In Bob Takano’s blog, there was an
in-depth series of discussions regarding the use of the extreme “knees out”
technique when performing the squat. For
those of you not familiar with Bob Takano, he is a USA Weightlifting Hall of
Fame inductee who has coached numerous champions at the national and
international level.
The debates were sparked when a
chiropractor and former USAW Sports Med Chair, Dr. Brendan Murray, emailed
Takano about the reasoning behind why athletes (crossfitters specifically) were
shoving their knees out forcefully outside of the foot and ankle during
squatting and pulling movements. Murray
was finding an increased number of injuries in his clinic, which he thought was
due to this technique. This practice was
quickly attributed to the teachings of Kelly Starrett, who’s side I will refer
to as, “The Supple Leopard Camp”. The
fun ensued shortly after, as this became a hot topic in the rehab, crossfit,
and olympic weightlifting worlds. The
6-part series of debates can be found here:
http://www.takanoathletics.com/blog/?p=3269
http://www.takanoathletics.com/blog/?p=3272
http://www.takanoathletics.com/blog/?p=3276
http://www.takanoathletics.com/blog/?p=3280
http://www.takanoathletics.com/blog/?p=3286
http://www.takanoathletics.com/blog/?p=3289
To be honest, I was completely
oblivious to the drama until I received a voicemail from one, Russell Berger of
Crossfit HQ, asking my opinion on the subject as a PT and competitive
weightlifter. It was going to be the
topic on some type of Crossfit TV show or something. I then read the whole 6 part series in my car
on my trusty Iphone. I encourage you all
to take a look at the arguments and formulate your own opinion.
The dealings with CrossfitHQ have not panned
out, as of yet; so I will have to put my TV star aspirations on hold. Regardless, I want to share my thoughts on
the subject, because I am encountering many of the same issues in clinical
practice.
My goal for this article is to be as
objective as possible, and by no means is this meant to be some personal attack
or internet jab at Kelly Starrett or his Supple Leopard camp. Starrett was a big influence in my decision
to go to PT school, and his work has continued to influence my practice up to
this point; though, my philosophies have evolved greatly over the past 3
years. Also, I do not intend this
article to be an argument for whether shoving your knees out past your feet is
right or wrong. I simply want to address
specific statements that were made, because I believe they may contribute to the
issues and misconceptions (key word) I see clinically. Here go’s…
Opening Statements
“Knees out is not the same as driving
hips into ground And we seem to solve knee problems. And back problems. In everyone.
And help set American records. And world records.” –Kelly Starrett
This was K star’s entire contribution
to the discussion. Basically, I took
this to mean, ‘I’ve got a plane to catch
and don’t have time for this shit’. I
cannot imagine how much of this he deals with on a daily basis. So I’ll leave this one alone. But c’mon man… You solveeveryone’s knee and
back problems? That’s a damn good
percentage. I can’t wait for that data
to hit the peer reviewed literature.
From this point, the minions from the
Supple Leopard Camp take over the debating responsibilities.
“Let’s establish one thing, with any
movement the goal is to produce the most amount of torque and not allow any
torsion [to] occur on a compression/loaded body. This directly also creates positions that get
rid of every single injury we have ever seen in all our athletes/non-athletes.”
–Supple Leopard Camp
The first sentence will be addressed
later. However, the proclamation that
this technique, “gets rid of EVERY single injury we have EVER seen in ALL our
athletes”, irritates me to the core.
Again, please publish these incredible outcomes. There is no faster way to lose credibility
than to say your shit works for everyone all the time, without data to back it
up (I’m trying to stay objective, I promise).
Regarding The Creation Of Torque In
The Hips
“Let’s establish one thing, with any
movement the goal is to produce the most amount of torque and not allow any
torsion [to] occur on a compression/loaded body.” -Supple Leopard Camp
and
“During Oly- or Power-lifting the goal again is to set yourself up to
produce the most amount of torque to get the bar from point A to point
B.”–Supple Leopard Camp
This idea of “torque” that the Supple Leopard
Camp continued to refer to is in reference to Starrett’s book, where he
frequently refers to the ‘Laws of Torque’ at the hip and shoulder.
In human biomechanics, internal
torque is (Muscle Force) X (Moment Arm).
The product of these two produces a force that acts on something – in
this case the femur when squatting. I
have not seen any evidence that suggests pushing your knees outside your feet
alters internal torque in the hip in a favorable way, as it is explained in
KStar’s book (which is not a peer
reviewed source, nor does it contain any references). This is also a very difficult thing to
quantify because below 90 degrees of hip flexion, the functions of many of the
muscles that cross the hip are altered – some of the external rotators becoming
internal rotators for example.1 It is
fine to use these terms anecdotally, but to say the goals of weightlifting and
powerlifting is to produce the most amount of torque is ambiguous at best.
Regarding Stability Of The Hip And
Spine When Squatting
“If we want to speak
anatomically/biomechanically/physiologically then we know that the hip is the
most congruent at 90 degrees of flexion in moderate amounts of abduction and
external rotation. Since Oly lifting requires
more depth (Ass to Ankles) then we have to get more external rotation and
abduction to maintain this congruent (minimal passive tension) to maintain the
stable spine and vertical torso.”
-Supple Leopard Camp
and
“Athletes that are squatting with toes out and
knees tracking over the feet will have to find stability elsewhere (since it is
not coming from the hip)”–Supple Leopard Camp
I found no evidence suggestion that “getting
more” external rotation and abduction when squatting past 90 degrees maintains
congruency and minimizes passive tension.
In fact, by shoving your knees out maximally, you would actually
increase ligamentous (passive) tension, and limit your ability to attain more
hip flexion. It is shown that full hip
flexion (≥120°) decreases passive tension of the capsular ligaments, and
increases tension in the glute max. Full
hip flexion also mechanically prepares the adductors to help with hip
extension.2 So, if you are limiting hip
flexion in any way, you are limiting the rubber band effect of glute max and
adductors. Where I come from, the goal
of a squat is to stand up, so maximally loading the muscles that help you do
that is probably a good idea
I found nothing to suggest that
letting your knees track over your ankles and squatting straight down creates
instability in the hip or spine. The
athlete should be able to continue flexing at the hip, while maintaining a
neutral pelvis. If they cannot, I don’t
believe the answer is to tell them to shove their knees out in order to compensate
(clinical opinion).
http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2013/11/15/supple-leopard-vs-world/
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