their shoulders using proper form!

Bottom line, squats are healthy when done correctly.

[Karoliina Lundahl]

I cannot provide you with scientific research on the topic but I can tell you shortly about our findings amongst top Finnish throwers and weightlifters over the years.

The throwers had more knee problems than the weightlifters because the Finnish Track Federation at one point supported squatting only half way down to avoid injuries. The weightlifters have always done full squats and lifted much more tonnage but have had less knee problems.

We believe the stress in the knee joint is less when the joint performs a full motion, ie. a full squat. When the squat is taken only half way down and a change of direction is performed, in our opinion, this causes more stress in the joint. The muscles must work hard to stop the downward movement and make a change in direction without the help of the natural movement of the turn in the deep squat position.

I have personal experience from this. I did mainly half squats because I started out as a thrower in the Finnish system. In 1991 my knees were very bad and the thought of having to quit sports was a viable option. Then I began training with weightlifting coach Jaakko Kailajarvi (he's the weightlifting guru in Finland), who immediately corrected my squats from half squats to PROPER full squats. I was able to add 12 years to my sports career.

On the topic of avoiding knee injuries remember to ice, get frequent rub offs/massages of the thigh and knee joint, know what your limit is, squat with proper technique and after taking time off start loading the bar slowly to strengthen your ligaments (the muscles tend to recover faster from time taken off than ligaments - sorry, no scientific proof). If one wants to excell in weightlifting, ONE MUST SQUAT. So do your best to avoid injuries, learn to know your body and how much stress it can take!

[Matt Denslinger]

We believe the stress in the knee joint is less when the joint performs a full motion, ie. a full squat. When the squat is taken only half way down and a change of direction is performed, in our opinion, this causes more stress in the joint. The muscles must work hard to stop the downward movement and make a change in direction without the help of the natural movement of the turn in the deep squat position.

I was reading that half/quarter squats don't properly load the joint to help strengthen it to the increasing loads. Also the knees don't like torque too much.

Full squats load the joint so synovail (sp?) fluid can get in and get nutrients to joint. (I think that's right)

Weak hamstrings can cause knee problems too. That's why women are more prone to ACL injuries. Their hamstrings cannot contract with enough force to protect the joint. I forget the technical reasoning, something about muscle insertion maybe?

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

I think another primary reason ACL injuries are more common in women is their wider hips.