Just a personal anecdote, I used the knees over toes guy's training method to fix years of knee and ankle pain and rehab from a torn hamstring. It worked wonders. I'm now at the point where I no longer pay for his training, but still incorporate many of the ideas into my own workouts.

The fact that we are scared to move our bodies in a certain range of motion because of an idea that it brings about injury is absurd. The avoidance of natural movement is exactly what is causing ROM movement related injuries in Western culture. Look at the front squat for example - why do we overload the back squat when almost every day we lift through the front at work, in day to day life etc. KOTG is a bit weird, but he's 100% right.

Zack, I would do the 5-minute squat at home during the pandemic and when I got back to the gym my coaches noticed the huge difference in my squat. Actually, PR’d my squat at a much greater depth than pre-pandemic. Thanks, brother!

KOT guy is a scientologist so that's why he comes off weird IMO. He has the same vibe as Tom Cruise

I dealt with knee pain for a few years. After working it out, I do deep squats with just barbell 2-3x a week as an accessory and my knees are feeling stronger and stronger. Avoidance is not a solution.

Personal experience: just implementing a couple of knees over toes exercises I got rid of a month lasting injury around my knee, I got able to squat again after almost a year, then I stopped doing his exercises and started feeling weird in my left quad, implemented them again and the issue disappeared, I dont know how nor why but it worked great for me, and I only used free stuff

Great video Zack. I had previously done Ben's "Dense" system for several months and enjoyed the simplicity of each session, eg drive some good volume in only 3-5 movements per session, rather than massive circuits, ABCDEF blocks, that spread the intent too thin. I believe thats something you've talked about it prior videos. Ill also say that while I love the KOT/ATG movement selection/programming, I believe, the real sauce in why its been successful is the scaled back intensity. Building up volume at higher rep ranges in more isolated/regressed movements. Almost ubiquitously, the general fitness population, and many athletes (usually non-olympic sports), have jumped straight into high intensity types of training either from a metabolic or loading standpoint, without really any GPP or structured buildup. I think people would see similar successes with a Doc Yessis 1 x 20 or other introductory systems, that many coached athletes did for years before the high intensity weightlifting. On the other hand, many systems that market themselves as rehabilitative, probably underload people, and thus Ben has found a sweetspot. Also his vibe of "you can be awesome" is probably an important placebo that every system needs.

I tore the meniscus in my left knee the first week of August 2021. After almost 4 months of various treatments and PT movements, my knee had not progressed much. I still could not even do a body weight squat without some discomfort or pain. I started doing knees over toes the beginning of December. As of this last week I pause squatted 225x5 completely pain free and was able to do standing vertical jumps with max power and land pain free. In my experience, KOT has been really helpful and I will continue to do it.

Ben's reverse nordic helped me to resolve years of patellar tendonitis pain. They were murder to perform at the beginning, even when scaled down. Much of Ben's material is from Polequin and other predecessors, but kudos to him for (1) making it visible again, and (2) showing how to scale the moves or adapt with other equipment. Thank you Zack for reminding us of the 5 minute squat.

I'm late 30's 6ft2" 89kg and had been having weird knee pain for the past couple of years that made it painful to drop into a squat and was doing my head in. Just before going to see a Physio I randomly saw an older vid of Zach's where he started a workout with holding a 5 min deep squat, just holding the bottom position, really sinking into it. I started this and my knee pain just went away. Still had a few sessions with the physio, who found I had weak glutes and helped me "feel" what activated glutes and stable core should feel like. Also around then started BJJ and practicing this deep squat, good warm ups and general mobility has been essential for it. The biggest impact for me has been the new confidence from being able to change my state, from "waking up feeling like shit / aches and pains" to warming-up, feeling limber > after work, going to bjj class, coming home sore > stretch > sleep > repeat... but steadily making progress - feels better than just being stuck on the getting old part ha🤙

Commenting for the algorithm gods: Developing squats from the bottom up makes complete sense from my experience. I got to weightlifting from Crossfit and to Crossfit from yoga. Yogis spend a lot of time hanging out in the bottom of the squat. Malasana if you will. Because of all this, squat mobility was never the limiting factor in my lifts. Thanks for your hard work.

