Leg structure problem

[lacto]

Hi,

I love doing squats and getting good results too but i am facing problems.
1) This problem is somewhat unique. I dont have perfectly straight legs. The part blow the knees are bent outwards. Like a bow. I have been quite active with sports so they haven't troubled me in anyway till now. But my doubt is will squats cause any problem with my knees in future because of the shape of my legs ?
2) I feel slight pain and irritation on on inner side of the knees. And also, when i walk too much this thing occurs more. This is not very painful but still iam more mentally burdened. I have been doing squats for more than 3 months now.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Why are your legs conformed this way? Have you had them evaluated by someone that knows more about it than you?

[sergeant_81]

If you'll allow me, Coach...

Sounds like you have a classic case of, well, bowleggedness. It can be caused by any number of factors...childhood ricket's disease is the most common, I think, but it can also be caused by nutritional deficiency in childhood or just plain having your legs develop that way.

I'm a case of the latter. I developed bow-leggedness (and an accompanying pigeon-toe) in my early teens. Nevertheless I was pretty active in sports and never had much of an issue.

In my later twenties I've developed aches and pains in my knees and ankles...but that's due more to abuse through years of tromping around in combat boots and pounding the pavement in running shoes, all on a pair of bowed-out legs that aren't designed well for taking that sort of thing. I can hardly run a mile anymore without my knees swelling up or an ankle giving out.

HOWEVER...those same knees and ankles handle a 295 pound squat with no issues whatsoever. They also handle every other big lift in the book. If anything, I believe lifting heavy has had a correctional effect on my legs.

I don't do much different from with my squat stance than what Coach Rippetoe recommends. I use a slightly wider stance, but that's due to body anthropometry (long legs, short torso). I keep my feet turned in a tad more than recommended...perhaps 20 or 25 degrees outward versus 30. My knees track correctly at this angle.

Bottom line...keep squatting.

[Drewfasa]

I have the same knees also, with accompanying pain from long walking, and have found that squatting has much improved the pain and seems to be straightening things out a bit, if I'm not mistaken.

[SkinnyWimp]

An axial force on a curved member will cause bending stress as well as compressive stress. If your bones aren't straight (they're curved), and you load them with weight (like, standing with a barbell on your shoulders), the weight will try to bend your bones (but don't take this to mean that they'll stay more bent).

Come to think of it, the bending would cause torsional forces on the joints (at the ends of the bone), since those bending forces in the bone need to be resisted at the ends.

See the picture of the initially curved column in this URL: http://www.efunda.com/formulae/solid...mns/curved.cfm. The F force is the load from the barbell. The M force is the bending force that results from the curved shape of the column. A curved bone would behave the same way.

I guess it all comes down to how curved are your bones, how strong are your bones, and how strong are the joints. I can't help you there, but I hope I've brought some understanding about the physics.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Good info, SW, but think really hard about getting a better user name.

[SkinnyWimp]

My goal is that my name will someday be ironic.