Parallel vs. Olympic Squats

[Sir Alabama]

Has anyone ever had knee problems that were medically diagnosed from Olympic squatting?

I have done some research that suggests that going all the way down and back up is better than a parallel squat. Personally, I have always done box squats, i.e., slightly lower than a parallel squat, because I believed all the hype about knee problems resulting from Olympic squats. But, like I just stated, there is a lot of people out there who think the Olympic squat is not only better for your muscles, but also your knee joint. Does anyone have any thought or opinions on this?

--Thanks

[jdanger]

Has anyone ever had knee problems that were medically diagnosed from Olympic squatting?

No and if they do I'd question the validity of the diagnosis. Ascertaining the etiology of nebulous chronic conditions like "knee problems" is often a hard thing to do and any physician giving anyone such a diagnosis isn't worth their lab coat. Obviously there is a chance for injury during any activity but to my knowledge no sizable evidence has ever been produced showing that squatting below parallel puts one at increased risk for either acute or chronic injury. That said, there are physiological reasons why certain individuals may not be able to squat below parallel but that's an indictment of their physiology, not the exercise. Indeed there are few categorically "bad" exercises, only things that are bad for certain people.

Squats don't hurt people. People hurt people.

[Sir Alabama]

Jdanger:

I concur. My front squats have always been a full squat, but I just started doing it for back squats. From the scintilla of research that is available regarding this subject, any syllogism attacking Olympic squatting fails miserably. I am glad I stumbled across this information because I have been wasting time and energy.

[maegs]

I have problem knees - bursitis, the root cause of which is tight quads and loose, weak hamstrings. Since I started doing deep squats in the spring I've had maybe a handful of days when my knees were sore, even though there were definitely days when they would have been sore under the same circumstances before. I reckon that in my case it's my muscle imbalance working itself out as I get fitter, but squats definitely haven't hurt.

[Sir Alabama]

I have problem knees - bursitis, the root cause of which is tight quads and loose, weak hamstrings. Since I started doing deep squats in the spring I've had maybe a handful of days when my knees were sore, even though there were definitely days when they would have been sore under the same circumstances before. I reckon that in my case it's my muscle imbalance working itself out as I get fitter, but squats definitely haven't hurt.

Thanks for the input! That is probably exactly what's occurring.