<span style="font-weight: 400;">Knee Stability is clearly a big deal when it comes to squatting! When you see someone squatting in the gym and their knees are all over the place you almost wince right? And if thats you, you probably know that your instability is limiting your strength and depth in the squat. But we aren't just talking about wobbly knees here. We are going to talk about how the knee is affected by other areas of the body, the link between the quadriceps and hamstrings in terms of your movement, the forces that go through the knee, why you should maybe squat with a narrower stance, how to assess for risk and so much more.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The knee is the area of the body has incurred the most questions from YOU, the readers and A2G fans! </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Not surprising really as I think there are probably several good reasons why this area of the body brings about so many questions. We will look at some of the evidence that is out there and I will endeavour to help/guide you towards a better understanding of what it means for you individually, or ‘case by case’, so you have more information to base your decisions on.</span>
<h3><b>The Knee Is The Middle Sister</b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Ever heard of the knee being called ‘The Middle Sister’? </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Well, it gets treated a bit like one in terms of the issues coming from the pelvis above and the foot and ankle below. So much so very often the knee is NOT where the problem has stemmed from. <strong>More often than not the knees ‘stresses’ are from the joints above and/or below. </strong></span>And so our focus shouldn't be on the knee but on the pelvis and/or ankle and foot.

<span style="font-weight: 400;">I speak from experience and even with my far from perfect biomechanics and extremely active lifestyle I have only ever incurred one injury - ACL rupture caused in my opinion NOT by a 'dodgy' knee but from a combination of a dysfunctional pelvis and very loose feet (MidTarsal Joint /SubTalar Joint). </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Having both my pelvis and feet creating abnormal descending and ascending loads via my knee joint across a 7yrs-27yrs dancing, 30 years of endurance running, 36 years of weightlifting and the last 5 years regaining my A2G squat ability I actually feel pretty lucky. I elected NOT to have reconstruction surgery and instead used the techniques I am going to show you in the video below (once rehab was satisfactory of course). Evidence suggests that these techniques will contribute to avoiding or at least reducing the risk of an injury to the knee.</span>
<h3><b>The Knee in Biomechanical Terms</b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Firstly with regards to the knee during the squat there is a lot of evidence out there about what forces are being transferred through the knee joint and its structures. Things that need to be considered when referring to research are the health and biomechanics of the individual, circumstances of the project and the limitations or variables of specifics to the research study. The difficulty is then for the reader to decipher what this may indicate for them personally. The translation of this information is often where things become distorted so I will try to be as precise as I can be with the information I have gathered, while generalising with safety in mind.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Quadriceps, hamstring and gastrocnemius activity increases as knee flexion increases, which supports athletes with healthy knees performing the parallel squat (thighs parallel to the ground) between 0 and 100 degrees of</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">knee flexion. It is also demonstrated that the parallel squat is not necessarily a problem to knee health. </span>
<h3>Have You Got Healthy Knees? Do This...</h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">For those of you with healthy knees, the parallel squat is recommended over the deep squat (A2G or squatting down as far as possible until the posterior thighs and lower leg make contact with each other) because the risk of injury to the menisci and cruciate and collateral ligaments is likely to increase during the deep A2G squat. The squat itself does not compromise knee stability though and in fact when performed correctly with good biomechanics, it can enhance stability. Large decelerations during the squat generate huge forces through the knees during the descent of the squat which is why this part of the movement should be performed in a slow and controlled manner to avoid higher risks of injury.</span>
<h3>How To Help Correct The "Forward Flex/Tilt" In The Squat...</h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">For those of you who find yourself ‘forward flexing’ or ‘trunk tilting’ the greater hip flexion has been shown to eliminate ACL stress, as stated above, mainly due to the increased hamstring activity. This could, therefore, indicate quadriceps dominance (Hewitt 2004). In other words, the hamstring to quadriceps ratio is likely to require some form of <strong>conditioning of the hamstrings to regain a balance</strong>. What is paramount is what type of conditioning work and what must first be established is the reason for the imbalance in the first place.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">At 60 degrees</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">of knee flexion the forces in the knee joint change from greater posterior force to a greater anterior shear force which increases throughout the ascent. Hence performing squats at knee flexion angles of less than 90 degrees</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> will minimise the risk of knee injury.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Fry et al (2003) did a study looking at the effects of allowing the knees to move over the toes. This study found that while the NSCA cite the knees should be kept from moving forwards over the toes or to keep the trunk in an upright posture, in order to optimise the forces involved on all the joints, it may be a good thing to allow the knees to travel ‘slightly’ over the toes. This allows for a more even distribution of load through ankle, knee, hip and spine.</span>
<h3><b>How Squat Width Affect Forces At The Knee</b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">When considering the width of the squat it has been demonstrated that the wider squat has been shown to generate 15-16% significantly greater compressive forces through the knee joint than a narrow stance, McCaw et al (1999). Thus a narrow stance is a better choice if you wish to reduce the risk of compressive forces going through the knees. </span>

<b>To Summarise The Above Data; </b>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">For those with healthy knees a greater angle of knee and hip flexion is ok so long as the loads are not heavy. Periodisation techniques should always be used when performing the squat, in that the training is divided into light, medium and heavy cycles throughout the year. This also enables an individual to perform a variety of squat depths.</span>

<b>A2G Squat Project Questions Discussed In The Video;</b>
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 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Catherine Turner-Perrott - Knees coming together excessively?</span></li>
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 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Antwone Townny Aoun - Kees passing over toes?</span></li>
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 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ginger Ninjer - Should you be squatting with a meniscus tear?</span></li>
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 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jodie Law - Client has a knee injury that stops her squatting ACL &amp; MCL how can I get her squatting?</span></li>
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....and more!

https://youtu.be/MhaNa5isxdc

<hr />

<h2></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Would You Like To Be Able To Reduce Your Clients Risk Of Injury, &amp; Help Them Get Even Better Results?</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Want to be able to help your clients move better, move more freely and get even better results on their programmes?</h3>
<p style="text-align: center;">Then <a href="https://biomechanicseducation.clickfunnels.com/biomechanics-coach-l4-low-back" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here to find out more about our Biomechanics Coach Diploma</a> and how it could help you become an even better personal trainer.</p>
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