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You Don’t Know Squat: The origins of “it’s bad for your knees”

Training

You Don’t Know Squat: The origins of “it’s bad for your knees”

First off, this is not an article about squatting…

This is an article about intellectual integrity, biases and the ramifications of putting out misinformation.

“Don’t Squat- It’s bad for your knee’s”

Whether a box-owner, coach, athlete or general fitness enthusiast. This fable has certainly been a topic of conversation at some point along your journey. In some cases posing itself as a temporary, or even a permanent barrier of entry to pursing barbell squatting.

But where did this myth come from?

Where did it start?

Why has this become an acceptable statement in gyms the world over?

This training myth started with a research article in 1961. Dr. Karl Klein looked to compare ligamentous knee laxity by measuring medial/lateral deviation of the knee (valgus/varus) between two groups (Klein, 1961).

Which in lay speak translates to; can an un-blinded, biased examiner forcefully move the knee of someone who has just squatted, more than that of someone who hasn’t?

The test group was post-competition lifters who had just performed the full squat, and the control group was untrained members of the general population. Using a modified goniometer coupled with the manipulative force of the tester, Klein saw that the athletes showed more mobility through the collateral ligaments of the knee than those subjects in the control group. From this he stated that deep squatting causes knee laxity, knee laxity coincides with injury, ergo squatting causes knee injury.

When we delve further into the study there are numerous biases and generalizations that need to be considered before coming to any sort of conclusion.

  1. The control group was not a control at all; if the control group squatted before the measurement was taking then the measurements would serve as an applicable comparison. That way you could adequately analyze the acute effect of squatting as it relates to ligament laxity.
  2. The force applied was not standardized; it was to the discretion of the tester of how much force was applied to the subject’s knee. This instrumentation bias greatly devalues the efficacy of the study.
  3. The study was contingent on the readings of a self-developed measuring device, not that there was a gold standard for measuring co-lateral ligamentous knee laxity at that time, but it still should be considered when examining the validity of the study.
  4. The benefits of strengthening the muscles acting on the knee joint were not taken into consideration. The squat is a compound exercise that strengthens the flexors and extensors of the knee. The study merely looked at the acute effects of the movement did not consider long-term benefits of exercise.

 

It’s been over 50 years since this stone was cast, and the effects of this research article still ripples through mainstream training paradigms.

But all is not lost in this study, it actually teaches us a lesson much more powerful than its faulty conclusions. It teaches the importance of critical thinking, appraisal and most importantly interpretation.

Interpretation

Empirical Research has prevailed as somewhat of a dominant force in fitness marketing as of late, perhaps an over correction as the pendulum swung away from the “bioscience” co-hort. But their tactics can be as equally misleading as the photo-shopped transformation that came before them.

Simply put, research is like reading religious text, both usually set forth by zealots who have invested their life to the pursuit of said text. But both of which can either be read ,taken as the truth sent down from higher power or they can be interpreted.

Take Jonah and the whale- you can read this piece of scripture and think that a man lived inside of a whale for three days, or you can interpret this tet in search for deeper meaning.  Just as you can read this article by Karl Klien and think squatting is bad for your knees. Or you can appraise its content; biases and using critical thinking draw your own interpretation.

Stay Strong.

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