Hey all. I've got a question about knees/toes in the squat.
At my local gym the only cue provided to people being told to squat is to ensure that their knees don't go past their toes. This is done to the extent where I regularly see the coaches, (which I use in the loosest sense of the word), holding their hands out in front of the persons knees to make sure they don't go past their toes.
Now in SS Rip says that at the bottom of the squat, your knees will be a little bit in front of your toes. What's emphasized is that your knees shouldn't move any more in the second half of the movement going down.
I've had a couple dudes come up to me, (random gym goers, not trainers...yet), and tell me that I need to make sure that my knees don't go past my toes while squatting. The first couple times I just firmly but politely told them thank you, but this is how I learned it. The next time this happens I'd like to be able to give a more satisfactory answer than 'because Coach Rip says so'.
Thinking about it, the explanation I've been able to come up with is that the knees/toes thing is based on a misunderstanding. If you're leaning so far forward that your knees are way past your toes, the bar is a) probably no longer directly above the middle of your foot, b) your knees probably tracked forwards instead of out along your feet as you went down and c) your weight is going to be more on the balls of your feet rather than firmly planted on your heels.
So instead of a more useful cue (knees tracking along feet) a more exaggerated and unhelpful cue is used.
Does my analysis make sense? So that the next time someone comes up to me I can explain why the knees/toes cue is not a terribly useful one? Still though, at least I have yet to be told that I'm going to hurt my knees squatting deep.
And yes, find a new gym. I know.