Knees caving in when you squat? How to fix it

Published 30 September 2026 by TRACK AI Coach

If your knees drift towards each other as you stand up from a squat, you’re not alone. Coaches call it knee valgus, and it’s one of the most common squat faults. A little movement isn’t automatically harmful, but repeatedly letting your knees collapse, especially under load, is worth fixing. The goal is control: knees that track in line with your toes all the way down and up.

Why it happens

• Your glutes, the muscles that turn your thighs outwards, aren’t doing their share.
• Your arches collapse and your feet roll inward.
• Your stance is too narrow or your toes point in a different direction from your knees.
• Stiff ankles push your knees inward to find depth.
• Fatigue at the end of a set, or a weight that is simply too heavy.

Five fixes that work

1. “Spread the floor.” Grip the floor with your feet and imagine pushing it apart. Your knees follow.
2. Keep a foot tripod. Keep your weight on your heel, big toe and little toe so your arch doesn’t collapse.
3. Find your stance. Try feet about shoulder-width apart with your toes turned out 10 to 30 degrees, and point your knees the same way as your toes.
4. Use a light band. A mini band just above your knees gives you something to push out against during bodyweight squats.
5. Slow down and lighten up. Take three seconds to lower, pause at the bottom, and use a load you can control on every rep.

Knees past your toes is a different thing

Knees caving in often gets mixed up with knees travelling forward. In a deep squat, your knees moving forward past your toes is normal for most people, and trying to stop it usually just tips your chest further forward. What matters for this fault is the side-to-side line: knees pointing the same way as your toes.

Three drills that build control

1. Glute bridges. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet hip-width apart. Push through your heels to lift your hips until they line up with your knees and shoulders, keeping your knees apart. 2 sets of 12 to 15.
2. Band side steps. With a mini band just above your knees, sink into a quarter squat and take 10 to 15 small steps to each side, keeping your knees pushed out and your toes forward.
3. Box squats. Squat down to a chair or bench, pause for two seconds without relaxing, and stand up, watching your knees in a mirror or on camera. 2 sets of 8.

Check your ankles

Stiff ankles are a common hidden cause. Try the knee-to-wall test: kneel on one knee facing a wall, put your front foot about 10 centimetres from it, and push your front knee forward to touch the wall without lifting your heel. If you can’t, practise that movement for a minute a day, and in the meantime try squatting with your heels on a thin weight plate or a folded towel.

Check it on camera

Knee position is easiest to see from the front. Film a set facing the camera, or face your phone during a TRACK AI squat set: the coach calls out “Knees caving in” and marks the rep in your summary. The same cues help in lunges, where the front knee likes to drift inward too.

When to get help

If you have pain on the inside of your knee, swelling, or clicking that hurts, stop and see a physiotherapist or doctor. Form cues are for control, not for training through pain.

Read the full squat form guide for step-by-step technique and the other mistakes the coach checks.

Keep reading

• Hips sagging in push-ups and planks? How to fix it
• Wobbly, shallow lunges? How to fix your balance and depth
• How to hinge: learning the Romanian deadlift
• Leaning back in the shoulder press? How to press straight up