Squat

Mobility&StabilityChecklist

ByZacharyLong,DPT,Cert.DN,PES

TheBarbellPysio.com

©ZacharyLong,DPT 2

Thesquat,perhapsmorethananyothermovementpattern,allowsthe

opportunityfortheanalysisofanathlete’smobilityandstabilityastheyperformthe

exercise.Subtlerestrictionsinmobilityandstabilitycannotonlydecreasestrength

andpower,butmayalsoincreaseanathlete’sriskofinjury.

Manyhavewrittenanddiscussedoptimalsquattechnique,however,most

failtorecognizethatbothanatomicalandtraininggoalvariationscangreatlyimpact

howanathletesquats.ThereareseveralprinciplesthatIbelieveshouldbetruefor

allathletes,whicharelaidoutbelow.Whilealloftheseprinciplesmaynotapplyto

allathletes’trainingprograms(ex:eliteOlympicweightliftersoftendemonstratean

inwardkneemovementatthebottomofasquat),allathletesshouldhavetheability

tosquatfollowingtheseprinciples.Ifanathletefailstoproperlyexecuteasquat

followingtheseprinciples,Iproposeaseriesofteststohelpanathleteorcoach

identifythemostcommonmobilityandstabilityfaultsthatarelimitingathletic

potential.

©ZacharyLong,DPT 3

TheFivePrinciplesThatShouldBeTrueWithAllSquats:

1.Theathlete’sheelsshouldremainflatontheground.

Thismostoftenoccursasaresultoflimiteddorsiflexionor

poormotorcontrolbutregardlessofthecause,havingthe

entirefootonthegroundisincrediblyimportantfor

creationofastablebasefromwhichtodeveloppower.

2.Theathlete’sfeetshouldnotrotate

outduringtheexecutionofthesquat.

Itisnormalformanyathletesto

demonstratevaryingdegreesof

externalrotationofthefootwhen

squattingduetoanatomical

differencesandtraininggoals.Thekey

isthatthisamountofrotation

shouldn’tchangefromthestartofthe

movementuntilthenend.Iftheathlete

isdemonstratinganoutwardrotation

duringthesquat,theyareagain

sacrificingtheirstablebasemostlikely

becauseofdorsiflexionrestrictionsor

motorcontrolissues.

©ZacharyLong,DPT 4

3.Thekneesshouldnotmoveintovalguscollapse.This

inwardmovementofthekneeshasbeenassociatedwith

lowerextremityinjuriesinmultipleresearchstudies.Ifan

athletedemonstratesvalguscollapseduringasquat,they

likelyalsodemonstratethisfaultduringotherathletic

movementssuchasrunningandjumping.Correctingtheir

squatisagoodfirststeptowardsimprovingoverall

movementefficiencyandsafety.

4.Thehipcreaseshoulddescendpasttheknee.Whileall

athletesmaynotneedtotrainingtothisdepth(andthere

isconsiderabledebatesurroundingthistopic),allathletes

shouldhavethemobilityandmotorcontroltoreachthis

squatdepth.

5.Thelowbackremainsinaneutralpositionduringthe

entiresquat.Acombinationofmobilityandmotorcontrol

issuescanimpactanathlete’sabilitytomaintainaneutral

spinewhilesquatting.Regardlessthecause,not

maintainingproperspinepositioningplacesunnecessary

stressonthetissuesofthespine(Potvin,McGill,Norman

1991;Schoenfeld2010).Perhapsthemostcommonfault

seenhereisoftenreferredtoasa“buttwink”whenthe

athlete’slowerbackandpelvisrollintoflexionand

posteriortiltastheyreachthebottomofthesquat.

©ZacharyLong,DPT 5

Squat Pass=performanceofsquatfollowingall5principles

Dorsiflexiontest Ifathletefails,addressanklemobility

Kneescollapseinwardanddorsiflexiontestisnegative=assesssquatwithbandaroundknees.Ifvalgusimprovedwiththis,theathleteisnotproperlyrecruitingglutes.Includethistestasatreatmentinathlete'strainingplanandaddglute

activationwork.

KneeValgusCorrection

Principlesnotmet

SupineKneetoChestHolding

Shins

Iffailed,repeatwhileholdingthighs.Ifthisallowsathletetobringthighstothechest,thenkneeflexionisrestricted.Ifthisdoes

notchangemotion,hipflexionisrestricted.

