Icecold's mobility thread

A Guide To Better Squatting

The set up and movement

Before we start, make sure that your footwear is correct. You either need shoes with a hard flat sole, or you need to go barefoot. If you have lifting shoes then fine, but do not squat in trainers.

1) Fix your feet at around 10 degrees of turn out.

2) Have your feet just wider than shoulder width apart.

3) Ensure the bar is in a stable position, it shouldn't be rolling up or down your back.

4) To initiate the movement, brace your core, break at the hip and begin sitting back. Focus on getting your knees out as soon as they start to bend, the wider the better. This should be a conscious effort for the entire rep.

5) Aim to sink your hip crease below your knee.

6) Be active and have good tension in your core and glutes. This should make your lower back stiffer and reduce rounding. Active glutes (particularly glute medius, on the side) both facilitates a better hip/femur (and by extension knees out) relationship thus reducing lower back rounding by creating more "space" to descend into, and also makes for a stronger squat. Make sure your lock out fully and bring your hips through.

7) Try to maintain your "chest up" position, your spine shouldn't be undergoing any flexion or extension throughout the lift. Engage your lats hard and pull the bar onto your back.

8) The weight should not be on your toes. You should be driving through your heels while gripping with your feet and trying to spread the floor.


Problem solving

Some of those things will either be difficult to achieve or will make things look or feel worse at first, so here's what you need to do for each step:

1) Easy to actually do, but will probably cause problems. Your knees need to travel radially out from midline, and if you're missing healthy range in your ankle the only place your shins (and therefore knees) can go is inside the plane set by your heel/big toe, collapsing the foot. In general, you should test this and see how your feet/ankles behave and ensure that, while your feet stay parallel and active and flat (in terms of weight distribution), your knees can go diagonally out at around 40 degrees as far forwards as the line of your big toe.

DO NOT PUT ANYTHING UNDER YOUR HEELS TO COMPENSATE.

To fix any limitations, work through this stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBt5F2mMUtU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkepajNHiDw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLj_VkfQzJI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKewdExgRh4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gwgm3s2EQ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCFlfgCqpK8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMQL7_HNV_Y

2) Just do it

3) http://stronglifts.com/squat-bar-position/
To fix any limitations in your shoulders:
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/04/e...-shoulder.html
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/09/r...ulders-yo.html
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/09/f...your-mind.html
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/08/i...episode-9.html


4) Now that we’ve fixed point 1 (right?!), any problems here should be down to tight medial hamstrings/adductors and poor medial glute activation.

To fix tightness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBHzXF-mVjY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3FZhTwubn4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OrCVT9N9kM

[FONT=&quot]Other problems, such as a tight TFL, should be tackled by the mobilisations later on. [/FONT]We’ll fix glutes next...

5) Problems here will probably result in the pelvis tilting under at the bottom, which puts the lower back at risk of injury. This should now be a function of hamstring/glute length and hip orientation.
Hammies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdPfxLXm55Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rj5YOleets

Hip flexors/quads:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EiUquYdyPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxhyEDDzQ20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUKhljDYOZM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4nWPeyDfNM – bit of glutes too

Glutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWfnAUsYUTI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoXIIVywwic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY31J5BeKrg

6) Make sure that you’re doing your core exercises, and work through some basic glute activation exercises. A lot of this can be solved by just being more conscious of driving the hips through at the top.

Glute activation:
Start with basic glute bridges (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qC-PxNcNlI, abs tight and toes up – minimise hamstring involvement) , progressing to uni-laterial movement by hooking one foot over the opposite knee and adding weights held on the lower abs. You can then incorporate pull throughs, and clams (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTIFLKEjypY)

7) This is probably a matter of just doing it, but many of you will also have stiff thoracic spines.
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/07/episode-294365-shoulder-what-to-fix-first-and-wii-mob.html
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/09/free-your-scap-free-your-mind.html
http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/03/episode-209365-free-your-ribs-your-mind-will-follow.html

IMPORTANT POINT: When working on your thoracic spine, what will often happen is that your lumbar (lower back) or cervical (neck) spine will flex/extend to compensate for a stiff t-spine. Do not let this happen, as this neutralises the effect on your t-spine. For example, when foam rolling your t-spine, don't let your lumbar region extend, keep your belly tight and your glutes switched on. This also means the bottom of your ribs shouldn’t be sticking up as you extend over the roller, and you should make sure that your neck is in line with the rest of your spine (i.e. not looking way over head).

8) See point one for ankle range of motion problems.

This is also a good video series (apart from the stuff about looking up): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkF9QD7oCIA&feature=BFa&list=PL0FCC7D1D4A896FF5&lf=results_main
 
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It's unfortunate, but I don't think there is s single guy in my gym who squats perfectly. The one guy with good tekkers doesn't go deep enough :( I'd say the most common fault is losing control of your lower back (which is worrying considering the risks!), which is almost always associated with a broken hip-knee-ankle relationship (again, dangerous).

Most of these faults also soak up your power as you drive back up.

Ultimately I'm going to make an instructional video, but I need to find a willing volunteer :p
 
LiE said:
Do you think I'm close to nailing the squat form?
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Yes absolutely, once you fix your knee wobble you'll be good to go. You might want to play around with your stance and foot angle to find what's best for you, but that's a high quality problem :)
Delvis said:
If you was closer I'd offer help :p As my squat will need work once I'm back on it.

That and I'm pretty sure half my issues now are due to my lower back / butt winking and just over using it afterwards on the shoulder sets.
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Haha thanks for the offer ;)

You'll crack it eventually mate.
 
I've been thinking that what would help you the most is doing a hobby that encouraged good mechanics...

