Improving Squats by Improving Ankle Mobility

The squat is complicated, even though we do a form of a squat multiple times a day. This is because it is an exercise that is a perfect blend of upper and lower body coordination. Back strength is needed to keep the bar stable while there needs to be a tremendous amount of core strength to maintain a rigid spine in order to maintain a brace for load management. The quads, glutes, hamstrings and even the calves are responsible for most of the “work” when squatting in order to move the weight. There are a ton of variations for the squat that can accommodate all levels of fitness, from beginners to advance lifters and athletes. Because of this, the body needs to work in unison with a perfect combination of mobility and stability in order to perform a squat safely and effectively.

A QUICK(ISH) STORY

A new member walked into my gym looking for something new. She liked to lift and was not a big fan of her old facility. She was already at a high fitness level and lifting competence so she easily plugged into our facility and our classes. She could perform all the movements that we asked her to do, with some minor tweaks to her form here and there. She was good on almost every lift except her squats. It actually surprised me. She would start to perform her exercise and she would have an excessive extension in her back. She would squat to a certain depth and then hip hinge with excessive arching in her lower back, in order to get deeper. I have seen this before, but it just shocked me considering how strong she was on other lifts. It wasn’t even just the barbell back squat, it was literally all variations of a squat (goblet, front, split, box, etc.).

I asked how long she has been squatting this way, and she said she was doing it in her other gym for years and nobody really said anything. I have been training for years and I know that some gyms do not want to take the time to coach up someone on an individual basis in a group setting. It takes too much effort, and although annoying, it is fixable. In fact, in my experience, with some little coaching most people clean up pretty quickly and can squat with confidence. Not her. I threw every type of cue and variation at her and she would continue to excessively arch her back when she hit a certain point in order to get more depth. Unfortunately, she would come in sporadically and never really came in for more help outside of class, but she did work hard while there and did have some improvement but her squat were still not up to par with the rest of her body.

One day, it was just her and I where we had a chance to get more diagnostic and see what we could. We worked on her knee, hips, core (the standard that generally fix a squat) and nothing really worked until it hit me. I am ashamed to admit that it took me so long to figure it out, but I had her perform a goblet squat with her heels on a ten pound bumper plate. It was night and day and almost a picture perfect textbook squat. (I have a tendency to never say perfect because we all have room for improvement). Her severe lack of ankle mobility literally compromised everything else in the kinetic chain. Once this was discovered, we devised a plan for her to help improve her ankle mobility and we have seen remarkable improvement in her performance when doing squats.

THE ANKLE

The term “ankle” refers to the talocrural joint and is a synovial joint. More specifically, it is “articulation between the talus and the distal tibia and the talus the fibula.” The ankle needs to be mobile although stability is necessary. Stability is required to help provide a stable base of support for the body during weight bearing activities and acting as a rigid level during the push-off phase of running or walking. In contrast to stability, the mobility requirements should dampen the rotation that is imposed by lower limbs, absorb shock as well as adapt positions to various terrains. Because of how dynamic the ankle needs to be, it is prone to injury from tears to sprains.

RANGE OF MOTION

The two main movements of the ankle are dorsiflexion (drawing you toes back towards your shin) and platarflexion (pointing your toes away from your shin). Generally, the range of motion is 20° of dorsiflexion from neutral (90° angle between the foot and the leg) and 30 to 50° of plantarflexion from neutral while inversion (toes rotation in) and eversion (toes rotate out) of the ankle is 30° to 20° respectively.

There are checks and balances that limit the range of motion of the ankle. Some of these limitation are due to ligaments and bone placement within the ankle but when it comes to dorsiflexion and plantarflexion, the limitations are primarily muscular. For dorsiflexion, the passive or active tension in the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles are the main checks for movement while the tibialias anterior, extensor hallucis longus, and extensor digitorum longus regulate plantarflexion. More simply, calves for dorsiflexion, muscle near the shin for plantarflexion.

