Joint moments of force and quadriceps muscle activity during squatting exercise

The relationship between hip and knee joint load and quadriceps muscle activity during squatting exercise to different depths was studied. Eight young national class Olympic weightlifters performed squatting exercise to 4 different knee flexion angles; 45°, 90°, parallel and deep squats. They held a barbell across their shoulders with a weight of 65% of their one-repetition maximum. The loading moments of force about the hip and knee joints were calculated using a semidynamic method. Video was used for motion recording and electromyograhy for recording activity from die vastus lateralis, rectus femoris and biceps femoris muscles. The loading moment on the hip joint increased significantly from the 90° squat to the parallel, but there was no difference between the parallel and the deep. For the knee joint, there was no difference between the 45°, 90° and parallel, but for the deep squat the loading moment increased significantly. The muscular activity generally increased with increasing squatting depth, but mere were only minor insignificant differences between the parallel and the deep squats. We conclude that knee joint load can be limited by doing parallel instead of deep squats and that this will not decrease quadriceps muscle activity. To limit hip moment, the squat should not be deeper than 90°.