# Are squats really that bad for you?



## nasher27 (Sep 13, 2009)

Hey everyone, I'm just curious as to if squats really cause that much damage to your knees and lower back later in life.

Just for some background, I'm 16, and I just recently picked up squatting again (about 2 weeks ago). I do squats pretty much like "Barbell Full Squats" are described on that ExRx site (ergh can't post links), but I only go down to where my thighs are about parallel to the ground. It was how I was taught a couple of years ago, so I've stuck with it.

On to my question, all of my friends refuse to squat due to how they've heard it screws up your knees or back later on in life. I'm just wondering if there's much truth to this? Thanks in advance to any responses.


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## Marat (Sep 13, 2009)

If you do any exercise improperly, you add risk that can be avoided.

If you squat properly, the risk of injury is minimal. 

The take away message is to ignore your friends and continue squatting.

Take a look at these videos to get an idea of what a proper squat looks like. I recommend patterning your form with the instruction provided in those videos. Squat Videos - Starting Strength Wiki


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## Gazhole (Sep 13, 2009)

Running is also bad for your knees. Sitting at a computer is bad for your lower back. People still regularly do these things, so why not Squats?

Like m11 said, with proper form and a sensible weight the risk is minimal, and no greater than anything else we do in our daily lives. The fact is that Squats are incredibly difficult and physically draining, so people will look for any excuse not to do them.

You're doing the right thing by performing them, and so are already ahead of the regular gym goer. Squat away, sir, squat away.


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## TrojanMan60563 (Sep 13, 2009)

I am a prior powerlifter and I would say stay in your comfort level. After years of pushing the envelope I know I have caused damage to my spine and knees that I have to deal with for the rest of my life. I wouldn't say do not squat, but I would say get a good belt, knee wraps, and work with weights that do not push your body to the point of failure. I am sure many would say go heavy or you get nothing from it, but if you are into bodybuilding there is no need to go balls out all the time.

Happy squating and be safe.


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## DiGiTaL (Sep 13, 2009)

Masturbation is bad for you. 

Squats & Deadlifts stay on.


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## danzik17 (Sep 13, 2009)

DiGiTaL said:


> Masturbation is bad for you.
> 
> Squats & Deadlifts stay on.



I must have less than a week to live......


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## Hoglander (Sep 13, 2009)

Squats helped cure my bad back. 

I don't use belts or tape. I want my body to adapt. That's the idea. You need to be smart though. The weakest link is your head. My brain is smarter than belts or tape.


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## gtbmed (Sep 13, 2009)

Make a video of yourself doing them and post it.  Then I'll tell you if they're "really that bad".

The point is, it depends almost entirely on the person.  Flexibility and movement patterns can interfere with your squat form.

But in general, squats are a great exercise.  Hell, trainers have designed entire programs around squats.


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## jmorrison (Sep 14, 2009)

Squats are GENERALLY considered to be the hand down most effective overall lift in the bodybuilders arsenal.  Skipping them is like handicapping your growth in my opinion.

I would rather get punched in the face than squat.  I despise them with every fiber in my body.  But I squat religiously due to the trade off of how great they are.  Just do them correctly, and don't use too much weight, and watch how much faster you progress than your friends.


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## musclesprod (Sep 14, 2009)

> all of my friends refuse to squat due to how they've heard it screws up your knees or back later on in life. I'm just wondering if there's much truth to this?


They are just lazy. I know many guys in my gym who were saying the same thing when we started. At that time I was 17 and I started with squats 4 sets of 20 reps each. In 6 month my legs grown huge. They still did not wanted to train legs and now after many years I saw them again and they started to train legs because their legs are small in comparison to their upper body. 
And there is no risk to injury if you warm well and do full squats. ( as deep as your back stays straight.


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## CowPimp (Sep 14, 2009)

If you really really push the envelope with anything, you are putting yourself at additional risk.  I don't care if that's squatting, bench pressing, jogging, playing soccer, lifting furniture, or whatever.

The squat is a very natural movement.  We have gotten out of squatting because we have toilets and we sit in chairs all the time.  People used to squat very deep for extended periods of time while they shit.  If you watch little kids, they are the best examples of great squatter.  Watch a kid play with a toy on the ground from a standing position, and I will show you a squat that blows most gym-goer's best efforts out of the water.

There is NOTHING inherently bad about squatting.  One of the biggest problems is related to the types of activites we engage in regularly; we lose the necessary mobility and motor skills to squat properly.

