Squat Safely

 

Gear may help you lift more weight, but at what cost? Wearing knee wraps when you squat can set you up for injury, according to British researchers. “The wrapped knee is more stable, so your body shifts the weight there, which can overload the joint,” says Bill Hartman PT CSCS. Instead of relying on wraps, he says, improve your knee stability by doing 3 sets of 10 split squats, 3 days a week. When those become easy, progress to single-leg squats and then to normal squats.

 

 

Image by Beth Bischoff

 

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