When the Body Protects Itself: A Case of Compensation in a Squat

WHEN A SIMPLE SQUAT REVEALS THE BODY’S STRATEGY

A client in her late fifties came to see me because of knee pain.

Her work requires a lot of walking in Quebec’s national parks. Walking is therefore an essential part of her professional life.

For some time, her knee had been causing problems.

Before that, she had experienced plantar fasciitis. Later, the pain had moved to her knee.

The situation was becoming worrying for her, especially because she was about to return to work.

The anxiety surrounding this return to work was also increasing the sensation of pain.

INTERESTINGLY, THE PAIN WAS NOT PRESENT THAT DAY

During the consultation, she did not feel any pain.

But one thing was very obvious: the compensation in her movement.

Her body was still behaving as if something needed to be protected.

This situation is quite common.

The symptom may fluctuate, but the body’s strategy remains.

FIRST TEST: SIMPLY OBSERVING THE MOVEMENT

I asked her to perform a few simple movements.

Torso rotation.

Forward bending.

Extension.

Nothing particularly remarkable.

Then I asked her to perform a very simple movement:

a squat.

Not a training squat.

Simply bending down and coming back up.

THE STRATEGY APPEARS IMMEDIATELY

From the beginning of the movement, it was clear what was happening.

She shifted her weight strongly to the left.

About a 30-degree lean to avoid loading the painful knee.

She was not aware of it.

The only thing she noticed was that her left heel was lifting off the ground.

But that was not the main issue.

The body was simply choosing a protection strategy.

THE BODY DOES NOT WORK LIKE A MACHINE

This is an important point.

The body is not a machine executing isolated parts.

It is a system that selects strategies.

When certain information becomes less reliable, the system adapts.

It prioritizes the areas it can control more easily.

This is often why we see weight shifts during a squat.

Many people assume this is a muscle strength problem.

But very often it is actually a matter of neurological confidence in the movement.

The body shifts toward the side it perceives as more stable.

A SURPRISING OBSERVATION

In this specific case, I initially expected the cause to come from the foot.

That is often the case.

When foot perception is less clear, the brain favors the side it senses more reliably.

But this time, the problem came from somewhere else.

THE ROLE OF THE DIAPHRAGM

We began working on stabilizing the system.

More specifically, the diaphragm.

The diaphragm is not only a breathing muscle.

It also contributes to core stability and trunk coordination.

When its function is disturbed, the entire postural organization can be affected.

Research has shown that the diaphragm plays an important role in lumbar stability and trunk coordination (Hodges & Gandevia, 2000).

After a few minutes of work, we repeated the tests.

THE CHANGES APPEARED IMMEDIATELY

First change.

She no longer felt the sensation of a “bump” in her knee when her feet were together.

Second change.

Her trunk rotation increased from about 45 degrees to nearly 90 degrees.

No stretching.

No joint mobilization.

Simply because the body was better organized.

THE SQUAT TEST

We repeated the squat.

Without instruction.

Simply the same movement.

This time the descent was completely different.

Smooth. (No hesitating, No jerkyness)

Centered.

Like a piston.

She went straight down and straight back up.

Without shifting her weight to the left.

Without pain.

WHAT THIS CASE SHOWS

This case illustrates something essential.

The problem did not originate from the foot.

Nor directly from the knee.

The system was simply trying to organize itself around a point of insufficient stability higher in the chain.

When that point reorganized, the compensation strategy was no longer necessary.

THE BODY DOES NOT MAKE RANDOM ERRORS

The body does not malfunction randomly.

It reorganizes around what it can trust.

If automatic control fails, the cortex takes over.

If precision decreases, variability increases.

If pain persists, protection becomes the default strategy.

GIVING THE BODY BACK ITS RESOURCES

The work is rarely about forcing the body.

It is about giving the system back the resources it needs to organize itself properly.

When those resources return, the strategy changes.

And when the strategy changes, movement changes.

A SIMPLE QUESTION

If you are not satisfied with the way your body functions, it may not be because your body is “broken.”

It may simply be functioning with incomplete information.

In that case, the goal is to help the system recover what it can once again trust.

Want to see what you own body trusts or not? Visit here.

References

Hodges, P. W., & Gandevia, S. C. (2000). Activation of the human diaphragm during postural tasks.

Andy Audet – Un Corps Équilibré

Specialist in Body Recalibration and Human Performance

Saint-Bruno-De-Montarville, Québec