T Nation

Voluntary Knee Cave?

#1

Hi guys.

I have been squatting procuring that my knees follow the path of my toes. but this make my knees shake while coming out of the hole and the weight feels much more difficult. I figured out, that if i voluntary cave my knees in while coming out of the hole i feel my body, in general, much more solid, stable and the weight goes up much easier.

My question is, if is recommendable to keep squatting like that(allowing my knees to cave in) or should i force my self to squat with my knees follow the path of my toes. although this feel harder and uncomfortable?.

Thanks in advance.

#2

If we’re talking about a little valgus it’s not a huge deal, you should generally actively open your hips but a slight valgus and then re opening of the hips seems to help some lifters out of the hole.

#3

Chad Smith has a squat video out there where he recommends this technique.

#4

It should be fine if you can maintain your torso angle when driving out of the hole.

#5

I would want to see a video, preferably shot from the front. The severity of the collapse is relevant here. So is your stance, and so is your level of development. I would not recommend this to someone who is new to lifting. You need to be very familiar with your body mechanics before you purposely employ this particular technique, in my opinion. It has the potential to be quite dangerous if done poorly.

#6

A video would be nice. Keep in mind that people capable of implementing this technique are able to do so because they have strong hips - they can maintain their torso angle and engage their abductors while trying to get a bit more quad drive. This should not be done because of having weak hips where you avoid getting the hips involved because it’s difficult and because the abductors are weak. With that said, you can find the answer of whether it’s useful when squatting near max weights.