So, squat within your mobility range.  If you can't do a deep squat, work on your mobility in your hips, ankles, and maybe even thoracic spine and shoulders until you are capable of using a greater depth.  Increase this depth as your mobility improves.  Sometimes people suffer issues at the lower back because they lack the hip or ankle mobility to achieve proper depth with appropriate pelvic orientation and display rounding of the lumbar spine.

Squat USING YOUR HIPS.  JESUS CHRIST USE YOUR F&$%ING HIPS.  If I see another person squat by simply jutting their knees forward and keeping their torso pointing straight up and down I'm going to cry.  They are going to trash their knees and blame it on squatting, rather then their crap form.

Tell your friends to read a book.

[/RANT]


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## TrojanMan60563 (Sep 14, 2009)

CowPimp said:


> If you really really push the envelope with anything, you are putting yourself at additional risk.  I don't care if that's squatting, bench pressing, jogging, playing soccer, lifting furniture, or whatever.
> 
> The squat is a very natural movement.  We have gotten out of squatting because we have toilets and we sit in chairs all the time.  People used to squat very deep for extended periods of time while they shit.  If you watch little kids, they are the best examples of great squatter.  Watch a kid play with a toy on the ground from a standing position, and I will show you a squat that blows most gym-goer's best efforts out of the water.
> 
> ...




I used to squat sumo and that tents to put more effort into the hips and I still have some knee issues with my left leg. I'm an active person and can't say without a doubt heavy squatting was the culprit here. However my back hips and knees are all a little off at times. I just have to believe the 10 years of max efforts put a lot of strain on my joints.


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## Merkaba (Sep 14, 2009)

danzik17 said:


> I must have less than a week to live......



me too...I'm gonna be working on dieing in a second as soon as I leave this forum and click another window open...


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## Merkaba (Sep 14, 2009)

nasher27 said:


> Hey everyone, I'm just curious as to if squats really cause that much damage to your knees and lower back later in life.
> 
> Just for some background, I'm 16, and I just recently picked up squatting again (about 2 weeks ago). I do squats pretty much like "Barbell Full Squats" are described on that ExRx site (ergh can't post links), but I only go down to where my thighs are about parallel to the ground. It was how I was taught a couple of years ago, so I've stuck with it.
> 
> On to my question, all of my friends refuse to squat due to how they've heard it screws up your knees or back later on in life. I'm just wondering if there's much truth to this? Thanks in advance to any responses.


Tell your friends they are just lazy. I agree with Gaz about running.  Most people don't want to do squats for blah blah reasons...but they will jog 30 miles a week on concrete with shoes that suck.....

 Squatting is one of the basic movements of life.  Watch a baby or any other bi ped.  Add a little resistance to it to become stronger.  Of course it helps to know proper form and technique..there in lies the catch.


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## CowPimp (Sep 15, 2009)

TrojanMan60563 said:


> I used to squat sumo and that tents to put more effort into the hips and I still have some knee issues with my left leg. I'm an active person and can't say without a doubt heavy squatting was the culprit here. However my back hips and knees are all a little off at times. I just have to believe the 10 years of max efforts put a lot of strain on my joints.



Like I said, pushing the limits of anything takes it's toll.  That may very well have been your issue.  

However, I think a lot of people tend to blame something like squatting for their problems when in reality it is decades of poor movement reinforced and loaded up in a movement like a squat.  Like I say, a lot of people with decent technique exceed their functional range of motion too, forcing bad technique at the very end to achieve that last desired bit of ROM.  

Also, you are one person, and there are a million other possible variables.  For example, how sure are you that your technique was exemplary?  You can be pretty sure because you did a ton of them, but how much 3rd party examination of your squat were you subjected to?  I've seen lots of people that "know" how to squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, etc. that have abysmal form.

Again, this isn't to say that years of lifting can't take a toll on your body in some way.  It surely can, but just be careful not to point fingers so quickly.  The next time someone throws their back out picking up a pencil, ask yourself how likely it is that picking up pencils is really bad for your back just because of that.


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## TrojanMan60563 (Sep 15, 2009)

Hey CowPimp...the pencil example is a bit out there to compare it to heavy 1 rep squats. I do however know world class lifters that have torn muscles doing real lame things. You have to wonder how a guy squats a half ton yet tears a quad kicking a ball.

