Squats are a good strength exercise to do in general, but it may not be possible because of knee pain.

If you’re having difficulty getting up from a chair or the toilet because of knee pain then incorporating squats from different heights would be helpful.

Squats are a good exercise to do in general because they strengthen the hips and the thighs as the main muscle groups that are worked during this exercise. Squats mimic the motion of sitting down and getting up from a chair at dinner time, sitting down and getting up from the couch, sitting down and getting up from the toilet, squatting low to pick up an item from the floor and so many other activities we do throughout the day.

Not everyone can tolerate squats though, their knees may hurt too much. When thinking about doing a squat for an exercise I have my clients see if they can do any form of a squat without any pain at all. So they can practice the sit to stand exercise.

This could mean they are sitting in a bar stool height chair and then standing up. If they have no pain with this level, but have knee pain when they sit into a lower chair I would have them start at the higher height chair and practice that for a few weeks until they can go lower and lower.

The program to progress to a squat is a slow one. I have my clients move down an inch of height over the course of a few weeks. So going from a bar height chair to a toilet height seat or lower to a squat to the floor could take months.

I do think it’s important to be able to squat to help keep the knees strong and to be able to get up and down from a toilet for years to come.

The best way to practice this is to start high and over time go lower. If you don’t have a chair high enough then pile up a few pillows on a regular height chair to add some height.

Ok let’s recap: squats are an important motion in our everyday lives. We use a squat to be able to pick up items from the floor, sit down and get up from various things in our lives like a chair at dinner, the couch, the car, and the toilet. If someone can’t do a squat because their knees hurt too much and they want to or need to squat I recommend starting with the sit to stand exercise from high level chairs like a bar stool and over the course of weeks or months progressively lower the height of the chair until the height needed is reached. 

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