Improving Your Squat Depth
As coaches, we are constantly asked about mobility work, stretching, and implementing pre-workout routines as a necessary part of training.
But, do you really need it?
The answer, as per usual when it comes to science, is it depends.
WHAT IS MOBILITY WORK?
Mobility work or mobility drills are any exercises that take your joints, tendons, and ligaments through their full range of motion. For example, working on improving the depth of your squat is a form of mobility work.
WHY IS MOBILITY WORK IMPORTANT?
For starters, many lose mobility over time due to underuse. We live in a society where sitting is more and more common, in commutes to work (or working from home), sitting at the dinner table, to sitting on the couch. We may be doing many different things throughout our day, but more often than not, it involves sitting. We also don’t spend much time reaching overhead, outstretching our arms, or squatting down in our everyday life.
Because of that, the term “use it or lose it” truly applies here. When we lose that mobility or range of motion in our joints, it can affect our ability to perform tasks on a day to day basis and affect our performance in the gym.
“Sounds like I need to do some mobility work…”
“HOW DO I GET STARTED?”
The first step in deciding if you need to do mobility work is to assess your mobility. If your mobility is great, you don’t HAVE to implement mobility drills into your warmups and cooldowns. Gymnasts, for example, typically have greater flexibility and mobility than the average population. Once you have it, maintaining it doesn’t take nearly as much time. Ultimately, this means gymnasts are able to focus on exercises IN that range or motion, instead of focusing on improving that range of motion. Someone who has great squat depth already, doesn’t need to spend an extra 20 minutes in a bottom squat hold exercise to maintain it, like someone who doesn’t have the ability to squat to that full end range.
For the purpose of this email, we are going to focus on squat depth, as this is incredibly common.
Squat depth can be affected by poor hip mobility, poor ankle mobility, or a combination of both.
HIP MOBILITY
We can test this by completing what’s called a Supine Hip Flexion Test:
This generally works better with a friend, but can be done on your own too! Lying on your back, the goal is to bring your femur (the bone located in your upper leg) as close to the rib cage as possible without any rounding happening in the spine. If the spine rounds, or the leg can’t quite get there, we can likely spend some time working on hip mobility.
This can be done by completing hip opener stretches, tall box step downs, or sitting in a bottom squat position for longer duration sets (think 20-45 second bouts while holding onto a rack).
ANKLE MOBILITY
We can test this by completing the Ankle Dorsiflexion Test:
This test is easily done alone! The only equipment needed is some measuring tape to measure out a distance of 4.5 inches for women, and 5.5 inches for men, and something to reach towards, such as a rack.
The goal is to keep the foot fully on the ground from that distance of 4.5/5.5 inches as you push your knee forward towards the rack or upright. If you can maintain full foot contact, you have full range of motion. If not, we could improve your ankle mobility.
This can be done by completing banded ankle distractions, spending time pushing through the ankle ROM on an elevated surface such as a bench, and again, the bottom squat position hold.
Both of these mobility improvements can lead to better end ranges for your squat movement patterns, allowing for more muscle recruitment, and higher overall strength in them.
So after testing for these, if needed based on your mobility, implement some of these mobility drills to see an improved range of motion!
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With Good Vibes - Coach Shelby