“Knees over toes” refers to both a training philosophy and a specific movement pattern where, during exercises like squats and lunges, your knees travel forward past your toes. For decades, gym-goers were told this was dangerous. The modern knees-over-toes approach, popularized by trainer Ben Patrick (known online as “Kneesovertoes Guy”), flips that advice on its head: it treats deep knee flexion as medicine for joint pain, not a cause of it. The method has built a massive following among people rehabbing knee injuries, athletes chasing higher verticals, and everyday exercisers looking to bulletproof their lower bodies.
Where the “Never Let Your Knees Pass Your Toes” Rule Came From
The fear traces back to a single 1978 study at Duke University that found increased pressure on the knee joint when the knees traveled forward during a squat. That one finding rippled through personal training certifications and physical therapy clinics for the next few decades, hardening into a rule that was rarely questioned.
But in 2003, researchers at the University of Memphis put that rule under a microscope. They confirmed that restricting forward knee travel during a squat does reduce knee stress by about 22%. The catch: that same restriction increased stress on the lower back by roughly 1,000%. In other words, the “fix” just shifted the load somewhere less equipped to handle it. Your knees are designed to flex deeply. Your lumbar spine, forced to compensate for artificially upright shins, is not.
Think about how you move in real life. Walking downhill, climbing stairs, getting off a low couch, sprinting, landing from a jump. Your knees pass your toes constantly. The knees-over-toes philosophy argues that instead of avoiding this position, you should train to be strong in it.
The Core Philosophy Behind the ATG System
Ben Patrick developed his approach, formally called the Athletic Truth Group (ATG) system, after years of knee problems and multiple surgeries. His core philosophy centers on building strong, resilient bodies through their full range of motion using pain-free, targeted movements. Rather than working around limitations, the goal is to work through them progressively.
A few principles set ATG apart from conventional strength training:
- Connective tissue first. Most ATG exercises are designed so your tendons, ligaments, and fascia fatigue before your muscles do. This is intentional. Connective tissue adapts more slowly than muscle, so prioritizing it builds a foundation that can handle heavier loads later.
- Full range of motion. Every joint is trained through its complete available range. Partial reps are seen as partial solutions. Working deeper ranges stimulates repair in joint structures that shallow movements never reach.
- Balancing the lower body. Traditional programs tend to be quad-heavy while neglecting the hamstrings, calves, and especially the tibialis anterior (the muscle running along the front of your shin). ATG corrects these imbalances by training all of these muscles through long ranges.
The system is structured as a progression. You start with the simplest, most assisted versions of each movement and advance only when you can perform them pain-free. Pain is treated as a signal to regress, not push through.
How Tendons Respond to Deep Loading
One reason the approach works for many people comes down to tendon biology. Tendons respond to mechanical loading by getting thicker and stiffer over time, essentially reinforcing themselves against the specific demands placed on them. Research on patellar tendon adaptation shows that chronic loading increases both the tendon’s cross-sectional area and its stiffness, and that high-intensity eccentric loading (where the muscle lengthens under tension) produces the greatest gains in force capacity.
This matters because patellar tendon problems are among the most common complaints that drive people to the knees-over-toes approach. Exercises that take the knee through deep flexion under controlled load give the patellar tendon exactly the stimulus it needs to rebuild. The key word is “controlled.” Jumping straight into the deepest positions without building up gradually is where people run into trouble.
The Foundational Exercises
The ATG system includes dozens of movements, but a handful form the backbone of the program.
Tibialis Raise
This one surprises people because it targets a muscle most have never deliberately trained. You stand with your back against a wall, heels about six inches forward, and lift your toes toward your shins as high as possible. It strengthens the anterior shin muscles that act as brakes during sprinting and jumping. Weak tibialis muscles are linked to shin splints and poor ankle control, so this simple wall exercise addresses a gap that most training programs ignore entirely.
ATG Split Squat
This is the signature movement of the program. You set up in a long lunge with your front foot flat and rear foot on its toes. Keeping the front heel planted, you glide your front knee forward until it passes your toes and your hamstring lightly touches your calf. Meanwhile, you straighten the rear leg to intensify the hip-flexor stretch. It builds quad strength and hip mobility at the same time, and the deep knee position is what makes it distinct from a standard lunge.
Reverse Nordic Curl
This is an advanced exercise that places an intense eccentric load on the quads and hip flexors. You kneel on a pad with hips fully extended and slowly lean backward, controlling the descent with your quads. Most people need to start with a resistance band looped around their chest and anchored overhead for assistance, or limit the lean to just 15 to 20 degrees until their quads adapt. The progression from assisted to full bodyweight can take months, and that’s by design.
Equipment: What You Actually Need
ATG sells a long list of branded equipment, from specialized slant boards and tib bars to backward treadmills and Nordic benches. The full catalog runs to over two dozen items. But you don’t need most of it to get started.
The tibialis raise requires nothing but a wall. The ATG split squat needs only floor space and possibly a pole or doorframe to hold for balance. A slant board (a simple angled platform for your foot) is one of the first useful purchases because it increases the range of motion at the ankle during squats and calf work. A tib bar, which is a lever you strap to your foot to add resistance to tibialis raises, becomes helpful once bodyweight gets too easy. Beyond that, a Nordic bench or a way to anchor your feet opens up hamstring curls and reverse Nordics. Everything else is optional or geared toward more advanced programming.
What People Use It For
The knees-over-toes community splits roughly into two camps: people rehabbing knee pain and athletes chasing performance.
On the rehab side, the program attracts people with patellar tendonitis, general anterior knee pain, post-surgical stiffness, and age-related mobility loss. The progressive structure lets people start wherever their current ability sits. Someone who can barely do a shallow lunge without discomfort begins with assisted, partial-range versions and slowly earns deeper positions over weeks and months.
On the performance side, the deep strength and mobility built through full-range training carries over to jumping, sprinting, and change-of-direction sports. Anecdotal reports from people following the program for 10 to 12 months describe noticeable vertical jump gains even without dedicated jump training. The logic is straightforward: if you can produce force through a greater range of motion, you have more “runway” to accelerate your body upward or forward.
Limitations Worth Knowing
The knees-over-toes approach is not a universal fix. People with acute injuries, significant cartilage damage, or post-surgical restrictions need clearance before loading their joints through deep ranges. The philosophy of progressive overload through full range of motion is well supported by exercise science, but the specific ATG programming has not been tested in large-scale clinical trials. Most of the evidence is a combination of established biomechanics research, tendon adaptation science, and a large volume of individual testimonials.
There’s also a marketing layer to be aware of. The ATG brand sells coaching subscriptions, equipment, and online programs. That doesn’t invalidate the training principles, but it’s worth separating the free foundational exercises (which you can learn and perform on your own) from the paid ecosystem built around them. The core movements, done consistently with intelligent progression, are where the value lives.