6:08 for him talking about kneesovertoesguy

One of the biggest pieces I see not being talked about is that the movements being performed don’t come out of the blue, those are movements developed over time with progressive load on the joints, tendons, and ligaments. Obviously if you spent your whole life doing linear movements your joints would be weak because they’ve only been train along a single plane. It’s about patience and consistency. I think most people inherently know that these movement are perfectly natural This is well known in gymnastics. A big part of gymnastics is joint training. That’s why anabolic use isn’t used/successful in this sport it does little to actually strengthen the joints needed to accomplish much of the techniques in the sport

We are all in agreeance that training mobility and developing stabilizers are important for strength sports and joint health in general, but the second someone pushes the range of motion a little further than is typically seen in strength sports people wrote it off as heresy. I get how it comes across as shock value marketing like a certain Seedier man, but he is actually reducing the risk of injury and meaningfully developing the lower body, good to see he's one of the more reputable people pushing the literature forward.

I JUST added hamstring exercises to my workouts. And immediately my knees felt the best they have in 10+ years.

What Kneesovertoesguy's preaching is already in many different sports literature books, it's just he took it and emphasized the knee strengthening parts and made it his gimmick. Make no mistake, most of what I saw him saying is legit and it works, but it's nothing new, except maybe for the exercises he came up with.

I've often asked people if they are able to walk without their knees going over their toes, if they are able to climb and go downstairs with their knees not passing their toes, and if they are able to run or jog without their knees passing their toes and you always get that face of not knowing how to answer

Just some walking backwards and the atg split squat has made me be able to squat fully down without pain in just a few months, its like actual magic

I’m an advanced lifter and I have benefited a lot from Knees Over Toes Guy methodology to training. I have added about 50 lbs to my high bar back squat and front squat. I’ve added 80 lbs to my RDL (for reps). I have not tested my Deadlift since beginning the Knees Over Toes stuff since the program is a lot of volume so I removed the conventional deadlift so that it doesn’t affect recovery. I like the calf/anterior tibialis work, the nordic curl, single leg back extensions, jefferson curls, seated good mornings, all the weighted hip flexor work, sissy squats, Peterson step ups, and the split squat lunges.

perfect! Thats exactly what I found out. Just do the bw squat and spend a lot o time in the bottom position. No weights or anything. Just try to wiggle yourself lower for 5 to 10 minutes 2 to 7 times a week. Then just add normal squat training on top of that.

ZT, I’ve been part of Patrick and Keegan’s coaching group for almost a year now which teaches the principles behind the kneesovertoes system - “Athletic Truth Group.’ Although what you said is mainly correct there is more to the system than what meets the eye, yes it’s just progression and regression but the system IS progression and regression at all levels of exercise and there’s a reason why every exercise is in there. I promise you that ATG training will improve your squat bottom position more than just sitting in a deep squat. You will be consciously and unconsciously better at squatting. It’s worth looking into the ATG program and learning the nuts & bolts, keen to see you in there.

Helped my Ankles, Tibialis and Lower back for Jiujitsu....I Highly Recommend his programs

Subbed after watching this vid. Love seeing someone who agrees with the training but can also be objective about it. Great sruff

While He might come off as such, I doubt He's self righteous. I believe He's frustrated by the misinformation, the so called general knowledge and the lagging between the people on the ground and Academia/medical field. Stuart McGill was like that about studies on core strength and stability, same frustrations. You have to remember He went through hell because of his knee injury, incapacitated, flirting with meds addict depressed and so on. He took things onto his hand, did the work and is now sharing the knowledge to every one and all. He's shutting down the naysayers like the toxic champion in your recent video😁 I know that his "knee ability zero" did wonder for myself and my 70 years old mother. Bodily integrity is priceless.

