Why Do My Knees Crack, Creak, and Pop When I Squat?

There are certain sounds you expect to listen to during a workout: heavy respiratory, weights clinking on the rack, and the catchy melodies of a pump-up playlist. One which will very understandably catch you off guard? The cracking or popping in your knees as you lower down or arise from a squat.

We get it, hearing that creak may be alarming. But allow us to offer some reassurance: “It’s pretty common,” physical therapist Brendan Overlid, DPT, CSCSof UCHealth in Colorado, tells SELF. Even knees do it on the reg, he says, and in numerous cases, it’s actually NBD.

The official term for joints making noises is crepitus, and once we’re talking knees specifically, there are loads of various things which will cause this body part to “make just a little little bit of ruckus” if you squat, physical therapist Nicole Haas, PT, DPTfounding father of Boulder Physiolab in Colorado, tells SELF. Here, we dig into what is likely to be occurring there—and whether it’s possible to calm that creaking.

1. Sorry, but you’ve got gas (not that sort).

Sometimes, that cracking or popping sound you hear as you push your hips back really just boils all the way down to gas, since bubbles can naturally form within the fluid that surrounds your knee joint. When you bend your knee in a squat, you shut that space and ultimately cause the bubble to pop and emit a sound, physical therapist Ryan Chow, PT, DPTfounding father of Reload Physical Therapy and Fitness in New York City, tells SELF.

It’s the identical mechanism that always causes popping and cracking noises in other joints, like your knuckles, for instance. Typically, this sort of sound comes with a release in pressure and is followed by a refractory period—meaning, there’s a certain quantity of time you will have to attend until that very same pop would occur again, Dr. Overlid explains. So in case you sink right into a squat and listen to a single squeak, but then start busting out some blessedly silent reps, this may occasionally be what’s occurring.

What to do about it: Honestly, nothing. This is just one among those natural bodily functions!

2. Some harmless form quirks is likely to be accountable.

The squat is a compound exercise, which suggests it involves many alternative muscles and joints working together, Dr. Chow explains. Given all of the synchronization that has to occur, it is sensible that there may be numerous little nuances in how people squat. In some cases, these slight form quirks can result in popping noises. For example, some people might inadvertently place more weight on the skin of their foot than the within, and this uneven distribution may cause a buildup of pressure within the knee that ultimately results in a cracking sensation and sound, Dr. Chow says.

In other cases, foot positioning can play a task—particularly, in case you attempt to force a stance that’s not natural to you. In that case, you restrict your knee joints from moving freely and as a substitute place extra stress on them, which might ultimately result in a construct up in pressure that causes that snap, crackle, or pop noise, Dr. Chow explains.