Build Resilient Knees
Bulletproof your knees so they no longer hold you back from running, squatting, and sports!
One common myth that the health and fitness industry has been telling people for years is that you should NEVER let your knees pass your toes. Slowly, health and fitness experts are starting to correct this statement, especially with new research showing that not letting your knees pass your toes creates excessive force through the back and hips.
If we think about real life activities and especially sports, our knees must go beyond the line of our toes all the time! Just take a look of this clip of Michael Jordan and watch how many times his knees go past his toes.
Michael Jordan Knees Over Toes
Michael Jordan wouldn’t have the power to make those crazy shots and fly through the air for those insane dunks if he didn’t let his knees go over his toes when jumping.
Plus, research shows in a squat, the force through the knees when unrestricted in translating forward beyond the toes, is only 22%. While the force through the back and hips when restricting forward knee translation to avoid knees over toes was 1070%! (1) So while keeping the knees behind toes may reduce force through the knees, the force that increases at the back and hips sky rockets. It is also important to note that the force/stress through the knees when they are unrestricted in traveling forward past toes is well within the knees ability to tolerate. (2)
Takeaway? If you are experiencing knee pain, the right move may be to shift weight backwards so knees aren’t translating forward as much to reduce force/stress on the knees temporarily. However, I recommend keeping loads light to make sure the load through the hips and back isn’t causing potential problems. Once knee pain is minimizes, the next step should be progressively loading the knees with knees-over-toes exercises.
Progressively loading the knees can build resilience in the knees so when life requires knees to go over the toes, you will have greater strength and power in this position with less risk of injury to the knees.
This exercise is a great one to start with! It’s called “sissy squats”, but the name is misleading- these are killer!!
Athletes’ Edge Physical Therapy demonstrates “sissy squats” at our clinic located in Barton Creek neighborhood of Westlake Hills in Southwest Austin, Texas
References:
(1) Fry AC., Smith JC, Schilling, BK. Effect of knee position on hip and knee torques during the barbell squat. J Strength Cond Res. 2003 Nov;17(4):629-33. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14636100
(2) Schoenfeld BJ. Squatting kinematics and kinetics and their application to exercise performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Dec;24(12):3497-506. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182386
(3) Rowland, T. (n.d.). Is it Safe for Knees to Pass Toes During a Squat [web log]. Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.physio-network.com/blog/knees-shouldnt-pass-toes-during-the-squat-myth-or-truth/.