0:37 the most rewarding part of the job imo

My wife grew up in Indonesia, where she says people will literally squat on the sidewalk to eat their lunch. Everyone should be able to get there with enough time in the hole.

ive been incorporating the movements he promotes over the last 3 years and having suffered with knee pain/niggles for a majority of my late 20's...now mid 30's. The results i have gotten are byond any previous physio work. Wasn't too comfortable at first, but continually working on those extreme knee flexion movements and loading them.....best my knees have ever felt. Most stable i've ever been in terms of dynamic movements. Lower body in general just feels great.

Speaking from experience, I started to do both your 5 minute deep squat hold Zack and Ben’s ATG split squats last year. Never needed to wear a pair of knee sleeves when squatting after that. My confidence in squatting deep shot up which led to me becoming more comfortable catching the bar deep when snatching or cleaning. I do agree: regressions are very important.

I'm on the KOT program and it's legit, also the regressions and advice and coaching they provide does make sense and does drive results. Only criticism I have is it's focused on only forward and back strength and explosiveness and nothing lateral. I think the outside looking in criticism is just a reaction to his brashness and confidence in the stuff he's found to work for people. He's "too confident" and so they want to cut the stuff down without even trying it or listening. Also thanks for the vid recommendations. Bottom up squat makes a lot of sense.

I incorporate the five-minute BW squat into every workout and I can't tell you how much it's helped. I PRed my backsquat (which hasn't moved since 3 years ago!) with much, much, much better depth, and I don't feel as run-down as I did when I was younger. Thanks, ZT.

Great video pet usual and as someone with an MS in exercise phys, I can tell you this is already in plenty of advanced texts out there. Also, with 3 out of 4 menisci torn and a surgericly repaired fractured petella, for me sitting in the bottom of a squat for 5-10 minutes daily really makes a difference. I also routinely sit at the bottom of a squat with weight and believe it has drastically helped my lower body strength and stability as well as my back and core. I have taken 405 max parellel squatters and had them try to sit at the bottom (ATG) for 10 seconds with 225 and most can't do it due to the ROM, balance, or core strength. Along with imbalances, I believe this is where plenty of injuries occur on the field/court. Great strength in a limited ROM+weak relative stabilizer strength+unpredictable angles in sports=recipe for disaster.

kneesovertoesguy helped me heal my knee! great stuff!

I love that your five minute squat is the stretch I did in highschool to help me squat atg because when I started I couldn’t even get below parallel

I'd love to get a 230kg squat. I'm 25 now and my PR is 185. Should probably do more filming of myself. And I do struggle a lot with the overhead squat so this helps.

7:05 I think what he's trying to say isn't that his stuff will be in text books in 30 years but rather the fundamental concept of moving and staying active while injured. It takes decades for these kinds things to become standard clinical practice. ATM many physical therapists aren't up to date and many still focus on pontless shit like "RICE", correcting assyemtry, avoiding painful movements and overly convoluted diagnoses for non specific issues while completely abandoning the biopsychosocial model.

I’d rather have 10 knees over toes guys than 1 Joel seedman

KneesOverToesGuy SAVED my life. I can't believe how much it's changed my pain from ACL repair on one knee and bad medial (excised) and lateral (ignored advice to operate and THANK GOD) meniscus damage

I love your approach to basicly everything. Please dont change and keep making videos forever :)

From Personal experience ,I'm been doing knee over toes for 3 months now and it has change everything about my knees. Even after meniscus repair surgery it has made an impact like no other. I'm doing great and improving. Maybe you should try it the program .

Is he probably right about knees? Yes. Is he also nuts? Yes.

