Tip: Find YOUR Perfect Squat, Not Someone Else's

The Facts

What you need to know:

1. No two people are the same.
2. Doing what appears to be "good technique" for years when it's not suited to your structure will wreck you.
3. Yes, sometimes squats can be bad for your knees.

If your hip and ankle mobility deem that you should squat a certain way, then that's the way you should squat. You body shape, size, and injury history is unique, and you may not be able to squat like some textbook or diagram says you should.

Likewise, your perfect squat may look different than someone else's, like someone with a high level of flexibility and motor control.

With so much information out there (which can easily be taken out of context) it's more important than ever for people to have a bit of common sense about their own bodies. If something hurts or doesn't feel right, it probably isn't for you. Even if an "expert" claims this is the way your body should move, that doesn't mean that it's 100 percent correct for everyone.

For example, if you ignore pain in your knees or hips for the sake of having your feet forward in your squat, you're going to have problems.

Play around with your own squat position, find what feels most comfortable to your knees and hips, then work to start strengthening that position.