Any weight lifting exercise, particularly the squat, can cause an injury if done with improper form, too much weight, or without adequate recovery. You must be conscious of your technique, be careful that you're using the correct amount of weight for your ability, and ensure that you've given your muscles enough rest between sets and between workout sessions.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine's current comment on squat safety, the notion that squatting is bad for your knees began with a study from the 1960s of military troops who were using squats during training. The study showed that the ligaments around the knee were damaged in the subjects. The ACSM feels that this study was skewed because the subjects were paratroopers who jumped out of planes regularly, causing excessive impact when landing. Landing hard on the ground is a more realistic reason why the subjects had knee injuries.
There have been many studies since then, all with findings that the squat is a safe exercises. The ACSM says that there is "no increased instability created relative to depth of squat." I personally feel that the ACSM is the "gold standard" when it comes to health and fitness. Their articles are all based on scientific research.
On the other hand, a Men's Fitness article expresses one strength and conditioning professional's view that heavy squats cause back injury. Strength coach Mike Boyle doesn't prescribe his athletes squats because he thinks they compress the spine and makes the body move in a way that it isn't meant to. This article is his perspective based on his personal experience, not on a scientific study.
The Huffington Post published an article recently entitled "Squats are Safe, But You're Probably Doing Them Wrong,"
The title sums it up. The author goes on to describe how full squats work the entire lower body, and half squats (those that aren't very deep) focus mainly on the quadricep muscles (those in the front of the thigh), and tend to neglect the hamstrings and glutes (back of the thigh and butt.) He also states that squats strengthen the connective tissue (tendons and ligaments) around the knee, which helps decrease the chance of injury. People usually have pain from squatting because they're not doing them with proper technique.
Based on my 10 years experience as a personal trainer, and many more years as a workout fanatic, I agree completely with Mike Rippetoe, the author of the Huffington Post article. Deep squats hit all your leg muscles effectively. I have been squatting below parallel regularly for around 15 years, and I have never had any pain or injuries due to my squats.
When I was in college, I was a competitive powerlifter. In each competition, I squatted, bench pressed, and deadlifted as much weight as I possibly could for one repetition. We HAD to squat below parallel, or we were disqualified. During this period, I did experience some lower back pain, but after discussing it with my coach, I started stretching my hamstrings several times every day, and soon all my discomfort was gone. The squatting wasn't the source of the pain. Tight hamstrings from all the heavy weights were causing a pelvic tilt that influenced my back negatively. All I needed was some stretching!
Toddlers have the best squat form when they're playing. This natural inclination for deep squatting makes me believe that they are definitely within most people's normal range of motion. Photo credit: www.pagingsupermom.com
Let's talk about form. I think most people experiencing problems from squatting aren't doing them correctly. Squatting low is much more difficult for certain people. For example, people with tight hip flexors (muscles around your hip/groin area) physically can't get their hips very low. I currently have a personal training client with this issue. I am working on improving her squat by having her sit down on a step and stand back up. For each set, I take away a riser so that she has to sit down a little lower.
Another group of people with trouble squatting properly are those with long legs. A long femur (thigh bone) makes it very difficult to lower hips without the knees going forward. If your knees go past your toes during a squat, it causes tension on the knee joint rather than the thigh muscles. and that can certainly cause injury. I have one client that I worked with a LOT in order for her to get proper form. I had to hold my hands in front of her knees to keep them from going forward. It took a lot of explaining on my part, and lots of work for her, but she was able to learn! Here she is deadlifting just about her entire body weight!
Most people need good coaching in able to squat deeply with correct form. I often begin teaching squats by having clients do kettlebell swings or granny shots with a medicine ball to get them used to their hips going back rather than their knees going forward. Then we will do regular squats with no weight before adding resistance.
Some lucky people find it natural to squat very low. This client loves her deep squat! She goes heavy too!
I think squatting low is perfectly safe as long as you do it correctly. I have my group fitness class participants do squats on a regular basis, but never with weights unless I am able to coach them appropriately. I constantly remind them of what they need to do to squat correctly, but not everyone can get it in the beginning. Like everything else, practice makes perfect!
The squat is a phenomenal exercise for strengthening and toning legs. To answer the question "How low can you go?" The correct answer is as low as you want, as long as you're practicing excellent technique!
love the post <3
ReplyDelete