Squats for the knock-kneed.

[LCN]

My squat progress has lagged behind all other lifts (just 5 pounds ahead of bench), and I have had numerous resets and have never really been able to squat with the strong hip drive that I see in a lot of the videos. (In particular I never seem to "snap up" after getting through the hard part of the ascent.)

I recently started recording my squats from the front instead of the side, and I noticed that I have a very strong and consistent tendency to turn my knees inward on all reps of my work sets.

I believe this has been my problem all along. I knew before I started SS that I have the condition known as knock-knees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genu_valgum

My knees turn inward noticeably when I'm standing up and have a tendency to cave inward under pressure.

Anyway the point of this long message is I'm wondering if you have any particular tips for someone learning to squat with this condition?

It's possible that by simple force of will I will be able to keep my knees out. I have been able to do it at lower weights, but so far in my work sets I cave in a few inches on each side even when I concentrate on not doing so, and it really seems to kill the hip drive.

I have some bands that I'm trying to use with bw squats at home to train myself to always force my knees out, but I'm not sure it really carries over to heavy squats.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Any "caving" of the knees will in fact kill your hip drive. I have had no experience with a severe case of genu valgum, but it seems as though your ability to keep the knees in position at light weights could be translated to heavier weights in a linear fashion, just like the improvement that a novice progression always provides. If you start light enough and go up in small enough increments, some beneficial adaptation will have to occur. I'd be interested in seeing a front picture of your normal stance.