Inside squats

Good morning 

I have questions about inside squat.

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"Looks like a good shortcut to early age osteoarthritis."

"You put alot of strain on the cartilage, and your knees are in a horrible alignment. The theory is, that you slowly chip away the cartilage on the edges of both the tibia and the femur, which the deffinition of osteoarthris is; that the cartilage has been worn away, and malalignment is a factor. But i'm not as updated on this subject as i should be."

"I've talked about the subject with a couple of colleagues, and the conclusion would be a hightened risk of osteoartritis, due to the strain on the joint cartilage. You wont feel pain or anything during it at this point, but once you get older, you migth feel it there. I certainly wouldn't recommend that excersice."

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This is the criticism that I have gotten. Is there some truth? Can I give them something to read so they would understand that it is safe?

I have read other topics here about inside squats but none answered this criticism.

Hi Priit,

As with all mobility work, start slow and ease into increasing ROM. ROM and strength should be progressively increased over time. Coach Sommer has been using this exercise for over 15 years with his athletes and students with nothing but positive results.

Hi Priit,

I can personally attest to what Everett said. A few years ago, as I was training on the Floor Exercise as a competitive gymnast, I experienced a bad crash that should have done extreme damage to my left knee. Because of the knee mobility/strengthening exercises that I had been doing for years with Coach Sommer, I walked away without injury. These exercises are a HUGE protection.

We need to stop "casting" joints in our patients and clients, by only offering the old knee aligned over 2nd toe exercises; this causes increased risk of joint injury down the line.

Slowly challenging joint connective tissues through a progressive range of motion improves the Integrity of the overall joint mechanics.

It does not add to an increased risk of osteoarthritis.

As the joint improves it's physiological capability, the body adapts by:

1) increasing strength, adding sarcomeres in series of the stabilizing joint muscles to improve the joints ability to move in and out of positions

2) provides an environment for optimal protein synthesis of the connective tissues surrounding a joint.

Not doing this, in an intelligent, progressive manor, increases the pressure through the connective tissues of the tibia and femur; as the joint is not able to move in and out of that trained, casted position.

And also you are not doing hundreds of them under a heavy load or anything. It's a controlled, slow process, low reps, no load, mobility exercise. 

All tissues of the body are capable of adaptation, in this case strengthening rather than "being worn away". Some tissues such as connective tissue or bone just take a lot longer than others, as Coach has been stressing over and over. 

An example of bone remodeling would be orthodontics/braces, which also work for adults (if slower than for teenagers).