Squats are one of those exercises that you are going to find in practically every gym and exercise program, because they occur many times in your daily life.

We all have to sit down and stand back up. You can’t get away from them!

But for lots of us, squats can be challenging, and we might even think we can’t do them, or they aren’t safe to perform.

For some of us, that might be true. However, for lots of people, squats aren’t performed properly because of a lack of mobility, predominantly in the thoracic spine (upper back), the hips, and the ankles.

Improving your squat mobility will help you stay safe when you do squats, which will not only help you achieve your fitness goals, but it may also fix that nagging knee or lower back pain you’ve been experiencing. As we’ve mentioned before, if one area of the body is lacking mobility, another part of the body has to compensate, which can cause injury over time.

Having immobility in the thoracic spine, hips and ankles can create the following issues when we do squats:

• Immobile or rounded thoracic spine – overarching of the lower back (low back pain), anterior pelvic tilt (low back pain, knees caving in, overpronation of the feet).
• Immobile hips – overarching of the lower back (low back pain), anterior pelvic tilt (low back pain, knees caving in), knees caving in (knee pain).
• Immobile ankles – overpronation of the feet (plantar fasciitis, Achilles’ tendinitis, knees caving in), knees caving in (knee pain)

When you think about it, if you have a lack of immobility in the ankles, it can produce issues up the body, or up the kinetic chain as we say. A lack of ankle mobility can cause overpronation of the feet, which causes the knees to cave in, which can cause the hip to turn inward, which can cause restrictions in the pelvis, which can ultimately cause low back pain as well as knee pain. As you’ve heard many times, it’s all connected.

So, what is squat mobility, and how can you assess it?

Your best bet is to seek out a qualified physical therapist, especially if you are having pain while performing the squat, or during exercise in general. If seeing a PT is not an option at this time, here are some ways you can test yourself:

Testing ankle mobility

Testing ankle mobility, specifically the soleus muscle, can be done against the wall. Place your foot about 5 inches from the wall, with your toes pointed straight forward (not turned out), and try to put your knee on against the wall without your heel coming off of the ground. If your heel comes off the ground, or if your foot and ankle starts to turn outward, you’re lacking ankle mobility.

Testing hip mobility

This tests the mobility of the front of your hip, specifically the quadriceps, the iliopsoas, and the tensor fascia lattae (TFL). You want your bottom leg to be able to lay flat on the table (iliopsoas) and for your knee to be able to bend (quad) as seen in the first picture. In the second picture the bottom leg is off the table (restricted iliopsoas), and the knee isn’t bending as much as it could (restricted rectus femoris, or quadriceps).

You also want your bottom leg to be straight out in front, not out to the side. If your leg swings out to the side, as in second picture, your TFL is restricted.

Testing thoracic spine mobility

This is a simple test to determine thoracic spine mobility as well as pec minor mobility. Stand about 5 inches from the wall, place your entire back, and head, against the wall, and then raise your arms in a “Stick Up” or “Cactus” position. Your knees can bend slightly. If you have adequate thoracic and pec minor mobility you should be able to keep your head, your entire back, and the backs of your arms against the wall. If your lower back is arching and coming away from the wall, or if your head and/or arms don’t make it to the wall, you are lacking thoracic and pec minor mobility.

If you found that you have poor mobility in any or all these areas, chances are it’s going to affect the way you squat. Leaning too far forward with your torso and/or a lack of depth in your squat, with or without pain, can be due to immobility in the ankles, the hips, the thoracic spine, or all three.

Here are some ways you can improve your mobility so you can squat safely and efficiently:

• Ankle – soft tissue mobilizations; joint mobilizations
• Hip – soft tissue stretching, dynamic stretching, and mobilizations; joint mobilizations version 1 and version 2
• Thoracic Spine – soft tissue stretching and mobilizations; joint mobilizations

Tune in next month to learn how to squat properly, safely, and efficiently.

Beacon Physical Therapy

At Beacon Physical Therapy, we support our clients in establishing healthy movement patterns that help maintain strength and mobility. If you are having an issue, make an appointment today. We’d love to meet you and get you back to doing what you love.