Why do squats feel so uncomfortable?
How do I squat correctly? Are Squats bad for my knees? Does squatting help running?
Squatting is an essential function of being a human being. There is so much cultural misinformation about the 'dangers' of squatting, the 'correct' way to do it and most often a general aversion from the general public. For ex athletes they often have a bad high school coaching experience where they are given cues and constraints that run in opposition to structural constraints of their bodies. Every single person has to squat to sit, get on the toilet, get in the car. I heard someone say "if I asked you to do a max effort squat 20 times throughout the day, how would you feel?" This is quite frankly a terrifying prospect for me. A max effort squat for me is around the range of 400lbs at the time of me writing this. It is something that I would want to build up to for weeks, and prepare for in a precise way in order to do safely. Why does this matter? A max effort squat is something many people are forced to do throughout their day due to weakness, aging, injury. If they were stronger, squatting their body weight would not be max effort and they would be safer doing it throughout their daily life. The problem is not squatting, it is the deconditioning and weakness. Squatting is not bad for your knees, your knees are built to attenuate force and the more you practice the better they feel. People say stuff like squatting below 90 degrees is worse for your knees, but the maximum mechanical tension in a squat is at 90 degrees. In the case of something like a meniscus tear where the end range compression hurts, sure, but as far as everyone else goes, squatting beyond 90 degrees likely only doesn't feel good if the execution of it is mechanically problematic. So why do we get all this conflicting information. The best trainers and physical therapists understand that squatting execution has immense variability based on the length of your femurs (upper leg bone) and tibias (lower leg bone). People with long femurs will struggle to stay upright in a squat without falling backwards if they are told to keep their feet shoulder width and pointing forward. They will have to lean way far forward, and in high school many of they are told they are doing it wrong, but it is the coaching that is wrong. Elevating their heels, or widening their stance will allow them to stay more upright and stay balanced, which makes the squat more comfortable. This is a structure based modification that works well for tall people, and people who have short torsos. Squatting helps with reducing incidence of injury during running, squatting helps with daily life for the elderly, squatting helps athletes build muscle and generate more force. If it feels like you are being crushed, or uncomfortable, there are likely some technique modifications that can go a long way to help it feel better. The best trainers and physical therapists will help you understand the structure of your body, and not just tell you to grit through it. There is no one way to squat that is correct because everyone has a different body, but we all need to squat in our daily lives, so it is in you interest to have someone help. I recently made some small tweaks to my squat after spending the better part of 20 years getting excessively sore and now I am able to squat more frequently due to a technique change that reduced over stretching of the hamstrings across my hip leading to consistent 4-5 days of soreness. Sometimes we need someone else to look at what were doing to get a different perspective. Everyone needs a coach or trainer, whether they are an elite athlete or an 80 year old wanting to pick up their grandkids, we all benefit from outside perspective. denver trainer, denver PT, trainer near me, quality training
