The king of exercises: “The Squat”
The squat is, perhaps, the single best exercise for leg strength and development AND for overall body development. It also scientifically proven that the squat is the exercise that burns the largest amount of calories, it also FORCES the body to secrete more GH and testosterone thus, keeping us younger healthier and more muscular.
As a trainer all these years I consider it to be the single most important exercise for my clients and myself. I don’t care how old you are, you have to squat in order to develop lower and upper body strength.
I’ve repeatedly helped people with knee surgeries and now they thank me for making their quadriceps so strong that their knees don’t take any weight, thus it’s like the surgery never happened.
Squatting significantly strengthens the muscles responsible for knee and hip extension: quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes, as well as the smaller stabilizing muscles such as the torso musculature. The squatting motion and position is also the foundation for many other exercises, such as deadlifts, Olympic lifts, and even every day lifting tasks. I think it is a very worthwhile task to learn how to squat, and anyone who can get out of a chair can do it. It has benefits not just for your strength, but for balance, confidence, daily-life strength, cardiovascular capacity, and active flexibility.
The Problem lies in the fact that the squat is more than often taught incorrectly, and it's stigmatized as difficult and dangerous. The so-called “experts“ warn that it is bad for your knees and back, inappropriate for beginners (or anyone not a male collegiate athlete), too hard to learn, blah blah the sky is falling, and all that scientifically WRONG bullshit ignorant jerks come up with.
So, let's go through all the BS we've heard about squatting, and destroy them once & for all!
BS #1: Squatting must not be done with a full range of motion or you will hurt your knees.
What a load of bollocks!
This is probably the worst myth of all. It's one of those "well known facts" which is mysteriously unsupported in the research (it's a well known fact that as soon as you say "it's a well known fact", you won't be able to back it up). According to this BS, full squats (a squat in which the knee joint is taken through a full range of motion, so that at the bottom the hamstrings make contact with the calves) are inherently dangerous, particularly to the knee joint.
While biomechanical research does support the fact that forces on the connective tissues of the knee increase with the knee angle, particularly on the posterior cruciate ligament, there is no evidence that these increased forces actually lead to injury. There is not a single evidence that full squatting causes or even exacerbates knee pain nor damage. I do not know of a single documented case where full squatting led directly to knee injury. Which is pretty amazing, considering that the clinical literature is positively littered with injury narratives. You'd think we'd see some evidence, but there is nothing, nada, zero. Studies of Olympic weightlifters and powerlifters, both of whom squat with heavy loads, show no increased risk of knee damage in either population. Olympic lifters, in particular, regularly drop to full depth under hundreds of pounds, perhaps as often a hundred times a week or more, for years, and yet their knees are healthier than those of people such as skiers, jumpers, or runners. No study, short or long term, has ever shown an increase in knee laxity from deep squatting.
"Anyone who says that full squats are 'bad for the knees' has, with that statement, demonstrated conclusively that they are not entitled to an opinion about the matter.
People who know nothing about a topic, especially a very technical one that requires specific training, knowledge, and experience, are not due an opinion about that topic and are better served by being quiet when it is asked about or discussed. For example, when brain surgery, or string theory, or the NFL draft, or women's dress sizes, or white wine is being discussed, I remain quiet... But seldom is this the case when orthopedic surgeons, athletic trainers, physical therapists, or nurses are asked about full squats. Most such people have absolutely no idea what a full squat even is, and they certainly have no concept of how it affects the knees, unless they have had additional training beyond their specialties, which for the professions mentioned does not include full squats. Because if these people knew anything about squatting and the difference between a full squat and any other kind of squat and what they do to the knees, they would know that 'full squats are bad for the knees' is wrong and thus would not be making such a ridiculous statement."
Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength, "Going Deep". Crossfit Journal September 2006: 6.
On the other hand there is strong evidence that full squat actually helps and supports knee stability.
Than of course happens because full squats are responsible of increasing strength, flexibility, balance and proprioception thus contributing on keeping the knees healthy.