Athletic Trainer/CSCS here. The issue with knees over toes guy has never been the exercise selection. It has always been that he says these movements are the best way to fix knee pain and that simply isn’t true. We know every case is different and it will always depend on the athletes specific circumstances. I trust him to understand the biomechanics and adapt each case, but I don’t trust his ATG certified coaches who are blindly following and programming his movements and can’t explain why they could be effective from a physiological perspective when called out. A good coach has the ability to cherry pick ideas from different coaches and realms to craft their own niche and make the profession better, but when young coaches and athletes have a narrow minded view and only program one way, it’s more harmful than helpful in my opinion.

Have u tried the "horse stance" → many people are convinced, that u can benefit from this position, which means: increasing strengh, jump strengh and physical & mental condition. And its even possible for people with mobility issues. Maybe you can try that out.

For the algo..this needs attention. Well done. Like your stuff a lot, squatting is priority ever since

Wow huge inspiration at the beginning for me, 2 years ago my squat pr was 90kg and that was all out max (age 19) I felt really weak, and I had big problems with leg mobility for a long time, I constantly thought I just had a shit squat and sucked at it, but I actually had managed to do 90 x 2 three months ago and still felt I could go a bit higher (and this all beltless btw) A lot of people can squat more than me, but I stopped caring about others and the weights used. Now to continue watching I GUESS..

I actually never thought twice about deep squats since I’ve been flexible enough to deep squat my whole life. But i gotta say, it’s also hard to add weight to the squat when you’re already that flexible

I don't do olympic lifts, and I squat primarily with a low bar position, but Zack's squat warmups and flexibility routines helped tremendously to getting me just below parallel with good form. A few months ago I was sticking about an inch above parallel; any deeper and my knees would shoot forward and my lumbar spine would lose integrity. But now I can step into the rack without any worries. Thanks a lot, Zack. I went from hating squats to loving them.

In other words... 'Joe Rogan please invite me on your damn show PLEEEEAAAASSSSEEE!'

Yeah ATG system works soo good. Its all regressions, also the form coaching app and learning to form coach yourself are huge

I remember paying for his program back when it was in its heyday so I don't know if it has changed at all, however the main issue I had was it's overemphasis on bulletproofing joints. There'd be like 3 exercises focusing on moving your knee past your toe as much as possible. Lots of the movements Ben showcases would be good for accessory work but I wouldn't ever center a workout around them, there's also too many regressions to the point where you'd be better off doing other exercises. I won't deny people have benefitted from whatever movements have been preached about, but Ben is trying to also sell a product and he happened to set sail when the winds were high

Been using your 5min squat technique as warmup for months now and it has made me so much more comfortable and stable going deep.

HEY Zach I want to thank you bro for the advice on fixing that squat posture to look more like the olympic lifters. My knees are eternally greatfull and the booty gainz look lit! Salute to you sir!

Zack!!!! Awesome video! I couldn't agree more! Just watching this has inspired me to work harder on those positions. I'll be checking out that content of yours! Thanks, man!!!!!

Knees over toes is basically just a cut away portion of the stand to stand bridge. The benefit of the whole stand to stand bridge is that you also work the shoulders and hard to reach upper back muscles. I had horrible shoulder pain, weak knees and stand to stand bridges fixed both. You can then take the stand to stand bridge and move into full kick overs which works the shoulders even harder.

KOTG is legit AF. Improved all my lifts without even lifting heavy. I have new knees now, basically.

Ngl 9:21 had me shook for a second till he took that shoe away

Great video, very informative, I've also been doing ATG split squats and Nordics lately. But I'm really here to commend Zack for using Quad Damage from the Quake 2 soundtrack in his outro.

Yo the 5min squat is legit what made me subscribe a while back. I thought of giving up heavy squats as a 6'4 long ass leg Boi. I am now confident going to the gym and squatting

Five minute squat video helped me a ton a long time ago. I didn’t even remember that was you until now but I wanted to say thank you I can easily ATG these days but back then I couldn’t hold half that for 30 seconds.

0:36 so you're basically saying that you use reverse movement technology.

Your 5 min squat helped me develop the mobility and general stability when I began taking squatting more seriously, and then I started implementing overhead stability, goblet squats, etc. KOT guy's ATG lunges, deadmill walks, and a few other exercises helped strengthen the surrounding areas of my knees and reduce the effects of doing the above mentioned stuff.

