How To Perform A Proper Squat Without Risking Back Pain

To perform a proper squat exercise, you will need a lot of precision and coordination.
Let's be clear: I don't mind that you want to strengthen the legs, but it should not cause pain somewhere else.
The risk of lower back pain can be reduced if you understand the biomechanics of the proper squatting posture.
We'll proceed step by step:
00:00 intro
00:34 feet position
and impact of the squatting stance on your knees, meniscus, piriformis muscle and sciatic nerve
02:41 bending the knees
and how the squat exercise can cause lower back pain, or worsen it
06:17 line of sight
and impact on neck pain / neck extension
06:47 balancing the load
07:06 knee cap vs toes
08:18 hands, arms, shoulders
To conclude: your physical therapist / fitness trainer should be teaching all this... but unfortunately most of them don't. It is extremely unfortunate.
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[@wangshiyao]

Olivier! Thank you so much for this! But what if i want to do a deep squat? What happens after the point where I feel the stain on the hip joint?

[@SnakeAndTurtleQigong]

Thanks so much!

[@meh-hair-Vaughn]

J'aimerais bien que vous sachiez que ce que vous faites en terme d'aider les gens, c'est quelquechose dont on vous sera oblige pour la vie.
Je vous remercie pour votre aide.
Salut de Delhi, Inde!

[@OlivierGirard]

Merci beaucoup!!!😇

[@aidanmillsap9542]

Hi Olivier, I appreciate your videos and your scalene stretch was very helpful for me as I have been dealing with TOS for some time and the usual scalene stretches would instantly mess me up because of how tender the muscles are. I have noticed that when I finally get slack in my scalenes (which are usually rock hard), my posterior neck muscles start to get sore. I am thinking this would be because the posterior muscles have been chronically lengthened for so long and don't have the contractile strength to maintain a normal posture and thus would it make sense to strengthen the posterior neck muscles in this case? I would appreciate your insight and thanks again for the content and free help you provide

[@adreonyxmasanes4807]

Can you do a video about the proper ergonomics for someone playing video games with mouse and keyboard?

[@OlivierGirard]

Can I suggest an alternative to make a more realistic video? If you (or any other gamer who reads this) wants to send me pictures / videos of how he/she plays, then I can shoot a free assessment like on this playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLrkU7wsPQIPqFWP3O6TWqD_87UmUcujsn. If interested, send me the material on olivier [at] oliviergirard.ch 😉

[@NoName-st6zc]

Hey Olivier, certainly a bit of an off-topic question but i'd be interested to know what you think of the Herman Miller Aeron Remastered, especially the backrest, if you ever had the chance to sit in one? Cheers!

[@OlivierGirard]

I did sit on one indeed... but have never publicly reviewed it. My opinion is the following: it's a great chair, no question about it. Now, if we go in the detail,
- I find that the chair tilt mechanism is not super intuitive for most people
- the fact that it exists in 3 different sizes makes me advise against buying it as a standard chair for your 500 colleagues
- there's no headrest, as far as I know (not useful to work, but cool to relax)
- in Europe at least, these chairs are quite overpriced.
So all in all, it's a great chair if you know how to use it, but it's more an individual chair than a collective one. Does it make sense?

[@NoName-st6zc]

@@OlivierGirard Yeah, absolutely makes sense Olivier.
It's definitely not a chair that you're figuring out within 5 Minutes, especially not if you're the type of person that doesn't know anything about office chairs. I have mine for about two weeks now and i'm still learning how various adjustments affect multiple different areas of my body. Sometimes positive and sometimes negative.
I think the trick with this chair is to set it up with the tilt limiter completely unlocked with just the perfect amount of tension so you can recline to some extend but at the same time the chair comes right with you again as you lean forward to work. It definitely needs time to get the tuning right and yes : this is definitely something for the individual but not for an entire office population, especially considering all the hard edges the chair has that can literally cause pain if you got the wrong size of the chair.
There are several aftermarket headrests for the Aeron Olivier. The most known is the "Atlas Headrest" (search for Aeron Atlast Headrest on RUclips). It's a great headrest for the Aeron but it isn't the most convenient thing in the world to use (unlike the super intuitive Steelcase Gesture Headrest for example) and the mechanics of it are quite bulky looking. The rest itself, where you lay your head on, looks like it was made from Herman Miller themselves since they use the exact same materials that are used on the aeron.
No doubt that the price is very costly, especially if you add the Atlast Headrest (additional 200€) to the occasion.
So if understood you correctly you would say that the Aeron Remastered is a great chair from an ergonomic perspective and for a good posture long term (Of course given that one has the right size and knows how to use the chair...)?

[@rafsroka]

What about squatting fully, with buttocks almost at the ground level - so called "ass to the grass". Should it be avoided? Thanks for the video, I've been following for a while, great content!

[@OlivierGirard]

Thank you! Indeed, it's to be avoided, as I explain here: ruclips.net/video/cGyhzUZp408/видео.html. It's overloading the knees, and if not the lower back, the stability (because you lift the heels to flatten the back). Makes sense?

[@Tephnos]

@@OlivierGirard This is interesting... so, for weightlifting, you'd also recommend against the ass to grass squat? I always thought that if you were squatting heavy weight and stopped at parallel, it puts a ton more pressure on your knees, whereas if you go flat to the ground and then push up the weight transfers to your hips instead.
Although for weightlifting squats, I do keep a wide stance which allows for me to keep feet firmly flat on the floor while maintaining spine neutrality.