“Deep Squat vs 90° Squat .what’s actually safer for your knees?” Many people believe deep squats damage the knees, but biomechanics tell a different story .When you perform a squat, the peak stress on your knee joint actually occurs around 90° of flexion, the point where your thighs are parallel to the floor. Once you go deeper than 90°, the moment arm at the knee reduces and hip torque increases, meaning the load shifts from the knee to the hips and glutes. So, a deep squat isn’t inherently bad