1. Improve your Ankle Mobility

How far does your knee travel over your toe when performing a squat? One way we can test our ankle mobility is doing the ‘knee to wall test’. You perform the test with the front foot facing directly towards the wall, with your heel down on the ground, you then touch your knee to the wall, progressively moving further away from the wall until the heel lifts, or your knee falls to the middle. Normative ranges for this test fall between 8 and 10cm away from the wall, however we often recommend aiming for > 10cm in order to have sufficient range for the squat.

To improve your ankle mobility, simply repeat this test with a slight 1-2sec hold at the end of each rep, perform for 3x 30 reps 3x per day. Make sure to keep your heel planted on the floor!

2. Initiate the Movement with your Hips

Your body is not designed to squat bolt upright, unless you are blessed with out-of-this-world ankle mobility, so, push the hips back to engage the squat. This does two things: it initiates the hip hinge (an important movement for all loaded lower back lifts), and it engages the glutes (the main muscle group for controlling hip extension). By engaging the hip hinge you create a strong foundation for the lower back to support the weight of the movement. Unfortunately, it is something I see all the time where somebody folds over in the bottom of the squat position, simply because they haven’t done the correct work at the top of the squat to push the hips back. This then puts undue stress on the lower back, which some people may get away with for a week, a month or even years, but wouldn’t you rather reduce the risk of lower back pain?

This is one of the easiest fixes if done correctly under guidance! So make sure you cover the basics first.

3. Leave your Ego at the Door

There are two main types of fatigue: muscular fatigue and form fatigue. They can either co-exist, or be present individually. Quite often when we use a weight that is too heavy for us, form fatigue will surface before muscular fatigue. This is where a breakdown in technique occurs before muscular fatigue. In order to get the correct adaptions to training and avoid injury, it is important to identify form fatigue. As Bruce Lee said “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times”. Master the fundamentals of technique and load management before you worry about adding more weight. If there is one thing I wished I followed in my early lifting career, it is this principle! But, it’s never too late. Get a coach, see a movement specialist or physiotherapist and get the correct training.

Stay healthy and happy squatting!

Thanks,

Ryan Barron
Senior Physiotherapist