The Danger Is Not the Squat

A popular belief is that squatting hurts your knees and puts too much pressure on your back. Actually, it is the lack of squatting and using your leg muscles as they were meant to be used that can harm you. It is more dangerous not to squat than it is to squat, provided that you know the proper mechanics and maintain good form.

Squatting is an everyday occurrence in life, especially for women. Why not make these activities easier on us and on our joints by training our muscles to perform these movements? When the legs are weak and cannot do a sufficient job, the next stress point up the body is the low back. Weak quads and hams can also contribute to injury because of their inability to stabilize and decelerate joints during high-level activities. For example, when you are running to hit a tennis shot or to chase a child on the run and stop short, if your muscles cannot absorb that force, they might tear. Squats are also the best choice for a leg exercise that minimizes joint compression force. Compared to the leg extension machine, squatting allows the patellofemoral forces to be more evenly distributed and dissipated. There is no evidence that squats can cause injuries in women because their bone structure is different than men. Of course, you can hurt yourself if you aren't careful. If you drop down into your squat too quickly and bounce out of the bottom position, the knee cartilage (menisci) can be squeezed and twisted, resulting in wear and tear and eventual breakdown. Any exercise has the potential to hurt you if you do it improperly. With good form and a gradual increase in intensity, squats can be one of the safest and most functional exercises you'll ever perform.

If you are still skeptical of the squat, follow this line of logic: Women should be afraid of their diets, not of squats. Bigger butts and hips result from too much food, not too much exercise. Ballet dancers get their firm glutes from squatting explosively many times, but they don't have huge butts because of their extremely strict diets and enormous activity levels. So go ahead and squat-your butt will love you for it.