Why Do Squats and/or Lunges Hurt?

SQUATS & LUNGES FEELING OFF?

Are squats and/or lunges uncomfortable for you? Maybe you feel wobbly and off balance… or maybe you feel stress and strain in your joints, (ankles, knees, hips), or back. There are a variety of things that could explain these struggles, but a great place to start is to make sure your feet are grounded throughout the entire movement.

Here are some things to observe when you’re performing squats/lunges:

  • does your weight shift toward the outside of your foot - toward your little toe?

  • does your weight shift toward the inside of your foot - toward your big toe?

  • does your weight shift forward so that it’s all in the front of your foot?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, then it’s possible that the lack of alignment in your feet is creating a lack of alignment up the rest of your body. Poor alignment can cause:

  • lack of stability (balance and control of movement)

  • stress, strain and discomfort in joints and spine

  • ineffective movement

When the feet are not grounded this can create stress in strain in the ankles, knees, hips and/or spine.

It’s crucial to keep the tension out of our joints and within our muscles when we’re exercising. Since our feet are our foundation for standing exercises, keeping our feet properly aligned can set us up for success!

Here are 2 things I teach my clients to help them keep their feet grounded and load their muscles more than their joints:

  1. Keep all 5 toes and your heel connected to the floor. In a squat, this is true for both feet. In a lunge, this is true for the front foot.

  2. Push the floor down and away from your body as you stand up from the squat/lunge. I say this because most people think about this portion of the exercise as moving their body back up to a standing position. For some reason though, flipping our perspective and imagining that we’re moving the floor away from our body instead of our body away from the floor helps keep the feet grounded and aligned.

I demonstrate all of these adjustments in this 55 second video.

Happy squatting and lunging!