Reduce Knee Pain While Squatting

5 Tips You Can Use Today

Wondering how to reduce knee pain while squatting? Below are 5 easy tips.

The squat is one of most commonly used exercises. It is included in weight lifting, yoga, Pilates, and HIIT classes. But as common as the squat exercise is, knee pain with this exercise is almost just as common. I have a LOT of patients who report knee pain while squatting, even if that isn’t the injury I am seeing them for.

Although these tips reduce pain while squatting, they will also reduce knee pain you are having with other activities like walking, running, or climbing steps.

Tip #1 Warm Up before you squat

We’ve all heard we should warm up prior to exercise, but why?

The warm up plays several important roles in your workout. It increases blood flow getting your body ready to deliver oxygen and energy to your muscles. It improves tissue length getting your muscles, tendons, and other connective tissues ready to move freely. It moves your joints through the ranges you will need for the squatting motion. Finally, it gets your glute and core muscles fired up and ready to support your knees while you squat. That’s why I recommend the 4 phases of a physical therapy approved warm up.

1. Get the blood flowing – 5 minutes of cardio
2. Lengthen the muscles – dynamic warm up
3. Move the joints – mobility routine
4. Fire up the glute and core muscles – neuromuscular firing routine

In my next post, I’ll talk about each phase in more detail. Subscribe so you don’t miss it!

Tip #2 Check your squatting form to reduce knee pain

Just like your body needs proper muscle length and joint range of motion to move into and out of the squat, it also needs good overall form during the squat. Below are basic checks you can do to make sure you have correct form while squatting to reduce your knee pain.

1. Sit your hips back. Although your knees don’t need to stay behind your toes (more on this to come), your hips do need to bend. So focus on starting the squat by pushing your hips backward.
2. Push your hips forward at the top of the squat. I know I just told you to push your hips back, but as you come out of the squat make sure you push your hips forward by squeezing your glutes (butt muscles). This will help you use your glutes for the squat motion taking stress off your knees and reducing your knee pain.
3. Make sure you are pushing equally through both feet. This is helpful to see with a mirror. If you notice one knee is bending more that the other or your body is leaning to one side, focus on pushing through both feet equally especially when you come out of the squat.
4. Keep your knees apart. If one or both of your knees cave in while squatting, you likely have or are going to develop knee pain. Be sure to keep your hips, knees, and feet in a straight line. I recommend a band at the knees to cue yourself to push the knees out.

Use these 4 form tips to make sure your form is correct while you squat. In a future post I’ll share more tips on how to check and correct your squatting form. Make sure you subscribe!

Tip #3 Strengthen the supporting muscles

Whenever you do a squat you have “prime mover” muscles and supporting muscles that are working. We tend to focus on the prime mover muscles like the hamstrings and quads. But our hip and core muscles are equally important. When you squat, you are strengthening both the prime mover muscles and the supporting muscles. But you also need to have a certain amount of strength in the supporting muscles before you squat to make sure the prime mover muscles have the help they need to take your body through the squatting motion.

These support muscles help control the side to side and rotational forces on your knees while squatting. They include the muscles on the side of your hips (your glutes) and your deep core muscles. Spending some of your strength training time focusing on these muscles will significantly reduce your knee pain while squatting.

Here are a few exercise ideas: side plank, diaphragm breathing with core setting, and side stepping.

I’ll share more of my favorite exercises I use on myself and my patients in an upcoming post. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it!

Tip #4 Modify your squat weight and depth to reduce knee pain

Sometimes when you have knee pain while squatting, all the warm up, mobility, form, and supporting muscle work doesn’t seem to be enough to reduce your pain.

When this happens, you may have tried progressing your squatting volume too quickly. Maybe you added too many reps or too much weight too quickly not allowing your muscles, bones, and connective tissues to gradually build up strength. When this happens you need to modify the squat until your pain reduces.

Here are my top 3 modification tips:

1. Reduce your weight. This is where I would start. Once you can do more sets and reps without pain, then increase your weight.
2. Reduce your depth. If you reduce your weight and find that you still have pain. Squat only in the range that is pain free. Over time your knees will be able to tolerate a deeper range.
3. Reduce your “quad dominant” exercises. Are you squatting AND lunging with heavy weight? This may be too much stress on your knees during one workout. Try moving one of the exercises to another day.

To know how much you need to reduce weight, depth, or quad dominant exercises you’ll need to be able to listen to your body’s response to what you do. Read my post here to learn how much pain is safe during exercise.

And stay tuned for an upcoming post on how to reduce, then progress weight and depth while squatting.

Tip #5 Strengthen your quad and hamstring muscles in isolated ways

Sometimes pain while you squat means your prime movers aren’t ready for the load that squatting puts on them. Maybe you started squatting before doing any other strength training, or maybe you increased your load (weight) or volume (reps) while squatting without the quad and hamstring muscles being ready.

Isolated quad and hamstring strength training allows these prime mover muscles to be ready to tolerate the squatting motion taking stress and pain out of your knees.

Here are a few exercise ideas: straight leg raises, hamstring curls, and knee extensions.

In an upcoming post I’ll share more exercises to progressively build strength in the quad and hamstring muscles.

Knee pain while squatting can be frustrating in the least and debilitating at the worst. And if you ignore it, this pain can lead to significant injury that doesn’t just affect your workout routine but effects your ability to do daily tasks like walking and climbing stairs.

But rather than stop squatting altogether, use these tips to reduce your knee pain while you squat so you can keep performing this exercise.

In the coming weeks I’ll go into greater detail for each of these tips showing you exactly how to implement each one into your exercise routine.

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Have questions? I’d love to help! Comment below or reach me on Instagram @allieisracing or Facebook Allie Rios.