Stop Pushing Your Knees Out When You Squat.

If you've spent any time in a gym, you've heard it: drive your knees out. It's one of the most repeated pieces of squat coaching in the fitness world.

It's also one of the most common reasons we see people walk into our clinic with knee and hip pain.

Let's talk about what's actually happening — and what to do instead.

The Squat Isn't Just a Gym Exercise

Before we get into form, it's worth stepping back.

A squat isn't just about loading a barbell and testing your legs. It's the fundamental movement pattern your body uses to lower and raise itself — getting off a chair, picking something up off the floor, sitting on the toilet. It's one of the most basic things the human body is designed to do.

The problem is that modern life has quietly removed it from our daily routine. Chairs, cars, and furniture designed for convenience mean we almost never squat through a full range of motion anymore. And when we stop using a movement pattern, the body adapts — and not in a good way.

Here's what happens when squatting disappears from your life:

• Your hips get tight — creating pressure that travels up into the low back

• Your lower back fatigues faster — setting the stage for injury

• Your knees lose the ability to handle basic full range of motion — which over time contributes to the kind of wear and tear that leads to arthritis

So we head to the gym to fix it — and get told to drive our knees out. Which brings us back to the problem.

Why "Drive Your Knees Out" Backfires

The cue makes sense on the surface. It's trying to prevent the knees from caving inward, which is a real issue for a lot of people. But the way most people execute it creates a different problem entirely.

When you force your knees outward, you shift your weight onto the outside of your feet and overload the lateral structures of the leg — the IT band, the lateral knee, the outer hip. Do that repeatedly under load and you're creating a pattern that stresses exactly the joints you're trying to protect.

The knee and hip pain that follows isn't bad luck. It's a predictable outcome of a flawed movement pattern reinforced over hundreds of reps.

What to Think About Instead

Forget driving your knees out. Here's the cue that actually works:

Squat into the middle of your foot.

Specifically, the point between the inside of your heel and the knuckle of your big toe. That's your target. As you descend into the squat, think about pressing into the ground at that point — not pushing your knees in any particular direction.

When you load that part of the foot correctly, the rest of the leg tends to organize itself the way it's supposed to. The knee tracks where it should. The hip opens appropriately. The load is distributed across the whole system rather than dumped onto the outside of the leg.

It's a subtle shift, but for most people it's immediately noticeable.

Bonus: Ditch the Cushioned Shoes

If you want to feel this cue even more clearly, try squatting barefoot or in a minimal shoe — something like a Whitin or Xero shoe. Thick, cushioned soles create a layer of instability between your foot and the floor and make it much harder to feel where your weight is actually landing.

Squatting barefoot gives you direct feedback. You'll know instantly if you're loading the outside of your foot because you'll feel it.

If Your Knees Don't Feel Confident in a Squat, That's Information

A lot of people avoid squatting because their knees ache, feel unstable, or just don't feel right under load. That's not a reason to stop squatting — it's a signal that something upstream hasn't been addressed.

In almost every case, the knee isn't the actual problem. It's the site of the symptom. The real driver is usually a hip mobility restriction, a foot loading issue, or a weakness in the muscles that are supposed to be controlling the movement.

Find that, fix that, and the knee stops being the thing that limits you.

Still Dealing With Knee or Hip Pain in Your Squat?

If squatting feels uncomfortable, painful, or just wrong no matter what you try — we can help you figure out exactly why.

We offer a free 30-minute Movement Assessment at our Roswell, GA clinic. We'll look at how you're actually moving, find what's driving the problem, and build a plan to fix it from the root.

No commitment. No pressure. Just real answers.

→ Book your free Movement Assessment at go.hybridspineandsport.com/book-a-discovery-call