Squats: Should your knees never go past your toes?

Asked by: Sheila Walters

Key Takeaways: Research tells us that your knees going past your toes when squatting is not harmful if you’re not injured, and you have the flexibility to squat properly. You can condition and strengthen your knees, and the muscles around them, to move better and squat comfortably.

Can my knees go over my feet when I squat?

Furthermore, in order to reach FULL depth in the squat the knees almost always have to move forward past the toes. Olympic weightlifters are a great example of this, as they need to train at full depth for their sport, and so often squat with their knees past their toes, and with very high loads too!

How far should your knees go in a squat?

When exercising, try squatting without letting your knees go over your toes. You may be able to squat, but it may not look pretty. The moral of this story is that it is perfectly fine to let your knees go over your toes. If anything, it is good for the health of your joints and your muscles to allow for this to happen.

Why is knees over toes important?

When it comes to barbell squats, to move the heaviest amount of weight you must keep your center of mass over the middle of your foot. In order to do this and achieve adequate depth, the knees must translate over the toes to keep the barbell over the midfoot.

Why you should train knees over toes?

This not only keeps you balanced, but it also allows for a deeper squat as you afford yourself greater available range of movement at the ankles. The main focus when assessing travel of the knees in a squat should be when the knees move over the toes and not if.

Should you go past 90 degrees when squatting?

The short and simple answer is as low as possible. Squatting deeper has not been shown by the research to cause any harm to the knees. The research has actually shown that squatting to 90 degrees puts the most stress and force on your knees, but when you go past 90, there is less force on the knees.

Should I go all the way down on squats?

The truth is neither side is right. Forget depth. Your back is what matters. You should squat no lower than the point where your hip begins to tuck under and you lose the natural arch in your lower spine.

Should you squat with toes forward?

Squatting toes forward is motor learning to ensure this stance when jumping and landing; squatting with toes out teaches athletes to jump and land with the sub-optimal toes-out position. Landing with feet out means potential for valgus knee movement.

Can you squat with knees over toes?

Unless they have issues with flexibility in their ankles or knees, a healthy athlete should have no problem performing a squat with their knees past their toes.

Is knees over toes guy good?

The Knees Over Toes guy does a great job of walking viewers through simple steps and how to execute the movements. That is important to prevent injury. Also, he gives a governor to help prevent injury. Another thing we like is how he talks about lengthening the hamstrings.

What is a sissy squat?

Squatting Knees Over Toes (THE TRUTH!)

Can you squat with knees over toes?

Unless they have issues with flexibility in their ankles or knees, a healthy athlete should have no problem performing a squat with their knees past their toes.

Why do my knees go forward when I squat?

1. Knees Moving Forward. When your knees move forward during your squat descent, it usually indicates a more quad-dominant movement pattern.

How can I get my knees above my toes?

Start getting it moving now what you're thinking is to get your toe behind your knee each step doesn't have to be a big step but that's how you know if you have too much weight.

What is a sissy squat?

The sissy squat is a top exercise for building quads, working on your hip flexors and strengthening your core simultaneously. It involves locking your feet in a fixed position and leaning right back, with the tension on your thighs, before bringing yourself up again – most easily completed with a Sissy Squat Bench.

Should you squat with raised heels?

Elevating your heels when performing a squat will do two things: Increase squat depth, and transfer force and emphasis to your quadriceps. Heels elevated squats better activate the muscle fibers of your quads because it increases the range of motion at the knee while decreasing the range of motion at the hip.

How much should a person squat?

If you’re just looking for baseline data for beginners, men should be able to squat about 65% of their body weight while women are expected to squat about 50% of their body weight.