The Ultimate Squat Mobility Guide
Odds are your squat depth sucks and no matter what you do you feel like it doesn't change.
You've probably spent hours and hours foam rolling, stretching and wrapping yourself up in bands like a sadomasochist.
You're probably jealous of the people in the gym who have that perfect ass to grass squat.
The ones that are so mobile they never even do anything to get into the hole.
You're probably frustrated that you can't catch your snatch or clean in the bottom and your wrists are probably killing you in front squats.
If that sounds like you and you want to get that perfect ass to grass squat, and be lifting heavier without getting those pains from forcing yourself into positions your body hates before every session you need to read this article.
Myth number 1 - It's your ankle mobility
I got news your for you bro - most people have enough ankle mobility.
There's a quick way we can test it though and it's super simple. It's called the knee to wall test, I've put in a video for the test below. You need to measure the final distance between the wall and your toe in cm.
Here's what most people don't know - the normal values for this test are:
<3cm poor
3 - 9 cm ok
9 - 12 cm good
12+ ideal
So if you're getting below 12 cm it's possible that you need to increase your ankle mobility and that will improve your squat.
That being said - if you have 9 or more this is not the limiting factor in your squat depth and you need to look elsewhere.
Full disclosure I have around 8 cm on both sides and I have no problems squatting to full depth. I have also spent years trying to increase my ankle mobility and I can't get any more then that...but it's not a problem because I can get to full depth in all my lifts.
Myth number 2 - it's your hip mobility
I got more news for you bro - you have enough hip mobility.
There's a simple way we can test this, lying on your back raise your knee to your chest and if you can get your thigh >90 degrees away from the floor then you have enough hip mobility to squat below parallel. See the video below.
If you can pull your knee right into your chest then you have no flexibility issues at the hip stopping you from getting into full depth.
So what is my issue bro?
If it's not my hip and it's not my ankles - Alex WTF is stopping me going ass to grass?
It's either your strength, your technique or both of them.
This is especially true if you find that your depth changes as the weight gets heavier, if this is the case the only thing that's changing is the weight on the bar.
So it's definitely your strength and technique that you need to improve. Your ankles or hips haven't suddenly lost their mobility now that you've got more weight on your back.
So if you want to get an ass to grass squat so you can lift heavier and hit PBs in 90 days, without spending hours before every session foam rolling and stretching book a call with me below now.