# Deep Knee Bends



## Curt James (Apr 7, 2011)

Another article by Jason Ferruggia...

*Deep Knee Bends*

April 7, 2011 

Today I want to share a few thoughts with you regarding squats (or  deep knee bends as the old timers used to call them), how you do them  and what else you include in your program with them. Firstly, we need to address the range of motion issue. Ideally you  should squat to below parallel while maintaining a neutral spine.

A good deep squat is very healthy for your knees and also recruits the hamstrings and glutes far better than a partial range squat does.





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However, most people lack the mobility and flexibility necessary to  sink a squat a few inches below parallel without rounding their lumbar  spine (lower back). When you allow repeated spinal flexion under the  heavy load of a squat you’re asking for problems. In fact it’s one of  the best ways I know to eventually suffer some type of disc injury.

 My solution for you is this…

 Squat as low as you can while maintaining proper technique/posture.  This may be just at parallel or it may be a couple of inches above.  Continue to do that while also working on your mobility and improving  your range of motion.

 Two things to remember that will help you get a little deeper are to actively pull yourself into the hole with your hip flexors instead of just yieldig to gravity.

 Secondly, remember that squatting takes place between the knees and not over them. My thanks to Pavel and Dan John for those two excellent coaching cues.

After hitting your big barbell squat to right around parallel you’ll  want to add in an assistance exercise to get that deep knee bend, full  squat position. So do a few sets of 6-10 reps on an exercise that  doesn’t load the spine and will allow you to do that. This could be any  of the following:

 •    Single leg squats
•    High step ups
•    Pistol squats
•    Goblet squats
•    Kettlbell front squats
•    Weight vest squats

*Does Everyone Need Full Range of Motion?*





​Quite  simply, no. If you are a sprinter you will never really need the  strength in that deep, full range position. The great Charlie Francis  had his sprinters do half squats and reverse leg presses (for glutes and  hamstrings). That obviously worked out quite well and was all they  needed.

 Would pistol squats have made them faster?

 I highly doubt it.

 If you’re a mixed martial artist, on the other hand, you could  benefit tremendously from training the deep knee bend position as it is  more specific to your sport and the situations you will find yourself in  where you will need that strength.

 So for this type of athlete I would recommend the inclusion of a deep knee bend as an assistance exercise after their squats.

 Because mixed martial artists train so much and are already getting  beat up enough, a single leg exercise might be an even better option for  these athletes in certain situations. That’s simply because a heavy  compressive load on the spine takes more out of you and thus increases  your recovery time a lot more so than a step up or split squat does.  Therefore if a mixed martial artist were to squat heavy his next 2-3  days of MMA training would probably suffer a bit simply because he  wasn’t as explosive as usual and had a bit of lingering fatigue from the  heavy squat. This topic could be an entire article in itself. I’ll  leave it at that for now, but it’s something worth considering.

*What About Non Athletes?*

If you aren’t an athlete I still believe that training the deep knee  bend position is beneficial and will result in healthier knees. The knee  was made and meant to full squat. We spend the first nine months of our  lives in the full squat position and do it all the time as infants. So it's quite natural and the ability to do it should be maintained throughout our lives.

 But this is only applicable to those that already have healthy knees.  Unfortunately, most of us have lost the ability to full squat due to  our sedentary lifestyles and a variety of other factors. If your knees  are already damaged you may not be able to go below parallel without  pain, nor would I recommend it.

 Unless you are a powerlifter there is no reason to freak out if you  can’t get below parallel on any type of squatting variation. Take your  time and work into it. It may take weeks or even years, but be patient  and don’t risk an unnecessary injury. Squatting slightly above parallel,  as Charlie Francis’s athletes did, will still provide tremendous  benefit, even though it wouldn’t count at a powerlifting meet or on a  gym record board.

 There are plenty of people who simply aren’t built to squat and will  never be able to break parallel without some kind of lumbar flexion no  matter what they do. If that means you can only get to two inches above  parallel that’s fine. Better to be a little high and safe than to break parallel and your back in the process.

Work the assistance exercises for the full range strength if it's something you need and can tolerate.

*Strengthen Your Hamstrings*




​ 
One  thing I have found over the years is that a lot of people who complain  of pain on deep knee bend and single leg exercises can alleviate their  suffering a bit by strengthening their hamstrings. If you can back squat  without pain but can hardly get through a set of split squats without  wincing try focusing on your hamstrings, and glute ham raises in  particular for the next eight weeks.

 Start every lower body session with glute ham raises before you do  any type of squat or single leg exercise. As the hamstrings come up the  pain often decreases. The other benefit of this is that the glute hams  will warm up the knee and pump up the hamstrings a bit which will also  make the deep knee bend exercises a bit more tolerable.

 Hopefully that all makes sense and you picked up useful tip or two.

From *Deep Knee Bends
*


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## elbkind (Apr 9, 2011)

Nice read, this is the kind of info i was looking for. thanx bro


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