Moreover, progressive overload (you begin with light loads and then gradually increasing the loads depending on the trainee’s ability) contributes in strenghtening of the connective tissue and muscles surrounding the joint.
The part that makes me laugh my ass off is the ignorant “experts” recommending squatting to parallel. Parallel means that the thigh is parallel to the floor, higher that the depth of a full squat by about 30°- 35°. The best part is that the compressive forces on the patella (kneecap) are actually at their PEAK when squatting to parallel (Huberti & Hayes, Journal of Bone Joint Surgery, 1984: 715-724). Decelerating, stopping, and reversing direction at this angle can inspire significant knee pain in even healthy people, whereas full squats present no problem.
Another exercise which is supposedly "safer" is the leg extension, even though patellar tension and shear forces on the knee joint are demonstrably higher with such an exercise as explained below.
Why are leg extensions hard on the knee joint?
To understand why this is, it is helpful to understand the concept of shear. Shear in this case just refers to a horizontal force on the joint. Imagine two cans stacked on top of one another, and imagine that a piece of masking tape joins them. Then, imagine what happens if you hold the top can still while you push the bottom can to one side. Eventually that tape will snap. This is a simplistic description of what happens to the knee joint in a leg extension.
In a leg extension machine, there is a pad against the front of your shin or ankle, and you press against it to move the weight. The foot swings upward in an arc. Thus, as you can see in the figure on the right, the pressure is coming across the shin bones, not along their length. This creates the problem in the knee joint as the shin is pressed backwards.
Leg extensions do have their place, usually in rehab. If the leg extension machine is used, it is wise to use a smaller range of motion, perhaps the top third of the movement (from slightly bent to fully straight leg), and light weight.
It is worthwhile at this point to comment on the things that actually do cause knee injury. The primary causes of knee injury involve:
- twisting under a load
- too much load
- landing unevenly from a jump, especially with straightened rather than bent legs (this is a big problem for folks like basketball and volleyball players)
- being in a situation where one part of the leg is held stationary while the other is moving (for example, stepping in a gopher hole while running: shin stays in place while the thigh keeps moving)
- impact to the knee (such as a hit from the side or front in football)
- squatting in a Smith machine which does not allow proper shifts in weight through the movement, and results in shear on knee and spine
In other words, knee injury usually results from varus or valgus force (twisting of the joint in either direction), inappropriate loading, or forcible shear across the joint. It does not occur simply from taking the knee joint through a full range of motion, using correct technique, and using a weight which is appropriate to the abilities of the trainee.
With all the above in mind it is essential to learn how to squat properly and with a way that meets your individual needs.
It is common to have difficulty with a full range of motion in the beginning. If knee pain is felt during the squatting motion, there are a few possible reasons. First, it is important to rule out existing pathology. Some people may indeed have knees that are so damaged that they are unable to squat, but this is rare (and these people are probably walking with a cane). In particular, full squatting is contraindicated for someone with an acute posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury, but these types of injuries are uncommon and usually result from something like a car accident. Someone who has rehabilitated a PCL injury can attempt full squats with light loading, and see how it goes. With correct loading and technique, anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) and medial cruciate ligament (MCL) injuries generally don't present a problem. Actually there are people who even missing an ACL on one knee, and have a reconstructed ACL on the other, and they full squat quite happily.
Some people may have irritation in the joint due to things like patellofemoral syndrome or age-related degeneration, and the goal initially should be to squat in a pain-free range, while aiming to increase that range and strengthen the muscles around the joint. Some people may experience pain due to poor technique, which includes allowing the knees to cave in or twisting during the ascent. In this case, the trainer should again establish probable cause and direct attention to remedial work (such as stretching and additional strengthening) in conjunction with improving pain-free range of motion and correct technique. However, do not do an exercise that causes you joint pain IF DONE CORRECTLY! Find the best possible alternative or modify the exercise...
We will continue with the BS in the next post, until then...
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