3 MOVEMENTS TO INCREASING MOBILITY

There is no one way to skin a cat (sorry, to all the cat lovers, me being one of them). With that being said, here are three drills that I have found to not only help increase my own mobility but also the mobility of my clients.

Foam Roll & Stretch

As previously explained, the muscle along the shin and the calves can prevent the ankle from moving past a certain point in dorsiflexion and plantarflexion. One of the reasons for these limitations is that the muscles might be tight. Foam rolling, or self-myofascial release, and stretching can help relieve some of this tightness.

Foam Rolling the Calves

1. Place foam roll under mid-calf

2. Slowly roll calf to find the most tender area. Move no faster than an inch a second.

3. Hold in tender spot for 30 seconds.

4. To increase pressure, cross one leg over the other.

Wall Stretch

1. Stand facing a wall or stable object.

2. Extend one leg back, keeping the knee and foot straight and the back heel on the floor.

3. With the foot pointed straight ahead, bend the arms to lean forward while keeping the foot on the ground.

4. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side.

5. Repeat for 3 sets of each side

Band Mobilization

As the name implies, an elastic band is needed in order to perform this drill. Most local gym will have these readily available but they are a good item to have in any gym arsenal.

1. Attach the resistance band around an anchor and pull it tight.

2. Face away from the anchor point, and wrap the band around the front of your ankle.

3. Get into a lunge position and make sure the band is taut.

4. From here, lunge forward slowly while keeping your heel on the ground.

5. Hold for a second or two and come back. That’s one rep.

6. Repeat for 3 sets of 10–15 reps

Goblet Squat

1. Assume a shoulder-width stance with the feet slightly turned out.

2. Hold the kettlebell by the horns (handle) next to the chest.

3. Keeping the spine vertical and neutral, start to descend by pushing the knees out and inhale through the nose at the pace of the descent.

4. “Stick” the elbows inside the knees against the vastus medialis or inner quads.

5. While holding the bell close to the chest, push the knees apart to ascend. Make sure the knees “track the toes”.

6. Exhale at the rate of ascension until returned to the starting position.

7. Perform 3 sets of 5–10 reps. Do not burn out on these. Just loosen up.

There is one factor though, that put a halt any ankle mobility program and that is injury. Sprains, being the most common injury, “…have been shown to decrease the neural control to the gluteus medius and gluteus maximus muscles” (Medicine). This can lead to loss of control of the lower extremities, which can lead to compensations that can increase the chance of injuries. When there is an acute injury, please seek a professional for further consultation.

This is not a complete list of drills that can be performed to help with ankle mobility. These are the ones that I have found to be the most effective to increasing range of motion without adding to much time to a workout. These can be either done as a warm-up, which would be most preferred, or anytime during that day or even multiple times during the day. Everybody is different and built different. There is no one singular way. In other words, it is not if A then B. It could be if A then B or C or D or B and C or B and D, etc. The best gauge is the individual. It may take some time to design an effective program to increase mobility but these three drill are a great starting or jumping off point to build a program that is more specific to the individuals needs. Be patient. Remember, this is not a sprint, but a marathon and treat any mobility program as such. It will take time but not forever. Improvements happen in small steps ad not huge leaps so learn to appreciate the process of small steps that lead to big gains.

Sources:

Horschig, Aaron, and Kevin Sonthana. Rebuilding Milo: The Lifter’s Guide to Fixing Common Injuries and Building a Strong Foundation for Enhancing Performance. Victory Belt Publishing, 2021, pp. 342–73. In-text Citation: (Horschig and Sonthana)

Medicine, National Academy of Sports. NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training. 6th ed., Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2018, p. 113. In-text Citation:(Medicine)

Norkin, Cynthia C., and Pamela K. Levangie. Joint Structure & Function: A Comprehensive Analysis. 2nd ed., F.A. Davis Publications, 1992, pp. 381–88. In-text Citation:(Norkin and Levangie)