A stranger at the gym broke down why my squat form was wrecking my knees

I was doing heavy squats like always, pushing through knee pain thinking it was just part of the grind. This older guy watches me for a set and goes 'your knees are caving in, you're gonna blow something out.' He told me to widen my stance and point my toes out more, and within 2 weeks the pain was gone. Now I film every set to check my knee tracking, and I actually added 20 lbs to my max without hurting. Anyone else had a random person fix a big issue with like 3 words?

3 comments

3 Comments

averyc943d agoRising Star

Yeah man, that part about "within 2 weeks the pain was gone" really got me. I had a similar thing happen at my old gym a couple years back where this powerlifter dude just watched me struggle with deadlifts for like ten seconds and was like "you're pulling with your lower back, stop that." I honestly felt kinda stupid at first, but he showed me how to brace my core right and it changed everything. It's wild how one small tweak from someone who actually knows what they're looking at can save you months of pain and frustration. I still record my sets too, even the warmups, just to make sure I'm not slipping back into bad habits.

webb.hannah3d ago

Oh man @averyc94, I totally feel that! I had an older guy at my gym stop me mid-squat because I was leaning way too far forward, and I thought I was just "trying hard" but nope, I was asking for a back injury the whole time. It's crazy how someone just watching for two seconds can spot what you've been doing wrong for months, right? I still watch my own videos too because it's easy to think you're doing it right until you actually see yourself.

jamiesullivan3d ago

Gotta push back a little here - I mean, is it really that much of a revelation that someone who does something for a living knows more than the average gym goer? Like yeah, a powerlifter spotting bad form is gonna be more helpful than internet videos. But you can also just learn proper bracing from a quick YouTube search without needing some stranger to interrupt your set.