My knee pain was so bad that I would lather them in icy hot, take pain killers, use knee braces on both knees, then go to work only to work 4 hours and leave due to pain. Knees over toes and his ATG program fixed this completely. Used to not be able to bend my legs at all, now can do things I never thought I could do.

"...In 2013" Frick dude happy Anniversary, cheers and thanks for the videos

Friends don't let friends skip leg day which is why sometimes I laugh that instead of having a V taper, as men, we should seek to have a Y taper since it indicates you have a strong base (which is your legs)

In my opinion many people neglect flexibility and mobility training, especially in regards to hobbyist/strength-focused (powerlifters and strongmen especially) weightlifters, but also just in general, even beyond squat mobility, people actually see decreases in shoulder mobility (which is highly associated with bench press as well) when training their upper body, and generally see increases in strength while lacking the mobility to actually make full use of it. Most people live a fairly sedentary, which obviously doesn't help with these issues, but flexibility and mobility are incredibly easy to train, you can incorporate them into any workout, and they also provide benefit's outside of the immediate goals you have for fitness. Stretching, for example, is a great way to destress and to cool off after a workout (static passive stretching should never be performed before a workout though) as well as providing greater mobility, while mobility training can be incorporated into the warm-up for a workout while also actively improving your strength through a given ROM. Not only that but you actively have to train various muscle groups, such as the hip flexors, to be able to readily do the splits. This is as much a result of strength as it is steadily lengthening the muscles. Many people have weak hip flexors and various other supporting muscles, so incorporating such a goal can help them to achieve greater stability through a variety of ROM. Thomas Kurz has a great book, stretching scientifically, for flexibility training, and information for appropriate mobility training is all over the internet now. There isn't really much of an excuse for people neglecting this, especially people involved with fitness instruction, many of whom I've met have likely increased their clients risk of injury by not addressing various integral parts of movement.

Progression and regression of movement is the hallmark of a talented coach. I wish more people would learn how to do it and be good at teaching it 🤷🏼‍♂️

Great video, reminds me of ivan djuric when he was talking about atg squatting where he said stuff like “spend time in the hole” and “do the damn thing more”

Congratulations for 150k you deserve it Sir.

Love your content Zack, keep it up brother

Zack - really liked your video on the deep squat warmups with kettle bell - I've been doing that pretty regularly as a warmup for split squats and just in general. I might not have a ton of strength, but the mobility is there and I do like squatting deep. Really like your technique videos!

Awesome to see this from you coach ZT. I had the exact same hopes and apprehensions about knees over toes guy, his positivity and confidence are so over the top as to almost be suspect haha.

My two favourite channels

Zack, fantastic video per usual my man. I love the approach you take with these. I wanted to address your self righteous comment. Imo, it’s not self righteous at all. He’s simply just stating what he believes will happen as more people learn about this. This isn’t “his stuff”, he just went and found the data and created a system to test said data. He wasn’t the first one to use these methods he’s just one of the first guy to market and brand it the way he did. The “self righteousness” you are seeing is called passion.

Great vid! Can't wait to start working towards a 5 minute squat.

one of the best rogan guests as of late, not some crazy nutjob so its definately a positive for the JRE

We don’t squat culturally.

I had no idea he does this lunge stuff. I’ve only heard about him and haven’t watched him yet. Those are absolutely some movements I utilize in warming up for my squats, cleans and snatches

People don't think about their ankles. They understand "bend your knees" and "fold at the waist" but the ankles get ignored.

Thanks Zack! As always you bring some extra points to someone who train in a clever way. Guys like you, Aleksey, Clarence, Sika Strength, Marcus Filly... are banger for beginners to train intelligent and in the best form and recovery possible.

