Knees. They are one of those joints that we don’t realise how much we need and use until we can’t anymore. A bit like having electricity at our fingertips, or water from a tap, we use the resources of our body with a similar careless abandon; their importance only bought to our attention when there is a fault in the system.
Our knees are the same. They tend not to complain very loudly, there will be an odd twinge here and there, a subtle little cry for help, but on the whole they are silent sufferers, until they can hide it no longer.
The age of ‘bending from the knees, not the back’ for lifting heavy items became the narrative we believed and followed obediently. In trying to save the ever niggly lower back by encouraging people not to flex the spine whilst lifting something heavy was the correct message. But to lift while bending our knees and to do it without damaging them required some more information, and more movement training.
Why? To lift something correctly, we need to strengthen the back of the body (hamstrings, glutes and lower back). Trying to bend and lift from the knees without strength in these key areas is going to cause trouble.
The Anatomy Bit
The knee joint is a hinge joint. That means it should bend and extend to enable us to walk with a smooth gait, which doesn’t stress the spine or pelvis too significantly. There is, naturally some weight bearing ability but its main function is a locomotive joint.
Because of it’s role, the knee is cushioned with cartilage and has a full ligament support system (front, back, sides).
It is not designed to be heavily loaded by the quads that the traditional squat and the ‘bending with the knees’ instruction encourages.
Hopefully now you will be introducing more movement to your hips on a daily basis, by using them as the fulcrum for your body, and this has a direct effect for supporting your knees too. By bending your body from the hips, and keeping your back in neutral, you will begin to strengthen the posterior chain of muscles, which balances the load share between your quads and your hamstrings.
The aim should be to lower your pelvis/bottom with your knees over your ankles. If you are anything like me, you may only be able to get this far (see pic) whilst keeping good form until you have created enough strength in your glutes and hamstrings.
Try doing 10 of these new squats daily; soft knees, neutral spine and bend from the hips pushing your bottom out behind you as if you were going to sit in a chair. Keep the weight over your heels.
Squeeze your glutes to bring your upper body back to upright and repeat.