How to do squats if your knees and back hurt

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you feel pain and discomfort in your knees and back during or after squats, try changing your technique. Several tricks can help reduce damage to joints and the spine.

If you want to make squats more effective and safer, try the following changes to your technique.

1. Squat with a barbell on your chest

Squats with a barbell on the chest are more gentle on the knees and back exercise option.

Firstly, the barbell on the chest does not allow you to greatly disrupt the technique. If your back bends too much, you simply cannot hold the barbell, so you always perform these squats with more or less normal technique.

Second, you take less weight than back squats. Yes, it will take you longer to get results, but in the long run it will save your joints.

The only problem with squats like this is that it can be difficult to hold the bar, especially if you have limited wrist mobility. If you are familiar with these problems, try using barbell straps or cross grip.

2. Squat to parallel hips to the floor

Many athletes do not even come close to parallel - they only squat by a quarter.

This limitation of the range happens for two reasons: the athlete simply cannot squat lower due to stiff muscles or takes too much weight with which he will not rise back. Limiting the range in this way negatively affects the results.

On the other hand, if you have problems with your knees and back, you shouldn't squat too deep, until your hips touch your lower leg.

By dropping below parallel, many athletes round the lower back, which puts them at risk of injury and lower back pain.

Stop parallel to the floor. Your squat won't lose much of its effectiveness for building muscle or increasing strength, and you will save your back.

3. Control the eccentric phase

One study. showed that jerky movements during squatting increased knee shear force by 33%. It turns out that when you perform a movement abruptly - without control, you fall into a squat, and then abruptly straighten up, the load on your knees increases greatly.

To protect your joints and make the squat more effective, control the lowering phase: do it slowly and deliberately. In addition, you can linger for a second at the extreme point of the squat - this way you will perform the exercise only at the expense of the muscles, without the help of inertia.

4. Put your feet wider

Some athletes perform the squat with a very wide stance. They bend at the hip joint, pull the pelvis back and try to keep the shins as vertical as possible. This stance is gentle on the knees, but it puts stress on the lower back.

There are athletes who prefer a narrow squat stance, in which you keep your back straight and load your quads. In such a stance, the load is removed from the lower back, but the knees go far forward behind the socks, which is bad for their health in the long run.

It is best to choose a medium stance width - slightly wider than the shoulders - and bend at the hip and knee joints at the same time. In this stance, you will be able to maintain the correct position of the body and at the same time load the quads without unnecessary stress on the knees.

5. Do a pedestal squat

Exercise using a pedestal or stand with restraints helps control the depth of the squat.

For athletes who are accustomed to stopping long before parallel with the floor, a bollard or restraints will help increase the depth of the squat. And those who squat too low, on the contrary, will limit the range of motion.

In addition, the pedestal squat teaches you to control the eccentric phase of the movement. You will not fall down, because you are afraid to hit the curbstone, and gradually the conscious movement will become a habit.

It is up to you to decide what to use, a pedestal or a rack with restraints. If you choose a pedestal, remember that it is only used as a height limiter. You don't have to lean on it like you do in the powerlifting box squat.

6. Use chains

Chains are generally used in powerlifting to maximize the load at the top of the exercise, but they are also good for reducing stress on the lower back and knees.

When you stand with the barbell, the chains increase its weight, but as you lower into the squat, they fall to the floor - and the bar becomes lighter. This makes it easier to exercise at the bottom of the squat, when the lower back and knees are most stressed, and increase the weight as you lift.

If your gym doesn't have chains, you can use rubber bands. Hook them to the racks and to the bar, and the effect will be the same: at the top, the resistance of the bands will add weight, and at the bottom, you will only lift the bar.

7. Choose Medium Reps

For athletes who have knee and back problems, it is better to choose an average number of repetitions - 6-12 reps per set. By doing fewer reps with more weight, you run the risk of overloading your joints. Multi-rep sets are also bad for the knees and back.

The good news is that 6-12 reps is the optimal amount for muscle hypertrophy, so your workouts will not lose any efficiency and will be safer.

8. Squat at the end of your workout

If you squat at the end of your workout, you are already well warmed up, and fatigue will prevent you from taking too much weight, which can be the last straw for sore knees. In addition, when choosing a weight, you will be guided precisely by the capabilities of the legs.

Typically, for squats with a barbell on your chest, you take a weight that you can hold in your hands, and not one that can support your legs. For squats with a barbell on your back, you choose a weight that your lower back can withstand, and leg strength, again, remains out of work.

If you do squats at the end of a workout, on tired muscles, the weight will be chosen based on the capabilities of your legs, which will provide the necessary load.

The safest knee and back squats

If you put all the tips listed above together, you get a squat with a barbell on the chest with chains on a pedestal. Here are some guidelines for performing this movement.

1. Adjust the height of the pedestal or racks so that at the lowest point, the thighs are parallel to the floor.
2. If you are doing a squat with restraints, avoid the barbell bouncing off them. Try to lower the bar onto the restraints as quietly as possible: this will help you increase control in the eccentric phase of the movement.
3. If you don't have chains or resistance bands, you can increase the reps slightly.

You don't have to follow all of the tips, but if you have knee or back pain, try some of them and you will feel the difference.