Should You Squat With Your Knees Over Your Toes?

I am almost sure that at some point you have heard a trainer, coach or even a friend say “Don’t squat with your knees over your toes”. If you bothered to ask why you probably got a response somewhere along the lines of “it’s bad for your knees because it puts too much pressure on them”. I remember hearing that while I was growing up and at the time it made sense to me. Today I am going to explain why it actually doesn’t matter.

Anytime we squat, lunge, or even step-up we want to decrease the amount of pressure placed on our patellofemoral joint (knee). When we perform repeated movements that put too much force on this joint we can develop patellofemoral syndrome or what is more commonly known as “runners knee”. The theory behind not allowing your knees to go beyond your toes is to help reduce this force.

In 2009 Escamilla and associates conducted a study that tested 3 different types of squats. Each type of squat had a different knee alignment and the researchers measured the different type of force each squat placed on the knee joint.

The first squat variation was a wall squat with the tibia (shin bone) perpendicular to the floor. The second variation of the squat was a wall squat with the knee extending past the toe by an average of 9cm. The last variation of the squat was a single leg squat with the upper body angled forward toward the floor and the knee extending past the toe by an average of 10cm.

After measuring the force the three different types of squats placed on the knee, the researchers found that it didn’t matter how far past the knee went over the toe. It was actually the angle of the back that made more of a difference when determining the amount of force placed on the knee. When we have a more upright back when squatting, lunging, and doing step-ups we place more force on the knees and less on the hips. Since our glutes and hamstrings are such large muscles, we want to incorporate them into our squatting movements and have them take most of the force rather than our knees. This is only accomplished by angling our upper body about 30-40 degrees forward during squats, lunges, and step-ups.

Remember that it is crucial to have proper form when performing any exercise otherwise, we will start to develop chronic symptoms from having an improper alignment of the joints. When squatting, lunging, and performing step-ups we must make sure we:

• Angle our upper body about 30 – 40 degrees forward
• Don’t allow our knees to extend past our toes by more than 10cm
• Always utilize proper form