Knee Valgus: We've All Done It
Valgus is a weird word, but it's important you know what it means.
In this article:
Squat talk.
What is knee valgus?
Four causes of knee valgus.
How to prevent each cause.
Squats are considered the king of leg exercises, and for good reason. They’re an excellent compound lift that builds lower body strength and size, as well as coordination and balance. On top of those valuable benefits, they also build mental toughness and grit. There are tough moments in the gym, and getting through a truly challenging set of squats is one of the toughest.
Squats are a technical lift, which means there are many form cues to run through in your head in order to do them correctly.
Today, I’m choosing to talk about the cue of pushing those knees apart to avoid inward knee cave. The technical term for this is knee valgus.
When people are new to squatting, or lifting in general, knee cave is very common. It’s even more common when someone in the beginner stage pushes to fatigue during their set of squats. Form breakdown occurs as fatigue builds and knee cave is one of the first signs I usually see.
Without correction, especially as progressive overload is implemented and weight on the bar increases, the likelihood of an injury to crucial components of the knee, such as the ACL and meniscus, will continually increase.
Knee cave isn’t just caused by one thing, there are multiple potential roots.
1. Weak Hip Abductors and External Rotators:
It makes sense that the opposite of knee cave (bringing the knees together) would be to push the knees apart. In technical terms, this is accomplished through hip abduction and hip external rotation.
There are several muscles involved in these actions, but the primary movers are the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. Notice a trend there? It’s all about the glutes!
Try this right now, assuming you’re sitting; simply move your knees apart while touching your glutes. It’s guaranteed that, as you move your knees apart, you’ll feel your glute muscles flex. Am I right?
Muscles like the gluteus medius and gluteus maximus are responsible for stabilizing the hips and knees. Weakness in these muscles leads to weak abduction, causing the knees to cave in.
The Fix
We’re looking for glute strength and connection here, so I’m providing you with a handful of exercises that give you both of those benefits.
We want a good mix of strength gains, muscle growth, and burn to help with improved mind/muscle connection. To cover these bases, aim for 2 to 3 sets of 8-12 reps to start.
2. Lack of Awareness
Muscle imbalances or weaknesses aside, I honestly feel like the biggest cause of knee valgus while squatting is a lack of familiarity with the exercise. This is going to be most common among those just getting started with squats. Squats require the body to move through a specific movement pattern, which is learned over time. A portion of that movement pattern is hip abduction (pulling the knees apart).
Often times, when someone is new to squatting, I’ll see knee valgus just because they don’t know they’re suppose to avoid it, and as fatigue sets in, it just happens.
The Fix
Honestly, the way to fix a lack of awareness is to be taught how to squat properly from someone who knows what they’re talking about. Being guided through an exercise by an experienced coach is going to bump up your knowledge and awareness of proper form more than any other method.
To learn about my coaching service and be provided with a free assessment, fill out the following questionnaire:
Training with Ryan Coaching Questionnaire
While a coach is your best option, not everyone has the luxury of hiring one. In this case, self-education is the next step. This can be accomplished through reading about squats, watching videos about squats, or watching others who you trust in the gym.
If you’re reading this and don’t know where to start, here are some links to help you with self-education:
Article: How to Squat with Proper Form: The Definitive Guide
Video: How to Squat for Your Anatomy
Video: How to Squat Correctly
3. Poor Coordination
On top of the lack of knowing to avoid it, there’s also the issue of poor coordination when starting to learn a new movement pattern. The CNS does not automatically know how to squat correctly, so it needs to be taught. Until it’s taught, coordination is going to be start off poor, followed by progressive improvements over time, and eventually reaching the point of mastery.
When coordination isn’t the greatest, a person can understand what to do and how they’re supposed to move their body, but it doesn’t mean they can suddenly do it.
The action of keeping their knees apart as they squat might feel weird or nearly impossible as they learn how to fire those abductor muscle groups and build those mind/muscle connections.
People talk about not being able to connect with their glutes all the time. But people also talk about finally making that connection and how good it feels. Practice will take you from disconnected to connected, and it’s worth the time and effort.
The Fix
If you’ve read the article I recommended and watched the videos I pointed you towards, you’re up to speed on the necessary mental cues and form tips for great squat form. From here, it’s all about practice practice practice!
By continually moving your body through the correct movement pattern for squatting, you will improve your coordination. Follow these tips to ensure your coordination grows efficiently and correctly:
Start light with a weight you are in control of, not the other way around.
If possible, find someone with experience who can watch you make sure you’re moving correctly.
Take video of yourself and watch it back. Use front, rear, and side angles to best assess your form.
4. Trash Ankle Mobility
This may not be obvious, but poor ankle mobility will cause the knees to cave in during a squat. When someone squats, dorsiflexion happens to varying degrees.
Different squat variations require more or less dorsiflexion, but some is generally a given. Generally, the deeper the squat, the more dorsiflexion required.
If you read my recent article on leg curls, you know all about plantar and dorsiflexion. Plantar means pointing the feet away from the body, while dorsi means pulling them back toward the shins.
Here’s the article, in case you missed it:
Anyway, poor ankle mobility will cause problems to arise, while squatting, in places other than the ankles. Where will these problems show up? You guessed it, the knees. And what’s one of those problems? You guessed it again, knee valgus!
The Fix
Improving ankle mobility is all about moving in ways that promote ankle mobility. Here are some excellent drills to up your dorsiflexion game:
How to Improve Your Ankle Mobility
How to Increase Ankle Mobility in Three Steps
Finishing Up
There you have it, that’s my talk on one important aspect of squatting, along with tons of information for you to read, watch, and learn new things from.
Whether you have a question or just want to share your own experience with knee valgus while squatting, I encourage you to speak up and comment.
Thanks for reading,
Ryan