How to Work Through Knee Pain From Squatting | Men’s Health Muscle
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00:00 A properly done set of squats should hurt every single muscle in your body.
00:04 The thing that it should not hurt is your knee joints.
00:08 When we are squatting, the last thing we want to have to deal with is knee pain.
00:12 But every so often, it winds up happening.
00:15 And when it happens, the thing that we don't necessarily need to do is stop squatting.
00:19 What we have to do is look at a couple of the situations that could lead to that knee
00:23 pain and then address them.
00:25 If we have pain in the joint, it's going to take away from our ability to really execute
00:29 the lift.
00:30 And it's going to take away from our ability to feel the muscle connection that we want
00:33 to get out of our squats, to really feel the muscles that we want working, and to really
00:37 push our sets to fatigue.
00:39 Because instead of our muscles being a limiting factor, pain in the joint is a limiting factor.
00:43 So how do we get around that?
00:44 We're going to look at four common issues that can lead to knee pain and exactly how
00:49 to solve them.
00:50 So as we look at these four issues, we're going to take a top-down approach.
00:53 We're going to start at the hips and work our way down to look at the potential issues.
00:57 The first potential issue that could be causing you knee pain when you're squatting is improper
01:02 hip loading.
01:03 When we are squatting, yes, this is a knee-dominant move, which means we're going to get a lot
01:08 of movement at the knee joint, but our hips are also involved in this and we need to slightly
01:13 hinge backwards.
01:14 That way we load our glutes on every single squat rep.
01:18 If we don't, then we're placing undue stress on the knee and we're not really loading our
01:21 lower body optimally so that we can drive the weight back up.
01:26 Sometimes we kind of lose the ability to load our hips for whatever reason and we just need
01:30 to restore that and restore our timing.
01:32 And that's where a move like the touchdown squat can be a really, really great fix.
01:37 With the touchdown squat, you do not need a large platform.
01:41 Even just one of these plates is a good starting point.
01:43 I'm going to use two because that's going to give you a little bit of an idea of the
01:46 visual of what's happening here.
01:49 Normally when we squat, eventually what we want to happen is we want our knees to translate
01:53 forward, but because we've got to really focus on loading the hip and we've got to understand
01:57 how to load the hip, this is going to allow us to keep a little bit more of a perpendicular
02:01 chin at the knee and really teach us how to load our hips when we squat.
02:05 That's going to offload some stress off of our knees and it's going to allow us to get
02:09 back to squatting and it's going to allow us to squat pain free.
02:12 With the touchdown squat, it's nice and simple.
02:16 All you're going to do, you're going to stand on your platform and my job is to sit back
02:23 or sit however I need.
02:25 That way I don't have any pain in my knee.
02:29 And I'm thinking about just pushing my butt back, touching my other foot, the heel of
02:34 my other foot to the ground, and then standing back up.
02:39 You want to do this as slowly as possible, thinking even one, two, three seconds down,
02:44 because what we're trying to do is work and pattern a really, really good eccentric.
02:49 We're really trying to load that hip.
02:51 What matters is the part where we're lowering down with control.
02:56 We're trying to load that hip and then stand back up.
02:59 If I'm doing that correctly, my torso is going to shift forward ever so slightly.
03:05 That's ensuring that I'm loading that hip, I'm loading my glutes, and in doing that,
03:10 I'm going to take stress off of my knee.
03:11 That's going to help me rebalance my entire squat motion.
03:15 What you want to do, if you've been dealing with knee pain or if you're having knee pain,
03:19 use this as a cueing mechanism before your sets of squats.
03:23 So when you're warming up, think about doing three to four sets of six to eight reps per
03:27 side just to get a really, really good feel for how to make sure that you're loading your
03:32 hip and so that you can find a really, really good angle for your knees to move when you're
03:37 squatting.
03:38 You can also do this on your off days.
03:41 I would gradually try to work up to a higher height.
03:44 That way you can work on loading your hip that much more and you're going to also work
03:48 on your balance.
03:49 You're going to work on a little bit of three-dimensional balance for your knee too, which will eventually
03:53 wind up helping your squat a ton as well.
03:56 So that will help you avoid any improper hip loading issues with your squat and that's
04:01 our fix number one.
