Squatting is a game of balance. Your center of mass has to be balanced over your base of support.

In order to do that, there are certain mobility requirements in the ankles and hip joints as well as muscular considerations like the soleus and hip adductors that have to be addressed.

Certain limb lengths also allow for the center of mass to be more easily held over your base of support.

There is substantial variation in hip joint architecture that will change someone’s best width and degree of toe out in the squat for best hip joint flexion.

If there are structural changes to the hip joint, flexion may be blocked by bony restriction unless the toes are turned outward. In the videos below, this correlation is demonstrated.

With many factors to consider in the squat, it isn’t necessarily the case that you can watch one screen and know what to do with someone. You have to take into consideration strength, coordination, understanding how to squat, limb length, hip joint architecture, ankle mobility, and more to make the best squatting decision.

There are a few principles for loaded or repetitive squats that an athlete must follow for their squat to be considered ‘good’:

1. The heels need to stay down
2. The knees should track over the middle to the outside of the foot
3. The curvature of the low back should remain constant throughout the lift (although a little change may be acceptable in some cases)

If an athlete goes wider or toes out and they better meet those criteria, it can’t immediately be assumed that being more toed out is wrong.

Some athletes have multiple plausible squat stances that allow for good lifting while other athletes may have only 1 or two stances that allow them to achieve depth while meeting the above 3 criteria. That will depend on many of the factors that affect squatting.

With that said, let’s begin on video 1.

The important concepts to take away from this video:

• 3 squatting principles
• How hip anatomy affects squat stance
• Case studies showing different hip evaluations and how that relates to squat stance (width and degree of toe out)

The important concepts / skills to take away from this video:

• How to perform the rock back test and what it means
• 90/90 hip mobilization
• How to differentiate the rock back test from an adductor stretch test
• How to passively stretch the adductors
• Loaded adductor stretching, how to evaluate it, and how to work on it
• Full knee flexion evaluation and how to improve it (if possible – no pain allowed while working on this)

The important concepts / skills to take away from this video:

• How to measure ankle dorsiflexion as it relates to squatting
• The importance of controlling your toes and feet and how to work on them
• Stretching your soleus vs gastrocnemius
• How to mobilize the talo-crural joint (talus under the archway)
• Controlling ankle dorsiflexion with a bent knee
• Overhead squat RNT
• Integrating mobility drills, motor control drills, and lifting

After watching the above videos and reading through the notes, it’s time to move on to lifting overhead.