Squat Check - Knee Cave

[cph]

Tom, I deloaded 10% because as my work sets increased my knee cave got much worse. Here is a rear view from today @235. My knees are obviously not 100% stationary at the bottom. Is this something I should continue to work on until my knees don't cave at all out of the hole?

[Tom Campitelli]

Narrow your stance by an inch and do not let yourself relax as you get near the bottom. Make up your mind to bear down harder. Add a little weight.

[cph]

Here is the issue I am having. The book states that, "there is one correct place for the knees, directly in line with the feet so that the femurs and the feet are parallel." If I shove my knees out as far as I can, they go past my toes, which causes my feet to roll laterally. I confirmed this by taking a diagnostic video pointing straight down my toes.

Am I correct in saying that from this angle, the knee should shoot straight towards the camera and the lower leg should appear vertical?

If that is the case, I think reps 2 and 4 are correct and look most like figure 2-1 in the book. (In reps 1 and 3, I shoved my knees out as far as possible.)



(I understand that I still have other issues, but I just want to make sure I am not making this harder than it needs to be.)

[cph]

Also, I tried this same camera angle with a more extreme foot angle (~45 degrees), and this allowed me to shove my knees out as far as possible while still maintaining (what I believe to be) proper vertical alignment of the knee and ankle.

Here is that video (it's only a few seconds).



If I'm right about the problem, I don't know if the solution is to point my toes out more or to shove my knees out less.

[Tom Campitelli]

It is definitely possible to overdo the knees out cue, although few actually have this problem. I think the answer is the more moderate toe angle in the first video and pushing your knees out enough so that they are in line with the feet, but you aren't rolling outward. Contract the leg musculature at the top of the squat and continue to squeeze as you descend. See if that keeps you locked in place.