There are a few old ideas and myths that come up in the clinic, which we often have to spend a good chunk of time re-educating about. A few of which relate to how you should squat.
The two main ones which we’d like to bust with this blog are:
“You should never let your knees go over your toes”
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“You need to squat with your feet and knees straight forward, or in line with the hips”
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These misconceptions are based on some old research, but as we know, research is continuously being updated and improved on. These ideas have since been found to not be true as a blanket statement.
If you have been told and believe either of these things, this blog is to free you from these ideas and give you permission to move and squat how your body was designed to!
Lets break them down:
Myth 1. “You should never let your knees go over your toes”
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In short, in healthy populations, it is completely fine, and actually good for your knee joints and muscles to move and get stronger throughout their whole range of movement.
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It can also help improve your squat technique by allowing you to distribute your weight better. Without bending your knees enough you have to compensate by either leaning forward or excessively bending the hips to get your full depth squat.
Your body is designed to squat low - think of the movements of a child, almost everyone in Asia, or you, when camping and nature calls! (Possibly not quite as comfortable looking, yet!)
Watch this video to see the difference:⠀
We will say though, if you have been avoiding this for a while, you’ll need to slowly re-introduce it so your knees have time to adapt to moving into a range they are unaccustomed to.
Myth 2. “You need to squat with your feet and knees straight forward, or in line with the hips”
Everyone’s hip joints are a slightly different shape, check out these two femur (thigh) bones to see what we mean!
This means your squat will look different depending on your body’s anatomy.
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Forcing your knees/feet to move straight forward when your body and bones aren’t designed to is often a reason for finding the whole experience difficult, “pinchy in the hips” or uncomfortable, no matter how much mobility work you do!⠀
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Watch this video for the difference in ability to squat to full depth with the feet and knees in line with the hips vs wider than the hips.
In short, the best position is whatever is most comfortable for you, and whatever is best for you to produce force (lift heavy things). ⠀
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We suggest playing with a few variations of foot width/turn out and see what works best for you in terms of comfort/force production. Generally it’s best to pick somewhere in the middle of your ideal range (not too wide/narrow) so you have room to move either in or out if required, or to land slightly wider for our olympic weightlifters.
Please note that if you have been told to squat in a particular way for a specific medical reason, then please carry on with whatever works for you!
Still stuck? Let us help you.
Formotion Physio is a boutique Physiotherapy practice based in West Perth & Osborne Park, Western Australia
By Lucia Tennant
Physiotherapist and Founder of Formotion Physio
BSc Physiotherapy