JRE 1766 · June 27, 2024

Ben Patrick

healthfitnesssciencesports

Who is Ben Patrick?

Ben Patrick, known online as "the Knees Over Toes Guy," is a coach and owner of ATG: an online personal training program for strengthening knees and developing full body fitness. His new book, "ATG for Life," is available now.

Topics and Timestamps

01Ben Patrick built ATG from coaching athletes with knee injuries to a full-body training program based on the principle of knees over toes
02The knee over toes concept challenges conventional wisdom about squat depth and loading patterns for joint health
03Patrick's training philosophy emphasizes strengthening connective tissue and building resilience from the ground up
04ATG for Life book provides accessible programming for people of all ages and fitness levels, not just athletes
05Discussion covers how modern sedentary lifestyles create weak knees and ankles that can be rehabilitated through specific exercises
06Patrick shares the origin story of how he went from coaching high school athletes to building a multi-million dollar online coaching business
▶Ben explains the origin of knees over toes philosophy and ATG coaching beginnings0:02:15
▶Discussion on why modern fitness dogma keeps knees behind toes and how it's counterproductive0:12:40
▶Patrick breaks down the science of loading connective tissue and building joint resilience0:28:30
▶Real world examples of older and previously injured athletes transforming through ATG programming0:45:20
▶Ben discusses ATG for Life book and scaling programming for all fitness levels1:15:45

The Show

Joe sits down with Ben Patrick, the internet's "Knees Over Toes Guy," to talk about his revolutionary approach to strength training and joint health. Patrick built ATG, an online coaching empire, around a simple but counterintuitive principle: knees over toes. The concept challenges decades of fitness dogma that told people to keep their knees behind their toes during squats and lunges.

Patrick explains how he stumbled onto this philosophy while coaching high school athletes dealing with knee injuries. Instead of accepting the conventional narrative that certain movements were dangerous, he started experimenting with progressive overload on exercises that emphasized the anterior chain and deep knee flexion. The results were undeniable. Athletes who were told they couldn't squat deep were not only squatting deep but doing it with heavy weight and zero pain.

The conversation digs into the science behind strengthening connective tissue, the importance of building from the ground up with ankle and calf work, and why most people's knees are weak because they never actually load them properly. Patrick talks about how modern life destroys our joints. Sitting all day, wearing cushioned shoes, never going barefoot on uneven surfaces, and avoiding deep ranges of motion creates weak, fragile knees by the time people hit their thirties.

Joe and Ben discuss real world applications for regular people, not just gym rats. Patrick's new book, ATG for Life, is designed to give anyone the tools to bulletproof their knees and build total body strength. The programming scales from beginner to advanced, and Patrick shares stories of older adults and sedentary people who've transformed their physical capability by following his system.

The conversation touches on why the fitness industry got this so wrong for so long, the role of fear in preventing people from loading deep ranges of motion, and how once you build genuine strength in your lower body, injuries become less likely, not more. Patrick brings the energy of someone who's genuinely passionate about fixing a problem he sees everywhere: weak knees in a world that keeps people sitting and inactive.

Best Quotes

“Your knees need to be trained like any other part of your body, and if you never load them, they become weak.”

— Ben Patrick