Q:I practise a lot of squats. Though I don’t have any pain in my knees, I am beginning to worry if there might be some long-term problems if I do too many squats.

PB, Asansol

Squatting is an exercise which involves performing knee bends while having a weight on the shoulders. It is advised for advanced exercisers only. Squatting is important since it not only works your leg muscles, but also stimulates your entire body to grow stronger and leaner.

Exercises such as barbell squats are very hard and they cause your body to release more testosterone and growth hormone while you work out. This will help build up your entire body (i.e. arms, chest, shoulders, etc). Those who are the strongest squatters are also the biggest and most muscular people in the gym.

In all my years at the gym, I have seen more people with elbow problems from doing triceps extension or bench press than people with knee problems arising from squatting. But then, no one stops doing triceps extension or bench press because it might hurt their elbows. Squats are not bad for your knees ? they involve plain hard work, so people like to come up with excuses not to do them. Very few people have problems with squats and for most they are safe. One principal reason why a lot of people have trouble with squats is because they use poor form (letting their knees extend too far out over the tips of their toes etc).

There is some debate over whether you should only go slightly past parallel (where your thighs are parallel to the ground and your upper leg is at a 90 degree angle to your lower leg) or whether you should go through a full range of motion. You will have to experiment and see which one you prefer.

Going parallel is the general recommendation, and your results will be fine just going parallel. I believe I get better results from breaking parallel, but that’s just my personal opinion. If you choose to use a full range of motion, i.e. going below parallel, try going in very light phases and from moderate to heavy weight. Do not relax when you reach the bottom. Keep the burden of the weight on your muscles and don’t let them rest at the bottom (and transfer some of the weight to your joints).

If you use proper form and technique, you should be able to squat safely whether you go parallel or perform a full squat.