it was leg day for me today and i can feel the proper form and movement repairing my knee as soon as i finished (more details later).
just to give you some facts on some real science here, take this information as you so wish, not trying to be controversial or anything, just adding some info to look at. this is going to go against an article which was posted about form doesnt really matter when you want to get big by Morba a while back taken from some website, just to add some real information from specialists into the mix.
when i started squatting my knee had already been injured for 2 years, within 2 months i could squat 180kg for 5x5. now i have always had HUGE legs (i struggle to drive most cars or sit in the back seats). i thought this was helping me and my knee and i feel i could have easily done 200kg, but i stopped squatting when i was getting all my tests/treatment done. after getting x-rays and mri (had to fight with GP in order to be referred to a specialist, went to them several times and was fobbed off). they said that my ACL and everything looked fine, but my bio mechanical tests showed i was hyper mobile (extremely flexible) but my injured knee was extreme hyper mobile (definite problem). they also noticed i was flat footed (collapsed arches more so in the foot my injured knee is on) and that my stance and movement was incorrect. this information came from a orthopaedic surgeon.
i was then referred to do physio in order to stabilise the knee more and to stop the pain and my patella from dislocating (popping). this physio also did a bio mechanical test and asked the hospital to pass on MRI's and scans to take a look at. Now the physio whilst doing the bio mechanical test said that i had muscle wastage in the knee that was injured which was why my patella was loose. This muscle wastage was on the inner knee opposite from quadricep.
now tell me this, how is it possible for me to have had muscle wastage on that knee, yet i was squatting 180kg like it was nothing. I'll tell you how, incorrect form. the physio taught me correct form (my form was ever so slightly off, knee was moving inwards slightly as i went down instead of keeping straight), told me to use specific shoes (to help with arch support) and now with help from icecold and that nightmare i think its is ( guy from ireland) i now understand a bit better what the physio has taught me.
now as i have been doing 100% correct form for squats, correct foot position, correct knee position (where i was going wrong), correct arch supporting shoes (i have flat feet, which means collapsed arches and this problem is specific to me only, unless you too are flat footed), the muscle which had wasted away has started to strengthen and actually causes pain after i finish a workout (DOMS). the inner part of my injured knee (where the physio told me i had muscle wastage) was sore today, very sore i can tell i worked it out good and proper.
now my problem is inter related to several things, flat feet, incorrect form and the actual injury (tackle from behind in football), all of these things either helped cause it or make it worse.
now with correct form i am repairing the damage and strengthening my wasted muscle. now i can agree that form may not matter as much when your doing some movements such as bicep curls, etc. but this is real science here and information from specialists, incorrect form especially when squatting can create problems or make pre existing ones worse, obviously some of the information above may not apply to you. but i can safely say that correct form is now helping me get back to 100%. incorrect form my legs were getting bigger but at the expense of my knee and some supporting muscles, how else do you explain me going from 60kg to 180kg within 2 months yet having muscle wastage in my knee? surely if anything it should have been getting stronger.
so the moral of the above story is, make sure you get form bang on, i thought i was doing correct form, but my knees were bending slightly inwards as i moved down, i have been told to push against this natural movement (resistance) and push them the opposite way so they are straight.
i dont know if i have explained it all properly, but just thought i would share some real science here. incorrect form caused my pre existing problem to get worse and possibly even led to my knee dislocations, the injury from football just made my knee even more flexible (unstable if your muscles are not strong enough).
take the above information as you wish, this is what i have deciphered from everyone i have talked to on the subject.
correct form = good for you
incorrect form = potential problems
flat footed = get the correct shoes or else you will cause more pain, etc.
knee injury (extreme hyper mobility) = strengthen that knee
rant over
give it a go you may surprise yourself.