04:02 So we've covered improper hip loading as one mechanism for knee pain in our squat, but
04:06 there's another problem that can happen in our hips that can also lead to knee pain and
04:11 that is just a general lack of glute strength, especially glute strength in creating something
04:16 called hip external rotation.
04:19 As we lower into our squat, this is not just a two-dimensional move where we're bending
04:24 at the knee and bending at the hips.
04:25 Instead, it's actually a three-dimensional move and as we lower, our knees should essentially
04:31 be able to open up.
04:33 When we do that, when our knees open up, they're going to track that much more efficiently
04:37 with our shins and that can help us prevent knee pain and that's going to also help us
04:41 drive up from the squat as well.
04:44 In order for that to happen, we need strong glutes because every time we lower, as we
04:49 lower and as we're pressing up, it's our glutes that continue to drive our knees open as we're
04:54 squatting.
04:55 If there is no strength in our glutes, then we're not going to be able to do that.
04:58 So what we have to do if we really want to avoid knee pain and if we want to get out
05:02 of knee pain, we've got to make sure that we're training our glutes and we're training
05:05 our glutes with two key moves that will really help us create and reinforce that idea of
05:10 hip external rotation.
05:12 One of those exercises is something called the clam and this one may look silly.
05:17 It may look like something that you don't really think you want to do in the gym, but
05:20 at the same time, it is essentially building outer glute strength.
05:24 You can do it with a resistance band or you can do it without one.
05:26 Either way, you want to think about doing two to three sets of 20 reps.
05:30 You can keep the reps high because our glutes are meant to be very, very strong and they
05:34 are an always on muscle, so don't be afraid to get those reps up there.
05:39 That's one move you can do.
05:40 The other move we can do is a monster walk.
05:43 So we're going to wrap a resistance band around our knees.
05:45 You can also put one around your ankles if you want.
05:48 And all we're going to do, we're going to get into essentially like a defensive stance
05:53 like we're going to be in basketball and we're going to slowly walk back and forth laterally
05:58 for say five to ten steps each side.
06:01 As we're walking, what you're aiming to do is stack your knee over your ankle on every
06:07 single step and the sooner you do that, the more aggressively you do that, the more you're
06:12 going to feel it in that outer hip.
06:14 We're continuing to build that outer glute strength, which will wind up translating and
06:18 helping your knee stay in good position when you're squatting.
06:21 So if you add those two moves, one to your squat prep, you only need to do one to two
06:25 sets on days when you're squatting, and two in on all your other days so that you're continuing
06:30 to develop a ton of glute strength.
06:32 It will really, really aid your knees in terms of staying out of pain.
06:35 So continuing on down, we've covered our hip.
06:38 Now we're going to look at the knee joint.
06:39 And one of the main issues that occurs at the knee joint that's going to lead to knee
06:44 pain when squatting could just be the simple fact that we don't spend enough time in deep
06:50 knee flexion.
06:51 Even if you're only squatting until your thighs are parallel to the ground, we still need
06:55 that full range of motion at the knee and we need to spend time there for two reasons.
07:00 One because we want to build tendon strength in our knees, and two because spending time
07:04 in deep knee flexion is going to train our quads in a lengthened position and it's also
07:09 going to ensure that we have proper mobility and flexibility in our quads so that they
07:14 don't restrict us when we're squatting.
07:16 If we can't get into deep knee flexion, if I can't get my knees beyond a 90 degree bend,
07:22 then that's going to be a huge limiting factor in my squat.
07:25 Remember, you need more range of motion in a joint than you're actually going to use
07:29 on your strength exercises.
07:31 If you're running out of that range of motion quickly, you're not going to efficiently squat.
07:35 Even if you don't have knee pain, it's still a limiting factor.
07:38 So what can we do to make sure that we spend enough time in deep knee flexion and how do
07:42 we enhance deep knee flexion?
07:44 There are two exercises that you can do.
07:46 You can work these in as accessory motions on your leg days or just do them two or three
07:52 times a week using them to just bulletproof your knees overall.
07:55 The first exercise you can do is going to be a unilateral exercise.
07:58 We're going to basically go to an ass to grass split squat.
