Fear The Squat No More!
Paul Chek wrote an excellent article series on this topic, which you can access at the following links:
Part I
Part II
Part III At a recent NSCA Symposium, I had the pleasure of attending Dr. Trevor Cottrell's presentation on squats and the functional integrity of the knee joint. Cottrell is the coordinator of the Bachelor of Applied Health Sciences Program at the Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning in Brampton, Ontario. What a fantastic facility, and what a great talk Cottrell gave! Here are some key points from that discussion:
- Nomadic cultures did not have seats and did not want to sit on the hot desert sand (with scorpions roaming around) so they would squat.
- Infants have big heads relative to their body. They do not bend over or they would lose balance. Instead, they squat.
- Toilets in Asia are on the floor. If you lack mobility, you better have good aim!
- Forces on the knee during a squat involve compression (on meniscus), anterior shear (on ACL), and posterior shear (on PCL). Shear and compressive forces will all increase but within tolerable limits.
- In a full squat, the MCL and LCL are not even loaded which completely counters Karl Klein's controversial study.
- Loading during a squat will prevent arthritis and is therefore protective; however, to protect the back side of the knee, you must squat deep enough.
Just curious, how much more ammunition is required for the benefits of full squats?
Shared from Body Essence news letter
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