Knee positioning in the squat

[Smolov]

Mark,
In SS you write that the knees should be slightly over the toes. During yesterday's workout I did exactly that, however after doing so I felt a sharp pain in my knees.

After this I tried my old method in positioning my knee which is to keep my shins as vertical as possible. This time I had no pain in my knees whatsoever.

This incident made me remember something that my karate teacher once said. She said that the more your knees are forward the more stress it puts on them.

My question to you is, should I continue with putting my knees in this forward position or should I continue with my old method of squatting.

ps. I hope this was somewhat readable as english is not my native language

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't find it unusual that there was knee pain upon changing your established knee position. Depending on your other equipment (shoes without heels, suit?, wraps?) this might well have happened, and I cannot address the situation without more information. The technique I advocate has been carefully developed over many years to train as much muscle mass with as much weight as possible. The quads are part of that muscle mass, and they are more involved with the knees a little forward than with a vertical shin. The vast majority of people who squat this way report no knee pain. If it bothers you, use your previous form.

I will say that knees in front of the toes is a perfectly normal position. Were it not, toilets would have been redesigned many years ago.