Squat is one of the most popular exercises and practiced by many. Proper squatting technique has been debated and have different approaches to how the squat should be performed. Biggest concern that majority of people have with squat is possible damage to the knees. However, when done right squat can not only strengthen the knees but also strengthen ankle, hips, core, upper back and so on. The question comes what a proper form is and how should someone approach this popular exercise without hurting themselves.
Depth of Squat
Depth of the squat is one of the controversial topics. Fear that most people, including trainers, have is when squat depth is lower the chance of knee injuries will increase. However, this is not an accurate statement. When you look at certain European and Asian countries, it is common to see them squatting on regular basis as the way to relax or even to go to the bathroom. There are cultures that still practice floor sitting, which does require deeper hip and knee mobility.
Does everybody have to squat deep? Ideally yes but you don’t have to. It is all depending on why you are using squat as exercise method. However, mastery of deep squat requires full range of joint functioning which may minimize the risk of injury, which also means that you can output more force during the sporting events. Even if you are not an athlete, you can minimize the possible injury and may have freedom of joint movement by practicing deep squats.
Basic Skill of Deep Squat
So, what is the ideal depth of the squat? Some people say the glutes or buttocks should touch the ground, but this may be an issue for some people who has longer shin bone. My guideline is the hamstring (back portion of your thigh) should be able to cover the calf muscle without elevating the heel.
Overview of squat is as follows.
Place feet about shoulder width with toes pointing about 45 degrees out.
Descend your hips down towards heels while knees traveling forward.
Keep lowering the hips until hamstrings covers the calves.
Make sure to keep the heels down while descending
Once you reach your maximum depth start ascending by pressing down with the front portion of the feet.
Complete the movement by straightening out the knees and hips.
Squat is a quad dominant exercise so the knees should be traveling forward and can pass the toes but not too much. Typical advice you’ll hear is to push the hip back to avoid knees moving forward but that is not a squat. Majority of time people experience knee issues in squats because of lack of ankle mobility.
Let’s look at strength and mobility requirements for squats.
Requirement for Deep Squat
First requirement is ankle mobility. Many of the squat biomechanics video spoke about knee and hip mobility and neglect ankle functioning. To fully flex the knee, both gastrocnemius, soleus (calf), and hamstring need to be strong and mobile. To test this function, you can reach for your toes with locked knee position. If you can place all ten fingers on the floor, you’ll at least know that your calf and hamstring have descent mobility. If you cannot perform this without too much tension in the back of the knees, most likely, your calf mobility is not adequate to squat properly.
Second requirement is strength and mobility of your anterior tibialis or shin muscle. This muscle is often overlooked, and its importance is underrated. Anterior tibialis is a muscle to support your knee while the knee start going over the toes. When this muscle is weak or tight, not only squatting but also going downstairs or walking down hill may become a challenge.
Third requirement is elasticity of patella tendon. Patella tendon tightness is common in those who had knee surgery, injuries, and possible over trained front thigh muscles of quadriceps. In both scenarios, the patella tendon can be tight and not able to flex the knee at full range of movement. Unlike muscles, restoring tendon elasticity takes time but can be done. Best way for me to improve patella tendon mobility to improve squat is to practice squat but in regressed manner. Performing squat by holding on to chair, railing, or bar (assisted squat) can minimize the load and can practice knee flexion. Make sure to perform at the range you have no pain. Forcing the movement can cause more stress to the body.
Fourth requirement is mobility of the hip. Tightness in the hip, especially hip flexors, may force the upper body to lean forward which place more load on your lower back and knees. This probably is the reason why many lifters are relying too much on wearing belt. Some of the common hip muscles that are tight are hip flexors (psoas, rectus femoris, etc), adductors (inner thigh) and piriformis. Reason why these muscles are tight is because of long duration of sitting at work, driving and so on. If the tightness around the hip is causing the squat to become a challenge, it may be better to learn how to do split squat while working on improving the hip range through bench pigeon and couch stretch.
Preparation Work for Squat
Here are some sample exercises that can help prepare for your journey to better squats. The exercise sequence is arranged so you are working from your ankle to hip. Upper body preparation is also important especially when you are working on front and back squat, but we’ll just focus on bodyweight squat for now. Repetition listed are the guide. If you can do it, great, if not work towards it.
Ankle
20 Toe Raise
20 Calf Raise
20 Soleus Raise
Knee
Hip
20 Psoas Curls
10 Split Squats
Squat Practice
Squat is a skill. It is important to practice the skill before adding more weight. Exercises below are few that can be used practice to improve your squats. Use tightness or pain as a guide to regress the range. It does take several weeks to month to improve so do not rush. Also over practicing may not help with improvement either. 2-3 times per week should be good enough.
3x15 Assisted Squats (Practice movement pattern)
4x10 Heel Elevated Assisted Squats (Practice knee movement)
3x10 Split Squats (Practice hip movement)
5x5 Squats (Practice and test your squat)
Do You Have to Squat?
Answer is it depends. If you want your body to be more functional, at least you should practice and work on improving your bodyweight squat. Even if you cannot achieve full range deep squat, your joints and muscles will be stronger and mobile just by working on it. To build leg muscles, you can use lunges, leg press, leg curl and so on, which may not require squats. If you are an athlete, you should be able to do full range squats with at least 1.5 times your body weight in back squats. This will help you exert more force in your sports. Squat is not the only factor to sprint faster or jump higher but you will have better mobility and be strong in that range along with vertical power output.
Kota Shimada
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