If you come to physical therapy for a condition anywhere between your belly button and your toes, you will likely end up doing a squat or two. There are so many functional benefits to doing squats. My favorites are the ability to go downstairs and being able to get up and down from a chair with ease. Because squats are so important in our daily lives, we get lots and lots of questions about squats. Here are the top 8.
Why can't I just do wide squats?
You can but will miss out on being strong when your feet are in a natural stance. For example, our feet are not placed in a wide position when walking down a staircase or when getting up/down from a chair. To find your natural stance marching in place a few times. Where your feet are after you stop marching is your natural stance width.
It is easier to squat with our legs wide because this decreases the demands of the hip muscles. This can be a great starting point. As you gain in strength, move your feet in closer until you achieve your natural stance. Keep doing wide squats too so you can be mighty for tasks where legs may be wider like picking up items off the ground. Having variety in your squat depth also keeps fitness exciting.
How low do I need to go?
This depends on your goals. For example, if you can’t get in/out of a chair without using your hands then a nice goal may be squatting with your feet in natural stance and tapping your buttock on a chair. I call this squat the “rude house guest squat” because every time your buttock grazes the chair, they ask for something and you have to stand back up. Make it fun! What does the guest ask for? What’s your reply?
If your goal is to pick something up off the ground, look for a pot in the back of the cupboard, or pull a weed then you will need to go lower. It can be helpful to think of the positions observed with football stance or by a sumo wrestler.
What’s the difference between hips back and knees-over-toes squats?
It comes down to muscular demands and functional use. The muscular demand is placed largely on the buttock with a hips-back, glute dominant squat. With this squat, your buttock moves backward and then down like a staircase. In this case, the knees bend because of the hip movements. When viewing the squat from the side, you can see how far the knee goes toward the front of the foot. The knee is usually about halfway up the foot when viewed from the side. The further the knees go forward the more quad dominant (front thigh muscles) the squat becomes.
Now let’s talk about function, the glute dominant squat approximates the demands of getting up/ down from a chair, whereas knees past toes approximates the demands of walking down a steeper staircase. If you have knee pain, start with a glute dominant squat and advance to also performing squats with knees moving toward and past toes as long as within pain-free limits. The patella (knee cap ) lives in the tendon of the quad and is 100% reliant on muscular control so it’s important to stay in a pain-free range to assure your patella is tracking properly versus abutting the femur.
Is it bad when my knees go together?
In general, yes. There are some upper-level athletic exceptions, however for most people it is best to avoid. When our knees go together it means that the muscles on the outside of her thighs are not strong and/or coordinated enough to serve us. This places a lot of pressure on the inside of the knee, inside of the ankle, and pushes our big toe outwards. Try gently pressing your thighs out to “wake up” these muscles if the knee goes inward. If that doesn't work start with a smaller squat depth. The ideal is an imaginary line from the pole of your patella (bottom tip of the knee cap) to the 2nd metatarsal head (behind the second toe).
What if my back hurts when I do squats?
One reason for back pain when performing squats is a lack of lower abdominal activation when returning from a squat. To correct this, “knit” your lower belly muscles together before returning. A helpful cue is to “zip your belly muscles together as though putting on tight pants”. With a glute dominant squat, pressing through the heels to initiate return is also helpful as it encourages the use of the glute muscles. Another reason we have back pain with squatting is simply forgetting to fully return to upright. Your eyeballs will do anything to get to the horizon. If you don't fully come up your lumbar extensors will arch to get your eyes to the horizon.
Is placing my arms in front wrong?
Placing arms in front can be a great starting point. I will help you keep your balance and find your rhythm. “Catch a ball” or “put the turkey in the oven” are great cues. You do want to wean off this so you can have your hands available in a squatting position for tasks and chores. When ready, start by having your arms halfway if front clasped together (think of prayer position). When that is simple you can simply slide your hands down your thighs if it’s tempting to place them forward after that.
Why can't I do a full depth squat right away?
When performing a glute dominant squat, calf shortness or balance are the top 2 reasons why someone can’t squat to a full depth. Start with a smaller squat. When that feels fluid use a pause and seek method. What you do is squat to a comfortable depth, pause, and slowly press your buttock further back and down a small amount, now return to upright by pressing through the heels. The calf length and the balance will both improve. Make sure you fully return to upright. Remember to pick the starting depth that you feel comfortable with. It can be as small as pretending to sit on a barstool and then changing your mind. Additionally, slipping a small wedge under the heels of your feet can help you squat lower because it reduces the length of your calf. Eventually, you will want to wean away from this because you will want your calf muscle to lengthen so you don’t need a wedge to perform a full squat.
What if I don’t feel safe squatting?
Then don’t! Sometimes we need to build up other muscles first. You should see a physical therapist fand we will guide you through the proper steps in order to feeling comfortable performing a squat.