Re: Knee cave anything to worry about?
Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:35 am
From an interview with Jim Schmitz.
https://www.ironathleteclinics.com/inte ... m-schmitz/
Q: I hear you have a lot to say about “knees in while squatting”?
A: Ah, the “knees in and out” while squatting issue otherwise know as “valgus”, which is considered a deformity of the knee joint. Well, I too in my early years of coaching from 1968 up until 1990 thought the knees going in was bad form and always taught knees should always stay directly over the big toe. That was no problem for almost all my lifters, but then when I began coaching women in the late 70’s and 80’s, I saw so much of it I figured it must be due to the skeletal differences of men and women in the knee and hip area. I always tried to straighten out my women’s squatting technique, but just couldn’t do it– that was the way their bodies worked and they were lifting pretty heavy weights and not getting injured or having any knee, hip or back issues. One of my Hall of Fame female lifters, Giselle Shepatin, (had an 80kg snatch, C&J 100, and a back squat of 140 at 60k) –her knees went in and out on all her lifts. Then in 1990, two-time Olympic Champion (1964 & 1968), Yoshinobu Miyake was living in San Francisco and working out at my gym. He told me he developed that technique for himself and taught it to others to get through the sticking point at the half way point of squat, snatches, and cleans. Yoshinobu was the first man to snatch double bodyweight 118 at 58.5 bwt in 1962. And, he back squatted 200k for 2 in 1964 with this technique. I then really became more aware of this technique and let people do it if it worked and felt good to them. There used to be a great video on IronMind.com of Ivan Chakarov from Bulgaria back squatting 270kg (595lbs) for 3 reps while weighing 90kg (198lbs) at the 1993 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. There, he uses the knees in and out technique beautifully. I could go on and on about the different Olympic and World Champions that use this technique. So, don’t worry about it if you or you lifters do it, it’s okay!
https://www.ironathleteclinics.com/inte ... m-schmitz/
Q: I hear you have a lot to say about “knees in while squatting”?
A: Ah, the “knees in and out” while squatting issue otherwise know as “valgus”, which is considered a deformity of the knee joint. Well, I too in my early years of coaching from 1968 up until 1990 thought the knees going in was bad form and always taught knees should always stay directly over the big toe. That was no problem for almost all my lifters, but then when I began coaching women in the late 70’s and 80’s, I saw so much of it I figured it must be due to the skeletal differences of men and women in the knee and hip area. I always tried to straighten out my women’s squatting technique, but just couldn’t do it– that was the way their bodies worked and they were lifting pretty heavy weights and not getting injured or having any knee, hip or back issues. One of my Hall of Fame female lifters, Giselle Shepatin, (had an 80kg snatch, C&J 100, and a back squat of 140 at 60k) –her knees went in and out on all her lifts. Then in 1990, two-time Olympic Champion (1964 & 1968), Yoshinobu Miyake was living in San Francisco and working out at my gym. He told me he developed that technique for himself and taught it to others to get through the sticking point at the half way point of squat, snatches, and cleans. Yoshinobu was the first man to snatch double bodyweight 118 at 58.5 bwt in 1962. And, he back squatted 200k for 2 in 1964 with this technique. I then really became more aware of this technique and let people do it if it worked and felt good to them. There used to be a great video on IronMind.com of Ivan Chakarov from Bulgaria back squatting 270kg (595lbs) for 3 reps while weighing 90kg (198lbs) at the 1993 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. There, he uses the knees in and out technique beautifully. I could go on and on about the different Olympic and World Champions that use this technique. So, don’t worry about it if you or you lifters do it, it’s okay!