I Didn't Know Squat

Take good care of your knees, that way you can celebrate like Coleman Scott did.  Photo from themat.com

And I still don't.  There's always more you can learn.  I thought I knew how to squat. I'd been doing it for eight years and always went down to 90 degrees and kept good posture, so I was an expert, right?  Well,...

For the last month and a half I've been working out at a CrossFit gym, and when one of the sessions included barbell squats, I learned a key nuance that I'd been missing.  All this time I'd been keeping my feet and knees perfectly straight forward because a trainer once told me to, so you can imagine my surprise when I was told to push my knees outward.  But isn't straight forward better form?  Yes and no.  If you're working with light weights, keeping your knees straight is fine, but if you try to maintain that while squatting a heavy load, you'll notice your knees wobbling and bowing.  The real problem is when they bow inward.  This can lead to torn knee ligaments or other injuries.

The last thing anyone needs is to blow out their knee, and wrestlers are already notorious for knee problems, so there's absolutely no reason to exacerbate the issue.  In fact, during American Coleman Scott's (Olympic Bronze Medalist at 60 kg Freestyle!) semifinal match today, the announcer commented on how wrestlers can wreck their knees from scramble situations where the joint is being torqued.

So what should you do instead?  The way we were instructed to squat consisted of three steps.  Before starting, have your feet roughly shoulder width apart with your toes slightly turned out.  Then, turn your knees slightly out to the side.  Next, stick your butt out behind you.  Finally, proceed to squat down, pressing your knees outward.  Throughout the movement, keep your chest up and don't let your knees pass in front of your toes.

In addition to preserving your precious knee joints, this technique will ultimately allow you to lift more weight because your hamstrings and hips will be contributing more, rather than your quads doing most of the work.  Some of the finer details of this lift are difficult to describe in writing, so I can post a video if you guys wish.

I still don't know squat,
Jeff