How To Squat Without Hurting Your Knees

If you’re keen to learn how to squat with the correct techniques, so you stop hurting your knees, read on.

In my experience, the squat is an exercise that causes fear and apprehension. New clients often tell me that they can’t squat because it hurts their knees. Once I teach clients how to squat with correct form, the knee pain usually disappears. If doing squats is difficult, this guide will help you finally learn how to perform this fundamental exercise with confidence.

The squat is an essential and important movement critical to optimal human functioning. Think about how you move throughout your day. You repeatedly get up and down out of a chair or lounge and in and out of your car. The squat, and it’s many variations, forms a considerable portion of most people’s daily activity.

In most gyms, you’ll find an assortment of fancy squat machines, leg presses and other leg training devices. However, there simply is no replacement for the free squat performed with body weight or free weights. In essence, machines make you lazy because they don’t require that you balance your centre of gravity over your base of support.  In contrast, when you perform a free squat, you must recruit your stabilisers, to centre yourself and keep your balance.

World-renowned expert in corrective and high-performance exercise, Paul Chek, talks about the importance of free weight exercises for maintaining balance in a woman’s body in this article.

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent and toes turned out no more than 30 degrees.

2. Inhale and draw your belly button in toward your spine. This activates the muscles of the deep abdominal wall that help to stabilise the spine.

3. Keep your eyes on the horizon, maintain slight tension between shoulder blades and normal lumbar curve throughout.

4. Initiate the squat from the knees hips and ankles simultaneously to lower into the squat while maintaining a tight core.

5. As you descend, track knees in-line with the second toe. Keep heels on the floor, aiming to get thighs parallel to the floor-no lower.

6. Ascend smoothly, pushing the floor away through your heels and releasing your breath through slightly pursed lips, keeping core tight.

If you find it difficult to execute a free squat, there are several ways to make the exercise easier.

Try holding a support, such as a door frame or walking stick to provide additional stability to improve your form.

To alleviate fear of falling backwards, place a sturdy chair or bench behind you. This way, if you lose your balance, you will simply sit down. And you can also perform the squat with the added support of a stability ball (see video), carefully placed between your back and the wall.