GobletorAssistedSquat

Ifsquatnownormalized=Anterior/posteriorstabilityproblem.Will

requireprogressionofexercisestoimprovebalanceduringsquat

SpinePositioningCueing

Ifcorrectionofpositioningcorrectsspinalpositioning,drillthiscueingdailyandaddcorestabilityspecificexercisestoathlete's

program

Ifpassedbothoftheaboveteststhenankle,knee,andhipmobilityhavebeencleared.Moveontotestingofmotorcontrol,muscleactivation.

©ZacharyLong,DPT 6

DorsiflexionRangeofMotion

Restrictionindorsiflexionmobilityhasbeenshowninmultiplestudiestobearisk

factorformultipleinjuriestothelowerextremities.Thetestanklemobility,assume

ahalfkneelingpositionasshownbelow.Thegreattoeoftheforwardfootshouldbe

onehand-widthawayfromawall(3-5”dependingonanindividualsbodysize).

Adequatedorsiflexionispresentiftheathletecantouchtheirkneetothewall

withouttheheelrisingofftheground.Inabilitytodosowouldindicatearestriction

withintheanklejointitselforthecalfmusculature.

©ZacharyLong,DPT 7

KneeValgusCorrection

Kneevalgus,orthecollapseofthekneesinwardtowardseachother,isoften

consideredafaultduringathleticmovementsduetoitsassociationwithavarietyof

lowerextremityinjuries.Limitedmobilityindorsiflexionisoftenaculpritofknee

valgus,butgluteactivationshouldbeexaminedaswell.

Placementofabandaroundanathlete’skneesasdemonstratedinthepicturebelow

isagreatwaytoprovideanexternalcuefortheathletetobetteractivatetheir

glutesandavoidtheirkneesmovingintovalguscollapse.Ifthiscueworks,

incorporatethisexerciseintotheathlete’strainingandDECREASEtheresistanceof

thebandastheydemonstratebettercontrolofkneemovementduringthesquat

(thinkofthebandasanassistancetool–astrongerbanddoesNOTprovideabetter

trainingstimulus).Thismayalsoallowsomeathlete’stosquatlowerifthegluteal

activationresultsinfurtherexternalrotationofthehip,allowingforincreasedhip

flexion.

©ZacharyLong,DPT 8

SupineKneetoChestforHipandKneeMobility

Havetheathletelieontheirback,lifttheirkneestowardstheirchest,andpulltheir

shinstowardstheirbody.Iftheyareabletotouchtheirthighstotheirchestandthe

calvestotheirposteriorthigh,adequatehipandkneeflexionispresenttosquatto

fulldepth.

Iftheathleteisunabletocompletetheabove,performthetestagainbutwiththe

athletepullingfromtheirthighinsteadoftheirshins.Inabilitytotouchtheirthighs

totheirchestwouldindicatehipflexionmobilityrestrictions.Ifnowabletotouch

theirthightochest,andtheircalveswereunabletotouchtheirposteriorthighin

theearliertest,kneeflexionmobilityislimited.

©ZacharyLong,DPT 9

GobletSquatorAssistedSquat

Thegobletsquatorassistedsquatbothallowfortheassessmentofanterior-

posteriorbalanceassistancetoimprovesquatdepthorspinepositioning.Performa

gobletsquatbyhavingtheathleteholdakettlebell(orotherweight)infrontoftheir

chestandsquatting.Anassistedsquatisperformedwiththeathletesquattingwhile

holdingontoacoach’shandforbalanceassistance.Thecoachmustbecarefulto

onlyprovideasmallamountofassistanceforstabilityandNOTallowtheathleteto

useexcessivepullonthecoachtocompletethesquat.Forthisreason,Ipreferthe

gobletsquattotheassistedsquat.

©ZacharyLong,DPT 10

CueingForNeutralSpinePositioning

Cueingforspinepositioningmaybethetoughestofalltheabovetestsforimproving

thesquatpattern.Forthatreason,alltheaboveshouldbeclearedpriortothisstep.

Thebelowpictureisagreatexampleofpoorspinepositioning.Theathletebegins

withanoverextendedlowerback.Thisputstheirpelvisinapoorpositionthatlimits

theamountofavailablehipflexion.Astheathletereachesincreasingdepths,this

pelvispositioningmustbereversediftheathleteistodescendanylower.This

posteriortiltofthepelvisandresultantroundingofthelowerbackiscommonly

referredtoasa“buttwink”.Boththeoverextendedandflexedpositionsofthespine

underloadplacesunnecessarylevelsofstressonthespineandshouldbeavoided.

©ZacharyLong,DPT 11

WANTMORETESTSANDCORRECTIVEEXERCISES?

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