Squats with Vertical Shins?

[Guest guest]

Alder wrote:

<Dr Siff - I am a long time powerlifter(traditional USPF style training),

recently I have been trying to use some of the Westside methods. I was

wondering if your comments about vertical alignment of the shins, pertains to

box squats. All the Westside articles and videos seem to preach vertical

alignment of the shins as paramount. Please give me your views on this. Off

subject - I enjoy this forum and am anxiously awaiting info on the next

Supertraining camp.>

*** One has to look a little more carefully into the definition of what some

people call " vertical " . Science conventionally refers all positions and

movements relative to three mutually perpendicular planes (and also axes),

while anatomy also uses three basic planes of reference: frontal, sagittal

and transverse. In other words, to be perfectly accurate, one has to define

what is vertical with respect to all of these axes or planes. If we do so,

then we will note that, unless one is standing perfectly upright with heels

together, the shins are not vertical with respect to both the frontal and

sagittal planes. Even then, the shins (tibiae?) are not necessarily entirely

vertical in all people.

As soon as one shifts the knees forwards or opens the legs wider, the shins

no longer remain vertical in both of these planes. So, I would be most

interested to hear exactly what all of these authorities mean by " vertical

shins " before we take this topic any further. I do not wish to critique the

advice of someone whose definitions have not yet been clearly spelled out.

Note that, in addition to these " mutually orthogonal " planes and axes,

science also defines torque or rotation with respect to these axes (where

axes are located in the three planes), so that conventionally we describe and

analyse position and motion in six dimensions, i.e., via the use of at least

6 variables (3 linear and 3 rotational). When one squats, any rotation of the

lower extremities ( " the legs " ) creates torque around some or all of the

joints and bones involved, so, if one is to examine thoroughly the action of

the lower extremities during a squat, one has to consider what happens in all

dimensions. Incidentally, rotation coupled with flexion of a joint, can

significantly increase the risks of injury to the joint, which is a good

reason not to simultaneously tilt and rotate the knees inwards (at least over

a large range) under heavy loading (or to trying resist a hard tackle by

struggling to keep one's feet firmly planted on the turf).

Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

Supertraining/