Squats

Isn’t squatting below parallel bad for my knees?

This is another crazy myth that we hear regularly, usually from a personal trainer in a ‘Globo Gym’ who has never looked into the mechanics of how the body works and moves.

Squatting below parallel is not bad for your knees. The squat loads up the quadriceps, the muscle at the front of the leg and it is not until you break the parallel margin that you engage your hamstrings (back of thighs) and glutes (bum) properly. Engaging these muscles brings balance to the knee as both the muscle on the front and back are pulling giving an overall neutral effect.

Deep squats are more functional, think of standing up from sitting on a low bench, toilet, or off the floor. At some point you will be performing a deep squat. Deep squats will also give far greater strength increases.

Much of the third world sit in a deep squat position as do young infants and none of them develop knee problems.

However there are some limiting factors to how deep you should squat when squatting with weight. These are flexibility, balance and back position. Once you reach a depth that you lose your lumbar curve in your back you have gone too deep and this is not safe. The cause of this is usually due to flexibility issues which can be worked on. Beginners to squatting may also need to build some balance in the squat position. Everyone should aim to reach squatting below parallel and it is achievable with some practice and flexibility work.

You should also sit back into your squat to reduce any stress on your patella tendon, this will also further engage your hamstrings and glutes.

Overall, squat as low as you can go maintaining a lumbar curve in your back. This will not damage your knees and will give you greater strength gains as well as functional strength.