Follow Your Feet

Side lunge with knee aligned over the midline of the foot

Here’s an easy rule to follow when walking, taking stairs, squatting, lunging etc.: make sure that your knees follow your feet.  To be even more specific, the knees should align around the 2^nd/3^rd toes in space. 

If you’re walking or standing from a chair and your knees are going in a vastly different direction than your feet (typically the knees are pulling towards the big toes or even further inwards), then you are straining your ankles, knees, hips and low back.  And when you do this repeatedly throughout the day, it compounds the issue and sets you up for injury to the lower half of your body.

Woman squatting with knee pulling in towards midline

You can see how this woman's left knee and ankle are pulling in towards midline as her pelvis shifts off to the right.  This is an excellent example of what not to do with squatting or sitting.

This happen frequently when the hips are not strong or stable enough to keep the knees aligned in space.  Pay attention to this with sit to stand from a chair or while taking stairs.  These are typical times when people pull their knees inward.  If you know that you’re hypermobile, this will also most certainly be an issue. 

You can easily practice getting into or out of a chair while keeping the knees straight ahead.  Sitting and standing from a chair is a squat with a landing pad.  What we do in exercise should be followed through in everyday life.