24Nov/090
Knee position when squatting
The other day I was sharing the squat rack with this guy at the gym; he was doing front squats. I see him at the gym all the time. He's in his early 20's and he's a competitive powerlifter. Compared to the guys he lifts with, he's got good form on most of his lifts. However, there was one aspect of his front squat I thought he needed to work on: his knee position. At the bottom of his squat, his knees went about 3-4 inches over his toes. As a result, he seemed a bit awkward and unbalanced at the bottom. I didn't say anything about it to him because, well, who am I? He's a powerlifter and I'm just a Joe Schmo off the street. Had he asked me for advice, this is what I would have told him:
- Stop your knees from going over your toes!
- Sit back further into your squat (like you're sitting on a toilet).
- Stretch those hamstrings: tight hammies can keep you from sitting back far enough.