Image credit: robbymacklem & Ironmind.
A lot of people — including doctors — will tell you Squats are bad for your knees. Instead of boring you with orthopedic reasons why deep Squats are better for your knees than parallel Squats, I have some practical evidence for you.
The following post was submitted by reader Michael Healy (mjh in the forum). It’s a great example of how some of the worst knee conditions can be improved using Squats. Read mjh’s article, I’ll add my views at the bottom.
Squats, My Knees & Me. I ran into a pole on the school tennis courts at age 11. My left knee fractured into 3 pieces. The fall that followed dislocated the patella fragments and damaged the knee ligaments & tendons.
I underwent surgery and was left with a wire holding my knee together. I spent 10 days in hospital, 8 weeks in a leg cast. When they removed the cast, I had reduced knee mobility, thigh atrophy and a lot of pain.
Physiotherapy was boring, inefficient & painful. Not playing sports depressed me. I soon stopped the home exercises & therapy. Sedentary life style began, with the exception of walking or cycling for transport.
My knee healed well enough to walk. I could run, but before long I’d be in pain. After basketball games, I had discomfort, aches or pains. I favored my right knee to “protect” my left knee, which I thought of as weak & fragile.
Fast Forward to Age 21. After a drunken night game of bull-rush, I woke up with pain & swelling. X-rays and ultra-sounds revealed nothing. My specialist diagnosed arthritis. He prescribed a leg brace & walking stick until it settled.
While pogoing at Punkfest 2001, I suffered subluxation of my right knee. This happened to my left knee months later. These injuries led to a diagnosis of trochlear dysplasia. My uncle said I’ve inherited the infamous Healy knees.
So there I was at age 22. Arthritis, unstable kneecaps, constant aches & pains. I sometimes joked about being in a mobility scooter sooner rather than later, but I wasn’t really joking.
Squats. The desire to get stronger led me to Stronglifts 5×5. I was concerned about hurting my knees on Squats, but I had read articles on why deep Squats are better than partial Squats or machines.
I learned to Front Squat using knee support and light weights. One day I forgot my knee support. I could barely tell the difference. My knee felt stronger and I could see a new muscularity working as I moved.
This improvement encouraged me. But my right thigh was stronger and 8cm bigger than my left thigh. My right thigh was bearing more of the load in the Squat, which I knew would only make the problem worse.
Singe Leg Work. After researching unilateral leg exercises and a thread in the Forum, I added to my routine:
I alternate one of these each workout. 3 sets of 10 reps for hypertrophy. I use a barbell with the clean grip for several reasons:
- I don’t have access to a Squat Rack, and so can’t easily get a barbell on and off my back.
- It encourages me to keep my torso erect. Elbows up and in, chest out. I tend to slouch my shoulders and round my back with dumbbells.
- It’s harder to balance. This works my core more and forces me to make each rep slow and steady.
I focus on using both legs when I Front Squat. I also do glute activation, hip mobility exercises and soft tissue work with a tennis ball. My goal is to correct years of bad posture and muscle imbalances.
Mjh’s legs. Left: Feb 14th 2008. Right: May 23rd, 2008.
Before & After. All these efforts are showing results. Compare the left photo from 14 February 2008 with the right one from 23 May 2008. My injured left knee is on the right in the photos.
- My left knee muscles are bigger & stronger. This reduced mobility of my patella. I can no longer move it around in its socket.
- Size difference between left & right leg has reduced from 8 to 4cm.
- Knee pain has reduced. Aching only comes after vigorous exercise or as post workout soreness.
- Part of the improvement was psychological. My left knee no longer feels weak, and I don’t protect it from daily loading or balancing anymore.
More Examples. I’m not the only one to improve my knees with Squats. Forum member esmitty wrote about his wife in early May:
She also has “bad knees”. They pop and grind when she squats. Our chiropractor took some x-rays on her knees and said that much of her cartilage is worn. “She has the knees of a 50 year old” he said. (She’s 33). She’s concerned about stressing her knees out.
