Myths quickly spread in the gym.
One of those common myths is that squats are bad for your knees.
But some recent research would contradict this idea.
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Two large reviews looked at the impact of exercise on knee joints (see link at the bottom of this article).
And the big conclusion was that joint-loading exercises do not harm knee cartilage.
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Here are some additional tips to make sure you’re on the right track:
1 – Squatting with good form is very important. A lot of people go wrong here, and blame the exercise… but it’s really because, well, you don’t know how to do it right. Check out the resources below for help.
2 – You have to work up to doing squats with full depth. If you haven’t squatted to full depth for a long time, build slowly and work towards it over the course of weeks and months. It takes a new client many times months at FVT to build up the leg strength, core strength, and flexiblity to be able to squat to full depth. If they have knee issues, sometimes they never squat to parallel. And that’s cool too! Do what’s right for you.
3 – Work up the volume slowly as well. Don’t come in day one and do hundreds of squats, and then complain that your knees hurt the next day, and never do them again. Do a few sets of low reps at first, and slowly build from there.
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If you are trying to get back into working out regularly… OR you are doing it on your own, but want to take your results to the next level… contact us today to get the professional help, support and accountability you need. Click this link and fill out the form to start your 14-day Test Drive (we have both in-person AND virtual/remote options available): https://www.forestvancetraining.com/contact
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RESEARCH REVIEW: JOINT-LOADING EXERCISE IMPACT ON KNEE CARTILAGE – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29934429/