Any sporting activities you can think of?
 
Your shoulders are totally fixable! Things like no monies, and just generally using them properly, are exactly what you need to fix them.

What's killing you is that you spend 99% of your time in bad positions, moving badly. As perfect as you can be in the gym, that's only an hour 3 times a week.

Consider the time you spend sleeping, that's ~8 hours a night, and if you're in a bad position it has a lot more accumulative influence on your posture than you will ever accrue from the gym.

The same principal applies to your office chair, walking around, sitting watching TV, EVERYTHING. Fixing that stuff is free, you just need to pay attention and do it.

Maybe save up and buy some gymnastics rings to put up somewhere.
 
Deception said:
Hey Ice

I have a quick question! I've been reading this and it looks like I may be suffering from the same. I was wondering is there any other mobility work I can add to the list it already gives me, to help with Lordosis.

I've also been looking at:

http://www.mobilitywod.com/2011/04/episode-214365-help-my-low-back-is-smoked-from-jumping.html

Although its not to do with jumping, it still targets my lower back.

Thanks :)
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Yep, could be tight hip flexors/psoas/anterior hip. Stretch and perform soft tissue work on these, and work on strengthening your external obliques/lower abs/transverse abdominis.

I like how the guy pictured on that site didn't fix his shoulders at all...

Stretch pec minor and strengthen deep neck flexors, scapular adductors, and external rotators of the shoulder.
 
Yep, that's the issue! It looks like it's your T-L junction which is over-mobile (not sure if hyper-mobile is the correct term here...), which is slightly safer but still needs to be fixed.

I think a decent plan of action might be:

- Annihilate your posterior chain. Stretching hamstrings and glutes, and performing soft tissue work on both (not forgetting lacrosse ball in your high glute area)

- Work on stabilising your mid-section. Keep deadlifting while being as strict as possible with your set up (load ordering!) and initial pull, and perhaps drop the weight to test whether you can be stricter. If you can, work back up slowly; only increase the weight when you can perform solid sets with your current weight. Beyond deads, strict RDLs where you limit the ROM to just before you lose your back will help. Hammer all core work too, focusing on bracing hard.

I'll have a think and come up with more exercises.
 
These, and their variations, are my favourite hamstring stretches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdPfxLXm55Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rj5YOleets

I've made some serious change by swapping between those on most gym days, unless I'm squatting in which case I'll warm up with freestyle versions of this, progressing to some gentle squat to stands. On non-lower body days I'll also sometimes smash high ham with a lacrosse ball, and receive some dodgy looks...

Interesting that you avoid glute stretching. I don't have a fully fleshed out functional-anatomical explanation, but in myself and others I've observed restriction reduce with some glute stretching. It's also a bit of a catch-all suggestion (ensuring external rotation is good, we're primarily programming for squats and deads), but I've found knee under torso variations of this have cleared out some range in the test you posted about above. Whether that's just because that variation also hits a bit of high ham, I don't know! :) But I still class it as a glute stretch, just with some functional carry over to hip extension.

Thanks for the posts btw delbuenno, very helpful. I didn't see them before I posted last.
 
Yep those RDLs look good. You shouldn't really be looking sideways, but it's fine for now.

- bar against legs - check
- arse back - check
- descend until hamstring stretch - seems to be check!
- fully braced core with unchanging spine position - mostly check

Keep working at it, trying to get as much of a hamstring stretch as possible while aiming for zero movement in your spine (including neck).
 
It's literally just a case of finding a way to remember all the time. Maybe associate checking with something you do frequently at you desk.

Spend some time stretching pec minor and strengthening your deep neck flexors, I think there are exercises for both dotted around.
 
To be fair you didn't make it at all clear that you'd tried it! :)

They are useful, so use your rope and aim to bring your hands closer together.

If you have a red band (mini??), then try that too.
 
Just did that a few times to figure out what you meant

Possible causes:

- tight/ropey pecs
- tight/ropey anterior shoulder
- weak posterior shoulder (lateral rotators, etc. etc.)
- poor scap control (lower trap not engaging, scap adductors are ****, etc.)


Edit:
Things to try:
- facepulls
- no money drill
- "YTW" drill that Defranco uses, particularly the "Y" bit
- Second part of this
- soft tissue work on pec
- stretch pec
 
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sigma said:
Noticed a few more resistance bands in the gym the other day, there are some tied around the bench press but there are some on hooks on the wall, they're a creamy colour but with red, green and maybe a different colour also on them, I'm guessing that relates to the tension of the band?
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Yep, although I'm not certain that the colours are standard.
Skillmister said:
Feels more joint related than muscular but i suppose that doesn't really mean a lot. I'll look on mwod as soon as i get internet fixed in my house (who knows when that might be :o) All my joints are ropey though :cool:

Actually come to think of it my hips do a similar thing. If i lie on my back bring my knee to my chest then extend my leg outwards and down in a circular motion i get an awful click into place as it nears the bottom. That one really doesn't feel good :p

edit: nice one cheers
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Muscles play a critical role in your joints, so you shouldn't really think of them as being separate in this case.

For example, the problems I described will rotate shoulders inwards/forwards/down, pulling the scapula out of position. This means your shoulder joint can't function properly, which can feel like there is something in way when you try and move into certain positions.

I know the pain of having no interwebs, 3 months of tethering :(
 
delbuenno,

What stretches would you suggest? I only know of a couple of things you can do on your own.


Deception,

Warm up to your squats slowly, maybe with some lateral lunges of increasing amplitude/depth too. It shouldn't be a problem (I've been in this position a few times), but obviously if it hurts, don't do it :)
 
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