She couldn’t finish 5 sets of 5 squats, and was sore after trying. 2 weeks later, esmitty posted:
My wife did her first 5×5 set of unassisted body weight squats. She is so excited to make that milestone, she had tears in her eyes… Less than 3 weeks ago she couldn’t do 1 set of 5, now exactly 7 workouts into the routine, she can do all 5×5 and will start with 5lb on Wednesday!
Squats, done correctly, are good for your knees. You might find that Squatting is exactly what they need.
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How to Get Rid of Your Knee Pain. I wrote about knee pain before. Bottom line: improve ankle/hip mobility using dynamic stretches and strengthen your legs — especially your posterior chain.
I don’t like mjh doing Front Squats only. Weak posterior chain is a big cause of knee pain. I’d recommend adding Pull-throughs, Glute-Ham Raises, 1 Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts, etc as he doesn’t have access to a Squat Rack.
This one was posted by forum member Jstahly.
I had minor surgery on my left knee a little over 2 years ago to fix some cartilage and a grind down a bone spur. This knee is the one I hurt in high school during wrestling practice and has the tender patella tendon. I use to wear a very tight knee wrap when I did my squats because the tendon above the knee would ache badly if I didn’t and this knee would randomly ache throughout the week.
Since I have started doing full squats instead of partials my knee(s) has gotten much better. I no longer wear a knee wrap, even on the heavier lifts and the tendon pain is almost all gone. The tendon is less sensitive to touch as well and almost never aches now. I have had this problem since 1973 when I originally injured it.
All in all even with my 52 year old body complaining (loudly at times) about what I’m putting it through the aches and pains are lessening. I feel better today than I did 10 years ago, my health, weight and mental attitude have improved a lot. I would do this all over again if I had too, the rewards have been to great to give up on and I know there are still more and bigger benefits yet to be received. It’s just hard to remember that sometimes when your in the hole of a heavy squat.
Start light, focus on correct technique and add weight progressively. Add single leg work, always pushing your knees out. Get Bullet Proof Knees for a definite resource on eliminating knee pain.
Do You Have Bad Knees? Do they feel better now that you’re Squatting? Click here to share your experience in the comments.
i love playing bull dogs, best game ever, that and death square
I had Osgood-Schlatters in both knees as a kid and tore my ACL and much of my meniscus in college, so knees have always been a sore issue with me. Through most of high school, I tried to heed doctor’s advice and stay away from heavy leg lifts and excessive running, but once I reached senior high and my knees stopped getting so sore after activities, I eased my way into squats. In no time, they felt better than they had in years. I always had naturally strong legs and soon I was squatting 500+.
After tearing my right ACL in college, I was anxious about getting back into squatting. But the longer I waited, the more stiff and sore my knees became. Eventually, I began body-weight squats before going to bed at night. I’d wake up the next morning feeling less sore and more stable. In no time, I was back in the gym.
Now, I can run for miles and squat until the cows come home with little to no residual knee pain, despite having the early stages of osteoarthritis in my right knee (from the lack of remaining meniscus, the docs tell me). As long as I properly manage my running and pounding that my knees take and stay on a Glucosamine regimen, I feel better than I ever did before I started squatting.
joe I have no idea how that fits in here :-/ you lost me
MJH great post man glad to here of your success
My issues aren’t as bad as some of your examples, but deep squats have helped my knee pain as well. I have 2 girls under 2 so I’m always on the floor playing. Knees used to kill me getting up and down. I’m now 10 weeks into the 5×5, no pain.
Encouraging story for people dealing with injuries! I always have loads of respect for people handling them selves this way instead of doing nothing and complaining!
My knee used to ache whenever I went cycling (from a ski injury) and sometimes it would pop as I walked. No pain anymore after getting stronger. Soft-tissue work has been a huge help for me also, perhaps more than the lifting.
I was one of those quasi-body building gym rats, and one of the consequences was that my knees had hurt for years (no known causes from injuries) before I found Stronglifts. If I tried to do any leg work at all, even with really light weight, I experienced pain and/or discomfort. Squatting 135 lbs (which I would try ever 6 months or so, when I would get brave enough to tear myself away from machines) was a confidence-killing and painful experience (I was 6′2″ and 185 lbs…135 should have been a piece of cake).
