Why Does My Squat Hurt And What To Do About It
/Squats aren’t bad for your knees or your low back. In fact being able to squat well is essential for life. If you can squat well you can sit well. Squatting well protects your low back from injury, creates happier healthier hips and is a compound movement requiring lots of muscles to work. It also triggers the release of testosterone and human growth hormone in your body.
So here are a few common patterns we see with the squat
Poor knee alignment: This is when you squat and your knees start tracking inwards excessively. It’s really common on one side of your body. Take your shoes off and squat in front of a mirror. Look at each knee and line it up with the middle of your toes. Does one look more inwards than the other? This can cause all sorts of problems which lead to pain.
Solution: Try using some thera band around your knees. Squatting and lightly pushing out into a band can wake up your hip muscles and help them turn your knee out. Remember it is subtle and using a mirror for feedback will really help. You can take it too far and push too far out. This can lead to knee pain as well so use your good side as a reference and if you get stuck come into the clinic and we can help you.
Squatting with a twist: Some people squat and as they squat their body twists and their body squats to one side. So essentially their base of support is to one side. This can put excessive pressure through the structures on the side you are squatting to and excessively stretch the opposite side.
This can be from an old ankle sprain whereby you never gained sufficient range of motion, increased hip and low back restriction on one side also again due to injury or muscle imbalance from sport or work habits (leg crossing).
Solution: I recommend using a block or rolled up towel under your heels. This will give you more space to create a good squat technique. Also consider reducing the depth of your squat until you solve the problem of why your ankle, hip or back is restricted. Yes you can still rehab an old injury you should of rehabbed 10 years ago. It is never too late so don’t give up on those ones!
Butt tuck squatting: This is when you tuck your back side under, over squeeze your back side muscles and compress your hips as you squat. You’re essentially tucking your butt under. It isn’t great because it inhibits your actual glutes from working and creates really tight deep hip muscles which actually leads to hip and back pain. It’s a really important pattern to break.
Solution: Work on your hip hinge. Hinging from your hip helps create space for your hips to open right up. Some times you just shouldn’t be squatting until you solve this problem. There are two exercises we use here at the clinic to help teach people to hip hinge and not over use their deep hip muscles. The first is the four point rock and the second is childs pose. Both exercises help you relax your deep hip muscles and allow you to fold from your hips creating space in your hips and low back.
We spend a lot of times as a Physio working on the squat because so many people have pain sitting. Squatting well into sitting is an important tool for reducing pain and leading to happier and healthier joints for the long term.
If you are worried about your squat or sense something is wrong book an appointment. Once you have one of the team breaking down the different parts of your body to see where the problem is you will have an individualised plan to improve it. Just click HERE and you can book a time that suits you.