Full squats bad for the knees?

[kimotherapy]

When i squat, i go as low as possible where my ass is almost touching the ground. is that bad for the knees? hyper ??

[a11]

In hyper's opinion you should go as low as possible. The truth is that by stopping when your thighs are parallel to the ground, you're putting the same amount of stress, if not more, on the knees.

[hyp3r3xt3nsion]

go as low as possible. minimum depth is parallel; if you're inflexible like me get comfortable at parallel then slowly each work lower it bit by bit.

also try working w/ box squatting if you're really inflexible; that helped me a lot

but basically go as low as comfortably possible, no bouncing, and you're fine.

[Wanker527]

bump to above posts.

in fact, it's arguable that NOT going "ass to grass" so-to-speak actually causes greater sheer stress on the knee joint. go as low as possible without hurting/straining yourself.

[reFLEX]

I personally can't go much past parallel because of my previous knee problems, so it's definitely a subjective thing, and if it hurts, not doing it might be a good idea.

Safety concerns aside though, you've got to also keep in mind what muscle groups you want to put stress on. I go down to, not only where my knees allow, but also to the point where my quads stop working. Any lower and my glutes and hams take over. And hypertrophy in my ass is not what I'm going for.

The most important thing is not to become someone who does huge weights and then squats a total ROM of 3" and thinks they are the ****.

[hyp3r3xt3nsion]

Originally posted by reFLEX
I personally can't go much past parallel because of my previous knee problems, so it's definitely a subjective thing, and if it hurts, not doing it might be a good idea.

Safety concerns aside though, you've got to also keep in mind what muscle groups you want to put stress on. I go down to, not only where my knees allow, but also to the point where my quads stop working. Any lower and my glutes and hams take over. And hypertrophy in my ass is not what I'm going for.

The most important thing is not to become someone who does huge weights and then squats a total ROM of 3" and thinks they are the ****.

if you want to focus on your quads more there's more efficient was like front squatting and zercher squatting

[BPP]

Originally posted by reFLEX
I personally can't go much past parallel because of my previous knee problems, so it's definitely a subjective thing, and if it hurts, not doing it might be a good idea.

Safety concerns aside though, you've got to also keep in mind what muscle groups you want to put stress on. I go down to, not only where my knees allow, but also to the point where my quads stop working. Any lower and my glutes and hams take over. And hypertrophy in my ass is not what I'm going for.

The most important thing is not to become someone who does huge weights and then squats a total ROM of 3" and thinks they are the ****.

actually regardless of how low you go, you'll get some glute work....gluts work with femur extension, so any squat upphase will work them

[kimotherapy]

Originally posted by hyp3r3xt3nsion
if you want to focus on your quads more there's more efficient was like front squatting and zercher squatting

Well i am probably a beginner so i wont need to focus on specialised squats to target only my quads. i need complete development first. Thanks for your replies but i have a problem, I read alot that your knees shouldnt pass your feet while squatting. But when i go as low as possible, "ass to grass" my knees tend to go slightly over that limit, is that alright ? If i dont i feel like im going to fall over.I can't even do that doing body weight squats!

Note: its not like my knees are way ahead of my feet, you can say they are almost the same level, just that my knees are SLIGHTLY ahead

[supergarr]

go low as you can without the feet coming off the floor. Personally I don't advise that you let the hamstrings squish against the calf. A minor touch is alright. And box squat to perfect this

[ExtremeEnigma]

from http://www.johnberardi.com/updates/j...3/na_myths.htm

Myth #2: Full Squats (below parallel) Are Bad For The Knees

More squat myths?!?

We’ve all heard it, if you dip below parallel during a squat, your kneecap will blow off and land in the front desk girl’s mocha latte. Well it just ain’t true! What’s that, you need a little more evidence? Ok boys and girls, its time for today’s episode of Fun With Musculoskeletal Anatomy.

The knee has four main protective ligaments that keep the femur from displacing on the tibia (ACL, PCL, MCL, LCL). These four ligaments are most effective at their protection during full extension and full flexion. Full extension would be when you are standing; full flexion would be when there is no daylight between your hamstring and your calf. When the knee is at 90 degrees of flexion (the halfway point), these four ligaments are almost completely lax and cannot exert much if any of a protective force at the knee (Zatsiorsky V. Kinematics of human motion. 1998 - published by Human Kinetics - p.301).

Unfortunately, the position where the protective ligaments of the knee are not doing any protecting is the common recommended stopping point of a squat. Therefore, as it as it turns out, this is the exact worst place you could reverse the motion under load.

If flexibility allows (heels staying planted, torso not flexing forward past 45 degrees), then a full squat where you lower yourself all the way to the ground is far safer on the knees than the traditional half squat. Guess what joint angle most leg extension machines start at? If you said 90 degrees, give yourself a pat on your healthy knee. This makes a full squat even safer than a leg extension machine (Wilk K et al. A comparison of tibiofemoral joint forces and electromyographic activity during open and closed kinetic chain exercises. Am J Sports Med; 24(4):518-527).

So am I telling you never to do parallel squats? No! Am I saying that you’ll injure yourself on a parallel squat? No, again! What I’m trying to do is simply make an argument for the safety of full squats, thereby relegating squat myth #2 to the fiery pits of hades.

[reFLEX]

Originally posted by hyp3r3xt3nsion
if you want to focus on your quads more there's more efficient was like front squatting and zercher squatting

until I can say that I've truly maxed out my squatting potential (weight wise) I'm not worrying too much about changing it up to. I'm mainly training for strength at the moment and I know I've got a ways to go. broke 300 two weeks ago tho which was a milestone, gonna try with 3 plates a side next week...

(btw bigpoppaproppy, I know that the glutes don't suddenly activate below parallel or anything, but I do know that when I've tried going deep, which I have, it hasn't felt to me like my quads have been doing much extra, just my glutes. not saying it'll feel that way for everyone, just what I've found)