Squatting can play a huge role in your performance levels in whatever sport you compete in. However, there are a few factors that need to be considered to maximise the efficiency of the exercise.

I have been fascinated with how vital it is for your knees to be healthy to maximise your potential in life and sports, as well as decreasing the risk of injury ever since discovering Ben Patrick (The kneesovertoesguy) on YouTube. Ben's story (and what he does) inspired me and helped to fuel me with this continuous curiosity of finding out how to truly optimise our lives.

The squat can be a very complex and scary exercise from the outside. There are a variety of different techniques and ways to do the exercise, it is easy to get confused or not know if you are actually doing it right. You work different muscles in different ways depending on your foot position, stance width, where you hold the weight, what type of weight you hold (barbell, kettlebell etc), and even how deep you sit into the squat. Regardless of all these factors, there has been no consensus on the optimal technique for the back squat for over a decade.

Does the back squat damage your knees?

The following paragraphs were created with the help of the sources that I have linked at the bottom of this post!

Contrary to what most people may think, the back squat does not place excessive strain on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). This is a common misconception, but it is understandable considering there is a lot of weight that will be transferred through the knee for each rep. However, there is significantly less anterior displacement of the tibia, and therefore less stress on the ACL, when compared to open kinetic chain exercises such as leg extensions or leg curls. The back squat also results in lower strain and potential risk of strain on the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) compared to leg extensions.

It baffles me as to how some people, and even professionals in the fitness industry view letting your knees go over your toes during a squat as a bad thing, and that it could lead to serious damage. This couldn't be any further from the truth. With appropriate supervision, not only is the squat safe, but it strengthens the tendons in and around your knee, leading to astounding athleticism on the court, pitch, or track (not to mention the dramatic decrease in injury risk!). This is because the highest forces and muscular tension during a squat typically occur at the transition from descent (eccentric) to ascent (concentric), as muscle lengthening is much higher during full range of motion squats.

During the back squat, the ACL is only subjected to relatively low forces when the knee is flexed at more than a 50° angle. At greater angles, the PCL receives the majority of the load, compared to the ACL. ACL forces were also shown to be much lower when the squat was performed with heels on the ground compared with when the heels were elevated during both the descent (∼365%) and the ascent (∼16%). You can raise your heel during a squat using shoes that are designed to do such thing (not running shoes) or a slant board. I strictly wear flat-soled shoes on leg day to maximise the efficiency of my workout.

Balls or heels?

I have often thought about what is the optimum point to perform the "standing up part" (or concentric phase) of a squat. Generally, it is to be flat footed and primarily push off from the heels. However, when you relate this to sport performance for athletes who main point of contact with the ground is with the balls of their feet, doesn't it make sense to squat using the balls of your feet?

Pushing off the balls of your feet, however, doesn't actually make a lot of sense. Athletes who predominantly use the balls of their feet will be using that body mechanic enough to the point where trying to squat whatever weight using just the balls of the feet will only add unnecessary strain and risk of injury to the exercise. If you still want to use the balls of your feet to squat, I would recommend only doing this using your body weight, and being prepared to lose balance very easily. Otherwise, using your heel to push out from a squat is the way to go!

"The King of all exercises"

Conditioning specialists universally agree that the squat is among the top three prescribed exercises for sports training

In sport, athletes who train focusing on increasing squat strength both for preseason and in-season demonstrates that not only do they increase squat strength, but short sprint performance also improves. It is well documented that Michael Jordan used to weight train on the day of games, and this weight training programme with Tim Grover didn't stop all year round. What more evidence do you need? If one of the greatest athletes of all time can do a workout (which included squatting by the way) on the same day of competition, why can't you?

Squatting deep can be especially helpful for Basketball players. Studies show that deeper squats also result in greater jump performance. If you're like me and under 6 foot, jumping high is obviously an invaluable skill to have when you are playing against athletes much taller than you. How do you think Spud Webb was not only able to dunk at 5 foot 5, but win the 1986 NBA Dunk Contest?!

In addition, numerous studies demonstrate that short sprint speed is improved with an increase in squat strength. This can greatly benefit athletes from almost any sport!

Some Squat variations

Back Squat
  • Feet shoulder width apart
  • Barbell rested on shoulders behind head (not on neck!)
  • Grip onto bar with forearms as vertical as you can
  • Bend at the ankles, knees, and hip whilst maintaining a straight back and engaged core
  • Lower to your desired depth
  • Push up through the heels while squeezing your glutes for a straight posture at the end of the exercise
  • A variation of this is the single leg squat
Front Squat
  • Same principles as back squat but you rest the barbell infront of your head on your shoulders
  • Both arms flexed and only supporting the barbell with your fingers
Dumbbell Squat
  • Same principle as back squat but instead you hold can hold your dumbbell/s in a different locations
  • Hanging down inbetween legs (be sure not to lift the weights with your arm, hing from the hip)
  • Held to your chest
Kettlebell Squat
  • Same principles as dumbbells squat
Bulgarian Split Squat
  • One foot behind you raised (resting on a box or bench)
  • Front foot infront of you so that you are in a lunge position
  • Dumbbells or kettlebells in both hands resting either side of your body
  • Flex at the knee to lower your body down, maintaining a straight high and upright posture
  • Lower to your desired depth and then push up through the heel of your planted foot
In Summary

The squat should be an integral part of any training programme. It doesn't matter what experience you have exercising, if you don't have good balance, or if you are worried that you can't get very deep in your squat. There are so many variations to adapt the exercise to still work your entire lower body. So if you aren't currently squatting at least once per week, why not? Your knees will thank you tremendously.

Sources

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/Fulltext/2018/12000/Optimizing_Squat_Technique_Revisited.10.aspx

http://thehubedu-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/6194/46523394-507e-4c7c-93ac-4cb91428821c/MOJYPT_03_00042.pdf

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