I lifted with a team of about 10 guys...in the sport of lifting you are loosely judged on form so for sure room to compete with poor form.

I would have to say my form is correct and nothing odd about it i.e. extra wide sumo or other weirdness.

It seems to me that most guys I know that compete are always dealing with some issue...its not lack of knowing how to lift with good form...its loading up a bar for 1 rep maxes for years. Our body was mean to squat and everyone keeps mentioning how children do this while they play etc...and we get older and stop and then it becomes uncomfortable so nobody likes it. I agree we are meant to squat but doing it with weights adds huge stress to your spine...HUGE. Walking with poor posture alone is probably leading cause of back pains among us. So imagine how much that is multiplied by putting a bar with weights on your back and squating.


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## CowPimp (Sep 15, 2009)

TrojanMan60563 said:


> Hey CowPimp...the pencil example is a bit out there to compare it to heavy 1 rep squats. I do however know world class lifters that have torn muscles doing real lame things. You have to wonder how a guy squats a half ton yet tears a quad kicking a ball.



I said "you" numerous times in that post.  However, it was really more directed at whoever might be reading this thread.  Like I said, your case is different.  You were powerlifting.

Also, that was certainly exaggerated.  My point is that people tend to attribute the issue they have with what they were doing when the injury took place.  That is not always the case, but simply might have been the straw that broke the camel's back.  The activity in question brought to light pre-existing or developing issues not entirely related.  It happens a lot, because people tend to poor motor skills these days.




> I lifted with a team of about 10 guys...in the sport of lifting you are loosely judged on form so for sure room to compete with poor form.
> 
> I would have to say my form is correct and nothing odd about it i.e. extra wide sumo or other weirdness.
> 
> It seems to me that most guys I know that compete are always dealing with some issue...its not lack of knowing how to lift with good form...its loading up a bar for 1 rep maxes for years. Our body was mean to squat and everyone keeps mentioning how children do this while they play etc...and we get older and stop and then it becomes uncomfortable so nobody likes it. I agree we are meant to squat but doing it with weights adds huge stress to your spine...HUGE. Walking with poor posture alone is probably leading cause of back pains among us. So imagine how much that is multiplied by putting a bar with weights on your back and squating.



Yeah, like I said, powerlifting is a different animal.  Reinforcing mobility problems and poor motor skills is another big issue.  Doing this under great loads is a recipe for problems.  Of course, even with perfect form, when pushing yourself to the limit there are inherent risks.  There is no doubt about it.  

My point, I suppose is that this is not a reason to avoid this exercise.  You could say the same thing for any number of exercises or activities.  Everyone still bench presses, even though more people have hurt their shoulders bench pressing then there are people in China.


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## T_man (Sep 15, 2009)

Yes squats really are bad for you. The amount of testosterone produced as a result of this exercise alone is enough to make you bald early. Stop them if you want to keep your pride.


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## jmorrison (Sep 15, 2009)

I was a big strong guy once upon a time.  I was putting on a seatbelt, sneezed, and threw my back out for a week.  It's funny how easy it is to get hurt.


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## jehoverall (Sep 15, 2009)

based purely and solely on my own experience with squats and deadlifts, i would actually advocate deadlifts as the better and safer movement.

the feeling i get is that with deadlifts you're overloading muscles (your back, hamstrings etc) while squats for me always seem to overload my joints. squats always made/make my knees hurt like a b*tch and walking around after a real heavy session i hear my knees cracking. by contrast deadlifts have always felt natural. i've been doing them since i started and i never got injured. i never got the feeling that i was overloading a small part of my body - with squats, my knees always felt bad and i could never tell if i had permanently messed them up or if the pain would go away. 

 i would think you would reap testosterone/GH benefits with deadlifts just as much as squats, and i think deadlifts are just as functional if not more functional than squats while being safer...


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## Skib (Sep 16, 2009)

m11 said:


> Take a look at these videos to get an idea of what a proper squat looks like. I recommend patterning your form with the instruction provided in those videos. Squat Videos - Starting Strength Wiki



Great set of videos! Very helpful, thanks for sharing!


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## TrojanMan60563 (Sep 16, 2009)

I am a bigger fan of deadlifting as well...and agree I feel a lot less stress on my joints.


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## T_man (Sep 16, 2009)

I'm a bigger fan of DL's too as I find them easier in a sense, yet harder, I feel a greater strain on muscles and less on joints.

But I do more squatting cos my ass is too big as it is


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