Influencers claim ‘knees over toes’ exercises can help bullet proof your knees. Two experts explain

djiledesign/Getty Images For decades, people exercising have been told one simple rule: never let your knees go over your toes.

During lunges, squats and many other exercises, well-meaning coaches, trainers and physiotherapists repeated this advice so often it became fitness folklore.

More recently, however, social media has pushed back.

Popularised by fitness influencer Ben Patrick – better known as the “Knees Over Toes Guy” – millions have embraced a training style that focuses on building lower limb strength.

Among the tenets is the idea that letting your knees travel further forward is a key part of “bullet proofing” your knees.

So who’s right? Like most health and fitness debates, the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

It’s not about whether your knees move forward beyond your toes, but what happens when they do.

Knees like to be used In everyday life, your knees move well beyond your toes all the time.

Think about walking downstairs, crouching down to play with kids, and kneeling in the garden.

Imagine doing a squat.

As your knees bend further, your thigh muscles work harder to stop your knees from collapsing to the floor.

This extra muscle tension increases the force between your kneecap and thigh bone – what we call joint loading.

Now think of exercises like the knees over toes split squat , which look a bit like this .

This movement deliberately allows the knees to travel further forward, increasing this joint loading compared to shallower squats.