Bow Legged Squats

When I walk into any gym the most common dysfunction/form issue I see is the valgus collapse of the knee while squatting.  That's a fancy way of saying the knees travel inward, toward the midline of the body while pressing up.

The reason this is a problem is that it significantly increases the amount of stress on the knee.  The reason it occurs is a lack of stability and control of the foot (pronated/flat feet) as well as the rotation of the hip.

You'll notice in the 'Good' example above, the knees are almost outside of the feet, creating a 'Bow-legged' looking squat.  This is more ideal because the legs have good stability and control of not only the arch of the foot, but also the rotation of the hip.  This keeps your knees from added stress leading to overuse injuries that will slow down your fitness goals and lead to early degeneration.

The best tip I've ever heard as far as attaining this is to 'Externally rotate' or two apply a twisting pressure to your feet once your in your squatting position.  Paying attention to this will allow you to have a much more stable base in which you'll be able to squat lower, performing pulling lifts from the floor (deadlifts, olympic lifts, etc) easier, and have much higher strength output because you'll have so much better stability.  A helpful way to think of stability is shooting a canon out of a row boat.....it just won't work without stability.

If your having knee issues or would like your own evaluation, contact Dr. Scott Hoar at 561.997.8898, or email at drscotthoar@gmail.com. To check out more visit www.Mobility-4Life.com