They Don't Know Squat
6133
Health & Fitness > Fitness Training
Mar 1, 2007
Keith Londrie
They Don't Know Squat
There seems to be much confusion amongst trainers and trainees as to whether squats should be performed all the way down or just half way. In most gyms today, a common instruction during squats, deadlifts, and lunges (as taught by many personal training organizations) is not to allow the knees to travel beyond the toes. Doing so will ultimately cause the destruction of your knees! I do not agree. There are certain instances where partial range of motion (ROM) is indicated, but for the most part, I teach people the full squat for the following reasons:
* It is the most primitive movement pattern known to man; our ancestors used to perform many daily functions (i.e. harvesting, gathering, hunting, cooking, eating, etc.) in a full squat position.
* Also, in case anyone hasn't noticed, we spend 40 weeks in the fetal position (which is basically a full squat) prior to entering this world - do we come out with bad knees?
* We should strive to train in full ROM for each and every exercise. The squat is no exception.
* Every exercise produces stress around a joint - the body then adapts to this stress.
* Cocontraction of the quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemius maintains integrity around the knee joint.
* Sheering and compressive forces do occur around the knee joint (as opposed to only sheering forces that occur in some open kinetic chain lower body exercises, such as the leg extension); however, the large contact area of the patella with the femoral groove (as knee flexion increases during the full squat) helps to dissipate compressive forces.
* Therefore, not only is the squat - as a closed chain exercise - considered a natural movement pattern with high functional carryover, but it is also a safe exercise if performed correctly (and that includes full ROM!)
* Drawer tests are performed at a knee angle of 90 degrees because there is a greater amount of laxity in the knee joint at that specific angle. So, does it make sense to only go down half way where you are most vulnerable especially when greater loads can be used (because you are much stronger in this partial ROM?)
* According to Ironman contributor, George Turner, the fulcrum moves to the knee joint in a parallel squat as opposed to the muscle belly of the quadriceps in a full squat.
* Think about it, if you constantly trained in a limited ROM, the likelihood of injury increases if one day you happen to squat beyond your trained ROM.
* Partial squats performed on a regular basis will decrease flexibility.
* There is a low incidence of lower back pain and knee injury in Aboriginal and Oriental societies which perform full squats on a regular basis.
* Even Olympic weight lifters who practice full squats have quite healthy knees compared to other athletes.
* Although you may find some research that indicates full squats as potentially harmful to the knees, only one study has ever proved this to be true. However, it was performed on a skeleton - the same results do not hold true with surrounding connective tissue. On the other hand, numerous studies show the benefits of full squats.
Unfortunately, many personal training certification courses are teaching half squats as a safe version suitable for all individuals and this has now become written in stone. God forbid that you deviate from this golden rule to do something that our bodies are meant to do! Read this carefully: squatting should be performed in a full ROM where the hamstrings make contact with the calves (so that no light can be seen passing through your legs at the bottom position.) It is okay for your knees to travel beyond the toes (just do not relax the knees in the bottom position.) In other words, keep the legs tight and try to stay as upright as possible throughout the exercise. So, next time some fitness instructor approaches you in the gym and advises not to go deep while squatting tell him/her that they don't know squat!
* It is the most primitive movement pattern known to man; our ancestors used to perform many daily functions (i.e. harvesting, gathering, hunting, cooking, eating, etc.) in a full squat position.
* Also, in case anyone hasn't noticed, we spend 40 weeks in the fetal position (which is basically a full squat) prior to entering this world - do we come out with bad knees?
* We should strive to train in full ROM for each and every exercise. The squat is no exception.
* Every exercise produces stress around a joint - the body then adapts to this stress.
* Cocontraction of the quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemius maintains integrity around the knee joint.
* Sheering and compressive forces do occur around the knee joint (as opposed to only sheering forces that occur in some open kinetic chain lower body exercises, such as the leg extension); however, the large contact area of the patella with the femoral groove (as knee flexion increases during the full squat) helps to dissipate compressive forces.
* Therefore, not only is the squat - as a closed chain exercise - considered a natural movement pattern with high functional carryover, but it is also a safe exercise if performed correctly (and that includes full ROM!)
* Drawer tests are performed at a knee angle of 90 degrees because there is a greater amount of laxity in the knee joint at that specific angle. So, does it make sense to only go down half way where you are most vulnerable especially when greater loads can be used (because you are much stronger in this partial ROM?)
* According to Ironman contributor, George Turner, the fulcrum moves to the knee joint in a parallel squat as opposed to the muscle belly of the quadriceps in a full squat.
* Think about it, if you constantly trained in a limited ROM, the likelihood of injury increases if one day you happen to squat beyond your trained ROM.
* Partial squats performed on a regular basis will decrease flexibility.
* There is a low incidence of lower back pain and knee injury in Aboriginal and Oriental societies which perform full squats on a regular basis.
* Even Olympic weight lifters who practice full squats have quite healthy knees compared to other athletes.
* Although you may find some research that indicates full squats as potentially harmful to the knees, only one study has ever proved this to be true. However, it was performed on a skeleton - the same results do not hold true with surrounding connective tissue. On the other hand, numerous studies show the benefits of full squats.
Unfortunately, many personal training certification courses are teaching half squats as a safe version suitable for all individuals and this has now become written in stone. God forbid that you deviate from this golden rule to do something that our bodies are meant to do! Read this carefully: squatting should be performed in a full ROM where the hamstrings make contact with the calves (so that no light can be seen passing through your legs at the bottom position.) It is okay for your knees to travel beyond the toes (just do not relax the knees in the bottom position.) In other words, keep the legs tight and try to stay as upright as possible throughout the exercise. So, next time some fitness instructor approaches you in the gym and advises not to go deep while squatting tell him/her that they don't know squat!
Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com
Keith Londrie II is a fitness trainer and has put up a web site for you to obtain more information. Please visit Muscle building now
Write a Review
Add to My Favorite
Refer it to Friend
Report Article
Other links owned by this user
There seems to be much confusion amongst trainers and trainees as to whether squats should be performed all the way down or just half way. In most gyms today, a common instruction during squats, deadlifts, and lunges (as taught by many personal training
Category:
Satellite TV holds a great advantage over the cable TV companies. Not only is the picture and sound quality superior, but there?s more choice in what to watch. If you said to yourself ?there?s nothing on TV?, switch to satellite. The differences
Category:
Geneic es which is also known as DNA-based es is he mos powerful echnique used o es for breas cancer deecion. I involves he direc examinaion of DNA molecule iself. By using a molecular diagnosic es o assess wheher a breas
Category:
With over four billion web pages catalogued by major search engines globally, your web site can easily get lost in the sea of URLs. For a fee, pay-per-click (PPC) search engines like Google and Yahoo! will place your URL higher in the ranking. These are
Category:
Breast cancer happens when cells in the breast gin to grow out of control and can then invade nearby tissues or spread throughout the body. Large collections of this out of control tissue are called tumors. However, some tumors are not really cancer
Category:
If you are in the market for a fish tank, do not forget one important thing--something to set it on. Fish tank stands are just as important as the actual tank itself. There is no reason to set your tank on an old table or server. You can buy a brand new
Category:
Satellite television on your cell phone? That's what Samsung says it's working on. A whole new world looks set to emerge with video-on-the-go services _ and the traditional couch potato may become a thing of the past. Their
Category:
Does our computer need to be spruced up a little bit? When our screen saver comes on, are ou greeted b a plain black screen or the windows icon that came with our computer? Doesn't this get to be boring? Wouldn't ou like to add a little life to
Category:
We hear it all the time? lose weight for your health. Few people however, realize the extent to which this is critical to their physical well-being and ultimately their life expectancy. In January 2003, the Journal of the American Medical
Category:
Until recently, many businesses were hesitant to become involved in paying to advertise products or services on the Internet, or were unaware that online paid advertising was even a viable alternative. Reasoning for this lack of enthusiasm varied for
Category:
If you have a fish tank, then a fish tank um is also a necessity. Finding the fish tank um that is right for you can be difficult if you are not familiar with the industry. In most cases, when you buy a fish tank, you will also be given a fish tank
Category:
Satellite TV is a Liberator or the first time in history, India's Republic Day was seen live all over Asia on Star TV, and the fuming politicians and intellectuals of Pakistan could do nothing about it. The budget speech of Dr Man Mohan
Category:
Satellite television is throwing cable out in the competition. Satellite TV holds a great advantage over the cable TV companies. Not only is the picture and sound quality superior, but there's more choice of channels while saving a reasonable amount of
Category:
Both search engines, Google and Yahoo!, differentiate their paid listings from their free, contextual (otherwise known as "organic" results), usually by featuring the "sponsored links" searches on a different part of the page and by highlighting
Category:
Telemetry or "remote measurement" is a highly automated communications process by which measurements are made and other data collected at remote, inaccessible or dangerous places, and then relayed by a telemetry transmitter to receiving stations for
Category:
The key advantage of pay per click marketing is you can register dozen, even hundreds of keywords that will bring up your site at the p of different results lists. That way you can promote many minor keywords that get minimal response without having
Category:
Abdominoplasty, or "tummy tuck" is a major gical procedure that removes excess skin and fat from the stomach and tightens the abdominal muscles. Many people who are unable to decrease their tummy with traditional diet and exercise seek a plastic
Category:
It is of prime importance that the obstetrician's take a thorough breast examination of pregnant women to detect breast cancer. Often, the diagnosis is delayed because doctors and pregnant women assume that lumps in the breast are due to normal
Category:
Telemetry, derived from the Greek words, tele meaning remote, and metron meaning measure, is the technology of automatic measurement and transmission of information by wire, radio, or other means from remote sources, as from space vehicles, to receiving
Category:
DirecTV is now so popular in town and we can see many ads in newspapers, websites and many other sources stating ?Free Satellite TV?, "Get a 4-room Satellite TV System Free!", "Satellite TV Dish and Receivers Absolutely Free!" Some of them also
Category:
Other links at Health & Fitness > Fitness Training
Most people know that having health and fitness is important. Many try to stay fit and healthy to get a great body shape. The question is do people know the benefits of being fit and healthy or how to get that great body shape they yearned so much
Category:
This is a very simple exercise, it is stuff that you have been doing all along, the only difference is that you will take it a notch higher in your personal fitness. The objective here, is to give you certain ideas that will spark off
Category:
Core training is a new focus in our fitness industry. The 90?s fitness world was high-impact, step aerobics and cardio mania. It was all about burning off the fat with little concern for the hip, knee and back areas. We learn from the past and now focus
Category:
Train the c, c lactate and aerobic energy pathways for superior conditioning performance... Not just one energy pathway for "specialized" conditioning. To develop superior conditioning you must train the c,
Category:
Bodybuilding by weightlifting if done wrongly is a sure recipe for injuries. Sometimes even painful and permanent injuries that will derail your bodybuilding program. This article will address the common injury prone mistakes bodybuilders make in their
Category:
Site Sponsor
Directory Statistics
Articles: 68228
Categories: 501
Yahoo Entertainment