I found Stronglifts while researching how to combat knee and lower back pain. I took a leap of faith and started Stronglifts squats with the bar. I have since moved up to squatting 315 lbs! After the initial soreness, my knees have never hurt or been uncomfortable. My flexibility and size/strength have gone through the roof especially in my legs (I’m also up to 200 lbs now…and more ripped and muscular than I ever was at 185), and I wouldn’t turn back to my old time-wasting routine for anything!
i can’t speak for myself, because i’ve never head knee problems
i’ve seen deep squats fix two peoples knee problems, both doing starting strength 2nd beginner, but same difference. deep squats fixed at least two peoples knees in my direct experience.
Great post mjh, congrats on the progress.
Just wanted to comment on the pic at the start of the article, that is a real A2G squat, his ass is on the floor, back nice and straight, sweet.
Great work, Michael! Amazing progress, keep going!
I did stronglifts 5×5 for three months before my most recent rugby season. On top of gaining me 20 lbs of muscle, the amount of knee injuries I sustained went from at least one per game to zero.
I’ve done stronglifts for 20 weeks and I have loved the progress! I haven’t done any cardio in the period - but yesterday I went running after my usual training. As expected my legs felt very heavy from the strength workout however the feeling in my knees was so different, as the post above I’m familiar with having a week feeling with my knees - but that was gone - they felt strong and ‘rigid’ …
So .. squats rules
Squats definitely strengthened my knees and relieved me from much pain. But not before I learned how to do them properly… Proper form is ESSENTIAL here. Once I got my form together, with the help of a skilled trainer, I could do squats on my own and since then, my knees are stronger than ever.
I’m still not doing very high weights–about 65% of my body weight–but considering that I started with about half that much, and the fact the I’m in my mid-fifties, I’m pretty happy to have made this much progress. Almost every week I increase by just a little bit, and that’s very satisfying.
One other thing that improved my knees tremendously is bicycling. I know, it’s not exactly what the article here says, but it’s the same idea: if you’re knees are in trouble, MORE exercise rather than less of it will do it good, and both bicycling and squats challenge the knees to the max, albeit slightly differently.
Squat is a great tool for strengthening knees and getting hips into a neutral position.
Believe it or not, often lower back is the culprit behind chronic knee pain.
Why? Simple - if your pelvic region has too much anterior tilt(too much curve in the lower back), you will feel pressure in lower back and your torso will tilt forward a bit. This is not a very stable position/posture to be in. Since our body wants to achieve the most stable position - it will compensate with bending the knees.
Try this: stand up tall and ask your self whether your knees are bend or locked.
If they are not locked there is a good chance that you are walking around on bent knees, which over works the muscles around. Hence the pain.
Back to the squat now: when you squat ALL the way down, guess what happens to your hips and lower back? It stretches and moves the lower back and the hips in the proper way. Stronger, more neutral back and hips = less pressure on the knees.
Quick tip: If you have knee pain, stand tall and flex your glutes(butt muscles). Hold the flexion for 2 seconds, relax and repeat for 3 sets of 30.
The exercise will neutralize your hips tilt and take pressure of your knees.
Sorry for the long comment but I had to share it. All this comes from experience - I’m posture corrective therapist and strength coach.
I used to get about 2 miles into a hike before my knees go out on me leaving me crawling back to the trailhead in sheer pain. After doing strength training for about 2 months I finally had a chance to try my knees out again. I was scared to do it, simply because of the rough terrain and isolation this hike would lead me to. But I recently did the 10 mile hike through river rock, streams, sand, and hellacious ascents and descents into and out of the canyon - all with about 65lbs of gear on. To my surprise, I didn’t even realize I had knee problems til about 6 miles in, and then it was so minor (and in my left one only) I easily forgot about it. I did realize a new pain - my hips. The left one really started bothering around mile 8, making the ascent out of the canyon extremely painful. I’m assuming this is from lack of hip flexibility? But all in all, knees seem to get better every week!
Oh, I do notice popping knees during my squat that I didn’t notice before. Is this a bad thing? There’s no pain, just popping.
Oxygen.. Make sure the weight is over the middle of the foot. A forward lean, even slight, can cause popping.
Denis, thanks for that post, very helpful info, hope you stick around on this site with your background.