Knees over toes guy is a big reason why I'm not separated from the military medically, after half a year of knee and hip pain, I'm at a level where I can train and progress with ease in power lifting and as a hybrid athlete

I ever could understand people that were afraid of deeper from, like if your joints and connective tissue wasn't meant for deep rom then your body wouldn't be able to go that deep in the first place.

Ben will go down in history as one of the best trainers in history, many try to be him but just look at there techniques there upper back arches or head drops in many. Ben is a master in his field.

So true. Thank you so much for sharing us your knowledge. I definitely will work on my squats properly and not half ass it like everyone else

The atg lunge has done wonders for my knee issues

On the textbook issue - I’ve been a Poliquin fan for a while. This is another point that Ben got from him. Concepts get in textbooks by repeated proofs via scientific method, which takes a lot of time, money and effort. Good coaches are trying new stuff all the time, and using what works, so the evidence isn’t as clear as a double blind placebo study, but the process is quicker, and results in the gym are what give you a competitive advantage. If textbooks were the path to Olympic gold, then all you would need to do is read the textbook, but gold medals are won by knowing something that the textbook won’t tell you. The best practitioners are ahead of science in that way. I get the self righteous comment though, I think it’s probably because he didn’t give enough credit to his forbearers when talking to Joe. Joe needed to bring up that Louis was the one who started doing sled work, not Ben. Poliquin was getting results long before Ben Patrick (and many more gold medals), and probably others getting great results before Poliquin. Ben is just doing the social media thing really well. You gotta give credit where credit is due though, and Ben could have done better in the podcast.

We've come to understand training our muscles and cardiovascular systems but for some reason we don't think about developing and training our soft tissue ligaments and tendons the same way just in a longer time frame because they don't recover at the same speed muscles do It clicked for me when I thought of it this way, of course we should strengthen every part of our body specifically with training not just our muscles

Totally agree with the bottoms up approach

Wow, what a great simple idea. It instantly made sense. So weird that nobody else has ever mentioned it before

Thank you Zack, from one Zach.

Good video. I'm not an amazing squatter but for me ying yoga really was a game changer -- that's where you hold certain positions for 2 minutes or longer, like you do with your squat. For me pigeon pose , one legged pigeon, sumo, frog pose were all useful.

4:15, my mind actually did blow.

Here’s a heuristic for you guys to use to navigate anything to do with academia or science: if a person with no formal training or qualifications claims knowledge that is overruling entire disciplines and bodies of knowledge, maybe you should be sceptical.

I only do quarter and half Squats. Never full deep Squats. Have had great success with huge strength and power gains as well as size. And for performance such as sprinting and jumping, quarter Squats actually are superior to full Squats according to the research.

the 5 minute squat is absolutely the total gatekeeping incident but it works like magic, can promise! (had to hold myself in the beginning, now I warm my calves in a deep squat with a barbell in overhead snatchgrip, you can do it too!)

Why aren't you on Joe Rogan yet?

Great video liked and subscribed. Do you think your 5m deep squat hold will improve knee health as well? I know many people swear reverse sled pulls are the #1 way to improve knees. I've been running backward on treadmill to simulate it and have seen results.

Im a powerlifter and I like doing the 5 minute squat in saunas

Thanks for the overview! Just sprained my ACL and am looking for good recovery workouts - any tips?

Let’s put this simply. Knees can strengthen like many other joints. It’s stronger then the elbows yet people are more scared when working with the knees. I use to listen to all the knee advice. Came out with limited knee flexion and pain. Forced myself to go through it and it got better. Simple. Couldn’t even hack squat without pain. Forced myself to hacksquat and now no pain.

What are some good exercises to lengthen and strengthen the adductors? One odd one i do is with a mini sckateboard. Just step on it with one foot and do the side splits for reps🙃. Kind of works. But the muscles and connectives are too weak to work the full range

My overhead squat was virtually the same as my regular squat, because my regular squat was terrible. Something about the position of the overhead put the bar in balance with my body and where the force of my legs wanted to go. So yeah, I need to fix my squat.