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In my last post I outlined the benefits of why I believe you should be adding in a squatting movement into your workout routines and now I want to show you a simple fix to get rid of a lot of the pain you feel in your knees when you squat.

Besides alignment issues concerning tight hip, thigh, and calf muscles the primary cause of knee pain when most people squat is due to improper knee flexion (it’s the same issue with lunges, etc).

This improper knee flexion occurs when your knees go over toes as you’re squatting down. Typically, it happens when you shift your weight off your heels and onto the balls of your feet. This creates greater shearing forces on your knee joints which is one of the reasons why you feel pain.

We see this breakdown in form in every new client who comes to our studio and there’s a quick fix in the biomechanics of this squatting movement to quickly correct the technique.

So right now you are starting your squatting movement by bending your knees first when you squat. What I’d like you to do is flex/bend at the hips first and sit back onto your heels. You may have difficulty with your balance at first, but stick with it and do not allow your knees to bend over your toes. Keep the weight on your heels and glutes throughout the movement.

The absolute easiest way to fix your squat form is to stand two inches away from a wall and squat down as deep as you can without your knees or chest touching the wall (you may hold onto the wall if needed). Keep practicing this body weight squat until you can get your hips close to parallel to the floor. Not only will your leg strength improve, but your core will be much stronger as well!

If you can do the wall facing squats and you still feel pain in your knees I would highly recommend static stretching your leg muscles directly after using a foam roller on your hips and legs. This practice will work to realign your joints (by returning your tight muscles to their original form) which in turn will help to decrease knee pain.