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squats bad for knees?

skinnyrobin Posts: 224 Joined: 2002/05/10	2003/04/17, 02:17 PM squats may be great exercises to work your thighs and glutes, but surely they ain't any good for your knees? I mean, just looking at squats make me think-damn! Those knees are gonna be ruined! or am i wrong?
7707mutt Posts: 7,686 Joined: 2002/06/18	2003/04/17, 02:23 PM wrong in a sense. Done the right way they are not going to hurt your knees. Of course as with any weightlifting exercise there are dangers. Never use bad form, do not let your knees go past your toes as you squat. And never use a weight you can not handle. Follow those rules and you are fine. Been doing them for 10 years never ahurt knee. -------------- IF YOU CAN STILL ITCH YOUR NOSE AFTER ARM DAY, GO DO ANOTHER SET!!!
sandysford Posts: 1,139 Joined: 2002/11/18	2003/04/17, 02:54 PM Good advice MUTT, when I first started doing squats I went all the way down and boy did I feel it in my knees. Form is the key here. Skinnyrobin, go to our fitness resources it will show them the correct form to do squats. -------------- I will lift my own weight someday!!!!!
kirby00 Posts: 238 Joined: 2002/11/05	2003/04/17, 02:55 PM mutt's right - form's key to not getting injured. i started doing squats with practically no weight on the smith machine. that way the bar was staying in the same plane and i had one less thing to worry about. -Krb
Deby Posts: 333 Joined: 2002/08/05	2003/04/17, 04:13 PM Right now, I am still fairly new to all of this but, my trainer has me doing the ball squats with the big exercise ball behind my back. He said either tonight or next week he is going to have me start holding weights in my hands as I do them, but the ball really helps balance and it does not hurt my knees at all. -------------- Gramma
rev8ball Posts: 3,081 Joined: 2001/12/27	2003/04/17, 05:33 PM Mutt is right on - it is trully all about form. Generally, when someone (i.e., a "trainer") says that squats are bad for you, it's usually because they don't know what they're talking about. But, boy, do they all just loooooove to do them macho bench presses, not realizing that more injuries occur from and as a result of doing bench presses more than any other exercise in the gym! ugh........ sorry. Had to vent just a tad. -------------- Michael "Trample the weak; hurdle the dead!"
skinnyrobin Posts: 224 Joined: 2002/05/10	2003/04/20, 09:26 AM on this site there are pictures of squats (thanx sandysford), and in them the guy's knees go past his toes... ?
asimmer Posts: 8,201 Joined: 2003/01/07	2003/04/20, 10:36 AM Just think about sitting back into a chair. I tell clients to imagine that someone is stealing their chair and they have to reach back with their butt to get it. And pick a point in front of you to look at the whole time, it will keep your head up and help with balance. Only go as deep as is comfoertable - your range of motion will increase as you get better at it, but don't go below parallel with your thighs - that is what pulls your joint at the knee open more than is really good for it ( I know that a lot of powerlifters like to squat til their hams touch their calves, but it is a big knee risk). Good luck! PS I don't like the smith machine for squats because you can't set your body up the same way you do for rack squats, and the bar doesn't track naturally. -------------- Challenge + Consistency = Results
abayaa Posts: 54 Joined: 2002/11/09	2003/04/20, 12:37 PM this may be just for me but since i started squatting allllllll the way down, ive noticed a huge increase in size and strength. i mean i go as low as i can, my butt almost touches the ground! i tried the squating 90degree thing but it didnt work for me, i had to go all the way down. it's like chest, i make the bar touch my chest, i dont let my hands stop once they make a 90 degree
gbaser Posts: 52 Joined: 2003/02/18	2003/04/20, 03:25 PM I had the same question in a different post... in the ft exercises, if you go to sissy squats it is a different way to do the exercise. your knees to way past your feet and your upper body goes back. of course you hold on to a bar. and your legs are only shoulder with apart... I think I hurt my knee while doing this exercise.. I am looking for an alternative exercise.. the first week I din't hurt anything, but the second week I don't know why, I had horrible pain in my upper knee... thanks gokce