The truth about the pain in the knees
Is it true that the full squat is a prelude to arthritis?

The squat has always been a controversial exercise. While some call it the king of exercise for its terrific muscle growing effect, the squat is also a source of debate among power athlete coaches and scientists. Few would contend that doing squats in bad physical shape is hazardous. This involves rising from utmost lower position, lowering too quickly and extreme forward bending, so that lower back is subject to excessive stress.

Tne Squat - Good and Bad News? Quadriceps, Glutes

Others insist that as a result of too much squatting the glutes and thighs grow too much and the effect achieved is one of big buttocks. Some suggest that the squat is the cause for bellies that can be seen in many contestants nowadays. Certainly, this does not provide explanation for the rarity of such a deformity in the past years, when hard series of squats were a standard practice, nor for the fact that many athletes of today, who haven?t done hard squatting have bellies nevertheless.

During the 1960s a scientist in the field of exercise announced that the squat  especially the full squat  is inherently dangerous and is likely to cause knee or joint injury. While these declarations have not been confirmed, because few, if any, bodybuilders have complained of knee pain as a result of years of hard squatting, recent scientific research in China has made us seriously consider exactly how safe is the squat.

More than 1800 people in Peking at the age of over 60 went through knee scanning to check if they had osteoarthritis and estimated the average time daily they had spent doing squats when they were 25. Squatting is common in China during leisure time as well as at work.

The men who said they had squatted for more than 3 hours a day were twice as threatened by osteoarthritis as those who had squatted for less than 30 minutes a day. The risk was 70% higher for men who had squatted between two and three hours a day as they had arthritis thigh pain or, to put it precisely, damage of the joint connecting the femur and the tibia. The squat also increases the risk of arthritis in women, especially those who had squatted for more than three hours daily.
The Chinese women showed a 10% greater arthritis rate compared to the American women at the same age. But despite their intense squatting, the Chinese were less susceptible to arthritis as compared to the American. That paradoxical discovery is most probably due to the fact that the Chinese are physically more active than the American, and lighter as well. Developing osteoarthritis is directly related to body weight and obesity is a main risk factor.

So what is the inference to be drawn by bodybuilders and other power athletes? Few bodybuilders have ever squatted for three hours a day, but on the other hand they use great weights in doing this exercise. Ronnie Coleman for instance often does 360 kg barbell squats in the period of preparation. One can only make suppositions as to how many hours of weightless squatting this is equal.

The Chinese research does not include barbell squatting, but takes into consideration the full squat done for a long period of time. This makes me think that doing full squats with the bottom touching the ground is more likely to increase the risk of arthritis thigh pain. I do not believe such a risk exists with the so called half squat, where the exercise ends with the thighs parallel to the ground. The half squat is better prevention of arthritis as lack of activity and exercise themselves are a risk factor for this disease.