I concur. My knees have stopped popping and the random pain I was getting has mostly gone too. I’m about 3 months into the programme, squatting 62.5kg (body weight = 65) and starting to see real improvements. I have a few issues with lower back pain and I think I need to put more effort into mobility/stretching excercises on off days before upping the weight much more.
Another nice article as usual, Mehdi. I’ve never had any problem with my knees, but I’ve got a very dodgy right shoulder as a result of a motorcycle accident 17 years ago in which, after getting clipped by a cab driver cutting in front of me, I went over the handlebars and hit the roof pillar of the cab hard with my shoulder before flipping over the roof of the cab and landing on my ass about 60 feet up the street. As the years went by, my shoulder got more and more painful, to the point that I couldn’t raise my arm over my head or throw a ball, etc., and often just had constant low-grade pain. When I started lifting 2 years ago, it was agony to try to do bench, overhead or shoulder presses. I persisted, though, steadily seeking to increase my poundage. Now, as a direct result of lifting progressively higher weights, I’ve got NO shoulder pain - despite the fact that an MRI I recently had done to try to see what was going on in my shoulder revealed the existence of three significant tissue tears, all with heavy build-ups of scar tissue. And, having started out 2 years ago at age 55 at an excruciating 95 pounds, I’m now benching 195, while overhead and seated (machine) shoulder presses have also improved dramatically from an equally painful bare bar to 125 and 160, respectively. Keep on grunting!
Not only the knees feel better, stronger; I used to have back pain, specially waking up. All of a sudden I have realized the pain is gone, my overall posture is better and the best part, a butt has appeared!
Thanks mutt, I’ll see if i’m leaning forward at all when i lift today.
YA bogs dogs is the game mentioned in the post. although its called bull rush there. fun game, like rugby without a ball
ya: what we call “bull-rush” in NZ/Australia is called “bull-dogs” in the UK. The game is basically an excuse to smash your mates with out the distractions of a ball or rules.
Alright interesting thanks guys
I have not tried doing too many squats right now, but the trainer at our corporate health club told me to try wide squats to help my knees. I have pain on the inside of both (lack of cartilage) and he said by doing wide squats I would strengthen the quads and it would help my stance so that the inside of the knee would have less pressure on it.
Any truth to that? I really haven’t seen any specific research or anecdotes. He said I don’t need weight, just do it while holding on to a wall or door.
Hi,
I am from India. I used to run (well..not much but abt 3-4 miles / day) till the last year when my knees suddenly gave away (to be honest, I had front knee pain for a while and I did not care..just wanted to increase mileage on my run). the pain grew not only in front but also in side and sometime at the back of the knee..my doctor diagnoned chondromalacia patella said it was the first stage of arthiritis.
By now my knees were so bad that going up/down the stairs hurt like hell and sitting for ten minutes meant that standing up straight became a 5 minute exercise where I would first try to warm up my legs and then try to slowly stand up.
Went to a physio for two months, got the whole set of current, laser and ultrasound therapy along with diathermy. Helped a bit but still not much.
I had started doing squats and lunges as the physio suggested them as part of exercise buth they hurt and my confidence level on my knees was at an all time low.
Thats when started a different scheme…..I started 30 minutes of yoga (basically pranayam - breathing exercisese) followed by 30 mins of squats and lunges. Started with 5 squats*1 rep and 5 lunges on each leg..not going deep in any exercise and was very careful not to extend my knee beyond my toes.
As I had already learnt a lesson by increasing my mileage suddenly in running, here I increased my reps only after I was comfortable with a given number at least for a fortnight. Then too the increase was not more than 20%..for eg I went from 10 reps to 12 reps and then worked on them again for a fortnight or more before increasing them to 14-15.
eight months later, I presume that 80% of my knee pain is gone…my reps have gone up to 60 full deep squats (I am careful and do not bounce up after I go down completely..the key is to control the motion all the time) and 20-25 lunges on each knee…this does not trouble my knees anymore.
the cracking sounds from my patella have reduced a lot..and even if there is a sound..there is no associated pain. My knee fees much more stronger then what it was 9 months ago…thanks I presume primarily to squats and lunges…
Start Small be careful and slowly…slowly…very slowly build up reps..you will be surprised to note the results!!…