If you have knee pain while squatting, try this:
Do your knees hurts while you try to squat? This is not uncommon. In fact, 25% of adults will experience knee pain at one point in their life. The causes are even more wide spread ranging from weak muscles, soft tissue injury or even arthritis.
Knee Pain Graphic
While we do not want to push through pain as that can cause more issues, we also do not want to just avoid exercise. For those with muscle imbalances, we will need to do some supplemental exercises to help but we still need to do the major lifts to get stronger. The squat is a primary lift that we regularly see programmed at most gyms, KFIT included. If you experience knee pain while squatting, our first step is to check form. While all bodies are unique in body ratios, the squat is generally set up with knees about hip distance apart, knees going same direction as the toes, lower hips and come straight back up to best posture. From there, we see if a weak link shows up.
1.Knees go in - This can be from some hip instability. Try a mini band above the knees while squatting. For many, this is a good place to start.
2. Knees go too far forward - Try keeping the shins more parallel and knees behind the toes by shifting the weight back.
3. Heels lifting - Possible ankle range of motion issues. Try elevating the heels slightly to add more range to see if that will help.
4. Too much range of motion or weight - While range of motion is a goal of ours, sometimes the body isn’t quite ready yet. Alter weight first, then range of motion to stay pain free.
Here are some great supplemental exercises to build knee strength:
Still not getting relief? Schedule a FREE FITNESS CONSULTATION and I will screen your squat to see if there is anything movement based I can help with.
