Squatting without the pain

The squat is a great exercise. It works the quads, glutes, hamstrings. And if you are doing weighted squats you are getting your core and back muscles involved as well. But for a lot of people it can create pain, usually either in the knees or the lower back. If this sounds like you hopefully I can give you some options to show you squatting without pain really is possible!

Squat Technique

Stand with you feet hip width apart, or a little wider if more comfortable, feet pointing outwards very slightly. Squat down towards the floor, ideally so your thighs are parallel to the floor at the bottom of the movement. Then push back to starting position. As you squat make sure your knees don’t go forward too far.

Once you have mastered the bodyweight squat, adding weight by putting a barbell on you upper back in the most common progression. (you could put dumbbells there too). However this can create issues. Either the client can’t squat all the way down (thighs parallel to floor), or they can but it causes pain, knee pain and back pain being the most common 2. Incidentally I have this problem myself. I can squat about 80% of the way down but any further and I get pain in my lower back and feel slightly out of control of the movement. (I have arthritis and slight disc bulges in my lower back.) So what can you do about it?

Wedges

For a lot of people dorsiflexion in the ankle (or lack thereof) is a big part of the problem. Basically your ankles won’t flex as they should as you squat down and this means you compensate by losing technique or putting more strain on other areas, such as the knees or lower back.

You can overcome this by using squat wedges. But you can also use a book or barbell plate if not. You basically want to squat with your heels on the wedge and toes on the floor. Doing this negates the need to have such good ankle dorsiflexion and for a lot of people this allows them to squat deeper and without any pain.

Bench Support

Before you do your squat, position your weights bench (or chair or whatever you have got) so that your bum touches it as you squat down. The idea here is not to sit and rest on the bench, simply to touch and drive back up. Having the bench there gives you stability at the bottom of the movement, which means as you press back up you are far more likely to stay straight and aligned rather than being slightly off balance and therefore potentially straining something, e.g. knee or lower back.

Conclusion: Squatting without the pain

As with any exercise it should be about finding a way for you to get the most out of it without pain or risk of injury. So give these two options a go and you may well find you squat a lot better and protect your body a lot more in the process.