Squat Series: Mobility Assessment
Squats are one of the most effective lower body strengthening exercises, and progressing your squat in the gym will directly improve strength and mobility with athletic and everyday tasks. Squats do require solid mobility from your ankles, knees, hips, spine, and shoulders. When additional weight is added to our squats (with barbells, dumbbells, kettle bells, etc.) the positions we achieve and maintain are even more important. Thus, having the necessary mobility to move through strong stable positions that keep our joints “stacked” under the weight is crucial.
To take this a step further, if we are using barbell front squats or Olympic Lifting movements (for athletic power development, CrossFit, or competitive Olympic Weightlifting), there are additional mobility requirements we must consider. The “catch” or “front rack” position required for these squat variations demands additional mobility from the shoulders and wrists, and often even greater mobility from the ankles/knees/hips.
That being said, we all have unique challenges with our mobility and strength that can make it difficult to get into our best squat position. Since everyone is built, and moves differently, it can be tough to identify exactly what our limitations are. If we don’t understand our specific restrictions, we often default to a shotgun approach to mobility work that is not efficient or specific to our needs.
We have put together a Squat Mobility Self-assessment you can do on your own to figure out which joints are meeting the grade, and which ones you can spend some extra time on. Check out our guide that helps you assess your joint mobility from the ground up, and stay tuned for our next blog that will have exercises and drills you can do to improve any limitations you might find.
If you find yourself having difficulty with one (or multiple) of these mobility assessment drills, it’s time to set up a consultation with a Craft Physical Therapist to determine the root cause of your limitations and make a plan to fix it!
(Big thanks to ICE Physio for the inspiration for this assessment!)