Squat Technique For Bad Knees – BowlFit Tips

I have often heard people say they cannot squat because they have “bad knees”. If you have knee issues you probably need to be doing squats more than you think, but the issue may lie in doing them improperly. Usually in this scenario if you have knee issues you are likely to have overactive quads and week hamstrings, glutes, and adductors. When this happens people tend to have a difficult time letting the weight of their body shift to the heels of their feet while sitting back and down into a squat. Instead, they end up on the balls of their feet, heels off the ground, and the body leaning forward over it’s toes which places unnecessary torque on the knee.

If you have knee issues and are afraid of squatting, I recommend starting with squats onto a box or chair. Set up for your squat and literally sit down onto the box while keeping your chest/torso upright rather than leaning forward. This will allow you to activate the weaker muscles that aren’t used to being engaged in this movement. Once you can perform it with just your own body weight, start holding a dumbbell and increase the weight until you build up strength to perform the squat without the box behind you.

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About Heather –

Heather D’Errico MS, CSCS, CFSC, LMT

Heather began BowlFit in 2013 with the hope to provide awareness to bowlers about how crucial training off the lanes truly is. She has been an avid bowler her entire life competing as a collegiate bowler for Robert Morris University, assistant coaching at the University of Central Missouri, and now head coaches at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY.

She obtained a master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis on exercise science and interned with the head strength coach at UCM. She became a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) through NSCA shortly after graduation and began coaching athletes at Next Level Strength and Conditioning in Fairport, NY.

In October 2015 she received her certified functional strength coach certification and then went back to school in July 2016 for massage therapy. She is now a licensed massage therapist and runs a business called Restorative Bodywork in Rochester, NY that specializes in movement therapy and sports massage.

Heather has also been competing on the PWBA tour the last 3 seasons and continues to use her experiences as a competitive and professional bowler to create programs for bowlers. She enjoys the challenges of making programs specific to each bowler as every person needs to focus on different areas for their performance goals. With that said her training motto is “do no harm” and believes each program should most importantly make a bowler FEEL better and play with minimal injuries/pain.