muscles both medial and lateral to the femurs. But this problem cannot be corrected if it is not identified. When you squat, look down even more than usual, to a point on the floor right between your toes, where you can clearly see your knees, and check your position. If your knees move toward each other at any point during the squat, shove them out. You will probably have to exaggerate this shoving-out in order for it to put your knees in the correct position, since you thought they were in the right position when they were coming in. When you get them back out to parallel with your feet and keep them there for a couple of sets, you will notice later that your adductors, and perhaps your most lateral glutes, get sore. From our previous discussion, you know why.
Figure 2-46. (A) The knees-in position most people will assume unless coached to do otherwise. (B) The way to coach knees-out.
Letting your knees travel too far forward presents a different challenge. The problem with this position is not so much that it destroys the knees (although it is not particularly good for them), but that it has a detrimental effect on hip drive out of the bottom. A knees-forward position produces a more acute knee angle, and the resultant distally shortened hamstrings have less room to contract from the other end. When the hamstrings are already contracted, their contribution to hip extension is much less efficient than it would be with longer, stretched-out hamstrings. It also means that there is more moment force against the ankle/mid-foot balance point because of the more horizontal angle of the tibia. The obvious consequence of this difference in hamstring utilization and lower-leg mechanics is that less weight can be used. This is what happens in the front squat.
To maintain the vertical back angle required by the bar position, you must close the knee angle and open the hip angle; the front squat therefore involves inherently shorter hamstrings in the bottom position. A primary difference between the front squat and the squat is that the knees drive forward in the front squat. And if the knee angle gets too closed, some of the knee problems inherent in the front squat – the impingement of the posterior aspect of the meniscal cartilages between the acutely squeezed femoral and tibial condyles – start to show up where they shouldn’t. The cause of this knee-position error is often an incorrect understanding of where the back should be in the squat.
If your concept of the low-bar back squat involves a mental image of your doing the movement with your back in a vertical position, your perception of what you’re supposed to be doing is wrong, and it will cause your knees to be too far forward. If your torso is too vertical, your knees will be forced forward to maintain the bar/mid-foot balance position. The layman’s advice to “lift with your legs, not your back” might be part of the problem because most people interpret this advice as involving a vertical torso and the legs pushing the floor.
Figure 2-47. Quite often, the mental image of the squat involves a vertical torso like a front squat, a position that kills posterior chain involvement. The correct back angle is horizontal enough that efficient hip-drive mechanics are used, and this back angle awareness involves the correct mental image of where your torso actually is during the squat. Don’t be afraid to lean over, sit back, and shove your knees out.
The saying should be “lift with your hips, not your back,” because “lifting with your back” is what happens when you bend over to pick something up and round your spine into flexion. Leaning over is a normal part of the squat; it is required if the bar is to remain in balance over your mid-foot. The correct mental picture, discussed below , usually fixes this problem.
If it doesn’t, there are other things that can get the knees back. If the weight is on the heels during the squat, the knees can’t be too
Figure 2-46. (A) The knees-in position most people will assume unless coached to do otherwise. (B) The way to coach knees-out.
Letting your knees travel too far forward presents a different challenge. The problem with this position is not so much that it destroys the knees (although it is not particularly good for them), but that it has a detrimental effect on hip drive out of the bottom. A knees-forward position produces a more acute knee angle, and the resultant distally shortened hamstrings have less room to contract from the other end. When the hamstrings are already contracted, their contribution to hip extension is much less efficient than it would be with longer, stretched-out hamstrings. It also means that there is more moment force against the ankle/mid-foot balance point because of the more horizontal angle of the tibia. The obvious consequence of this difference in hamstring utilization and lower-leg mechanics is that less weight can be used. This is what happens in the front squat.
To maintain the vertical back angle required by the bar position, you must close the knee angle and open the hip angle; the front squat therefore involves inherently shorter hamstrings in the bottom position. A primary difference between the front squat and the squat is that the knees drive forward in the front squat. And if the knee angle gets too closed, some of the knee problems inherent in the front squat – the impingement of the posterior aspect of the meniscal cartilages between the acutely squeezed femoral and tibial condyles – start to show up where they shouldn’t. The cause of this knee-position error is often an incorrect understanding of where the back should be in the squat.
If your concept of the low-bar back squat involves a mental image of your doing the movement with your back in a vertical position, your perception of what you’re supposed to be doing is wrong, and it will cause your knees to be too far forward. If your torso is too vertical, your knees will be forced forward to maintain the bar/mid-foot balance position. The layman’s advice to “lift with your legs, not your back” might be part of the problem because most people interpret this advice as involving a vertical torso and the legs pushing the floor.
Figure 2-47. Quite often, the mental image of the squat involves a vertical torso like a front squat, a position that kills posterior chain involvement. The correct back angle is horizontal enough that efficient hip-drive mechanics are used, and this back angle awareness involves the correct mental image of where your torso actually is during the squat. Don’t be afraid to lean over, sit back, and shove your knees out.
The saying should be “lift with your hips, not your back,” because “lifting with your back” is what happens when you bend over to pick something up and round your spine into flexion. Leaning over is a normal part of the squat; it is required if the bar is to remain in balance over your mid-foot. The correct mental picture, discussed below , usually fixes this problem.
If it doesn’t, there are other things that can get the knees back. If the weight is on the heels during the squat, the knees can’t be too
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