08:02 What we're trying to do here is not to really focus on the split squat idea, but all we're
08:06 focusing on is driving our knee as far in front of our toes as possible.
08:12 You can even let your heels come up as you're doing this.
08:16 In addition to that, what we're really trying to do is essentially get our hamstring to
08:20 touch our calf on every single rep.
08:24 That way we're getting a really, really good deep stretch through our quads and we're working
08:29 that really deep knee flexion.
08:31 Think about doing three sets per side of six to eight reps on this, focusing on taking
08:37 your time and really getting that stretch.
08:39 Once you've gotten into a position where your knees are at their max knee flexion, hold
08:43 that for a good two to three seconds.
08:45 Really feel that stretch, really feel that in your quad, and then press up.
08:50 We're using this as much for its stretching properties as we are using it for its strengthening
08:55 properties.
08:56 They're both going to go hand in hand.
08:58 The other idea that you can look at is going to be a bilateral one.
09:02 We're going to go to a heels off the ground assisted squat.
09:07 All we're trying to do here is that same idea, except now we're doing it bilaterally and
09:12 we're loading the knee joint just a little bit differently.
09:15 But we're again trying to get our hamstrings to touch our calves and we're trying to hold
09:21 that position, get that deep stretch, exist in that moment of deep knee flexion for two
09:26 to three seconds, and then press up.
09:28 Think about doing two to three sets of five reps of these.
09:32 You can do these every day.
09:34 They're really just going to help your knees feel that much more comfortable and we're
09:38 going to keep enhancing that deep knee flexion.
09:41 As you get comfortable in deep knee flexion, your tendons are going to get stronger, your
09:44 quads will be more resilient, and all of that will help you when you're squatting to avoid
09:50 knee pain.
09:51 And continuing on down, the last area that could be leading to our knee pain just might
09:57 be our ankles.
09:58 So here's the thing when we squat.
10:00 We actually need a lot more ankle mobility than you might think.
10:05 In order for your knee to move forward when you squat, we need to have plenty of ankle
10:09 mobility because that's going to allow our shin to shift from perpendicular to the ground
10:13 to that slightly forward angle that we need to appropriately squat.
10:17 If we don't have flexibility through our Achilles tendons, then we're not going to be able to
10:22 get that shift forward and that's going to be a limiting factor in how we squat.
10:26 Eventually our knee joint is going to have to take on the brunt of that and that could
10:31 lead to knee pain.
10:32 So what we have to do to address that is make sure that we are adequately training mobility
10:38 through our ankle joint.
10:39 And this can be done very simply with a drill that you can do anytime throughout the day
10:44 in addition to doing it with your squat prep.
10:47 All we have to do with our squat prep is we're going to get down into a kneeling stance,
10:52 half kneeling stance.
10:53 I'm going to make sure that I'm driving my heel into the ground and I'm actually going
10:57 to try to lock down my heel with my foot and try to feel my Achilles tendon with my thumb.
11:02 And from here, all I'm going to do is think about pushing my knee out in front of my foot
11:10 as far as possible while making sure to never lose contact with my heel on the ground.
11:15 If my heel is coming up off the ground, then I'm going to lose that deep Achilles stretch.
11:20 So I'm going to drive my heel into the ground as I shift forward.
11:24 You can put a little bit of pressure on the top of your knee as you're doing this too.
11:28 The key thing, just make sure that heel is driven into the ground.
11:32 As a piece of my squat prep, I'm going to think about doing one to two sets of three
11:37 to five reps or you can even do this in between all of your sets of squats because all we're
11:43 doing is not going to be very taxing, but we're still going to get a chance to reinforce
11:48 and continue to mobilize that Achilles tendon.
11:51 That way we have the movement capability that we need.
11:54 So those are four potential issues that could be leading to knee pain and we've given you
11:58 a solve for each of these two.
12:00 The nice thing about all these exercises is they don't need to dominate your training.
12:04 They're just pieces of your squat warmup.
12:06 Because if there's one thing about the squat, it's that you can generally find a way to
12:10 get it done.
12:11 You don't need to stop squatting.
12:12 You just need to address the issues with these moves and you'll still be building plenty
12:16 of leg strength and still be adding numbers to your squat for a long time.
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