Squats and deadlifts live on a knee-bend spectrum. Understanding where front squats, power squats, stiff-leg deadlifts, and bent-knee deadlifts fit can clean up technique fast.
Squat depth gets a lot less scary when you understand what the knees, hips, and spine are actually doing. This piece pushes back on the old “knees behind the toes” rule with a more complete look at full-squat mechanics.
Small changes in foot position can dramatically change what an exercise emphasizes. Here is a blunt look at how heel and toe elevation alter lower-body mechanics and muscle recruitment.
Part one uses a knee-pain client case to expose the problems caused by poor squat mechanics, Smith machine habits, and too much anterior-core work. It’s a useful reminder that expensive training can still be bad training.