How To Safely Perform The Squat For Less Joint Pain
The squat is one of the most important movements to master in keeping active, strong, and doing what we love. Not only is it a great indicator of full body movement and function but -when performed correctly - is a great way to build strength and protect our joints for less pain, arthritis, and overall dysfunction.
We teach this movement to almost everyone who steps foot in our clinic and have seen many of the mistakes that people can make when learning. In this article we’ll cover how to perform the squat and what to pay attention to to avoid back, knee and joint pain.
Unlock At The Hips (vs. Unlocking at the Knee)
It’s important to initiate the squat movement by ‘unlocking at your hips’ rather than ‘unlocking at your knee’. The first movement should be sending your hips back and then dropping your hips to the floor. This will help keep your center of gravity over your weight bearing joints and save you from YEARS of pain and dysfunction.
Find Your Ideal Squat Stance
Many people when learning to squat years ago were give the ‘hip width, toes pointed forward’ advice. Because each person’s hip anatomy is a bit different each person will have a unique squat stance. The best way to figure out yours is through trial and error. What you are looking for is what is most comfortable and what allows the most depth. Adjusted the width of your stance and your toe angle until you find the best position for yourself.
Control Your Depth
For those of you on the more mobile side, it’s important to control the depth of your squat to avoid putting you spine in an unstable position. Stopping when your thigh’s reach ‘parallel’ with the ground will keep your spine in a stable position and help you avoid back and hip pain.
As you can see, for such a simple movement there is a lot to think about with the air squat. Learning how to coordinate movement so you can SAFELY build strength is one of the best things you can do to keep active, strong, and doing what you love.
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