How to Squat

Misconception #1: Don't let the knees travel past the toes.

The theory is that when your knees go past your toes, you put too much stress on the ligaments at the front of the knee. It's a legitimate concern if you already have damaged knees, but in healthy knees, it shouldn't be a problem. Of course it doesn't meant that you should specifically try and push your knees forward. You shouldn't. But if it happens as a consequence of proper squatting, that's fine.

Misconception #2: You shouldn't squat below parallel.

The theory is that if you squat below parallel, you will hurt your knees. No truth to that one either. Do you know why the parallel squat is used so much? Because in powerlifting competitions, there has to be an objective way of determining how low you should go. Parallel was picked as a convenient depth for logistical purposes, not for any biomechanical reasons.

In fact, if you squat only to parallel long-term, you can develop knee problems because you overdevelop the quadriceps (which are primarily responsible for bringing you from parallel to upright) and underdevelop the hamstrings and glutes (which are primarily responsible for getting you from the bottom to parallel. So squat, and squat deep.

Just don't do it deliberately. If it happens as a function of good squatting technique, that's fine.

To restore range of motion, perform assisted squats (see the picture above).

Go only as low as you can without hurting yourself. If you can only go down 2 inches before you start to hurt, that's fine. Only go down 2 inches. What you'll find is that over time (and not a very long period of time), your pain-free range of motion increases to half a foot, then a foot, then to parallel, and eventually, all the way down.

How many of these squats should you do? You should do multiple sets of 5-15 reps throughout the day. Again, I have to emphasize, STOP SHORT OF PAIN. If you feel pain when squatting, you're either doing too many repetitions or you're going too deep. The sensation of muscular exertion is fine, but knee pain is not.

Of course if you have no problems squatting all the way down while doing assisted squats, that means you already have full, pain free range of motion, and you can move on to the next step: building endurance.

After you have full, pain-free range of motion, it's time to build endurance.

Endurance is important because it gives you plenty of energy to get throughout your day, with pep to spare.

How do you build endurance? There are many ways to go about it, and here is just one of many ways.

Any time throughout the day, do 10 squats. Do it every day. It's easy to do because 10 squats take less than 1 minute, and don't require any equipment, so you can do them anywhere.

Keep doing that 5-6 days per week. The next week, increase that to 12 squats, and do that for 5-6 reps per day. Continue increasing it by 2 every week until you can do 50 consecutive, PERFECT squats.