I hate to break it to you, but if sitting in a classic “pigeon stretch” would help you improve your squat depth, it would have worked by now.
Funny enough, the classic hip flexor stretch is probably the most common “go-to” hip stretch CrossFit athletes do to target their tight-ass glutes and hips to help them squat deeper…
Which makes sense as it feels great and offers a temporary relief from the perception of hip tightness.
But regardless of how often this stretch (or any stretch for that matter) is being performed, there’s rarely any increase in squat depth.
Why is that?
Well, there are two big reasons why this doesn’t work the way most people are hoping.
- When it comes to the deep squat position, there are multiple biomechanical functions that have a large influence on your ability to get low (which aren’t being targeted with the pigeon stretch)
- Mobility training requires a high level of intensity to make genuine, long-term changes to your range of motion.
So considering that the common approach is missing both of these things, it’s no surprise why squat depth mobility gains feel so elusive…
In this article I’m going to dive deeper into:
- The 4 main biomechanics involved in the squat - to help you learn what to focus on during your mobility training
- The influence that the pelvis has on your squat depth, and squat performance as a whole
- One key perspective shift - to help you understand how to approach your mobility training for the best and quickest results
- And I’ll also give you access to Primal Mobility’s 5-Day ATG Mobility Challenge
Let’s dive in!
Joint Functions of the Deep Squat Position - The Joint Functions Involved
Generally, we use the word biomechanics when talking about joint functions, it's a fancy science word that really just refers to how a joint moves in a particular direction.
Okay, so to set the stage here, I want to share how I view movement in general.
Every single exercise is just a series of biomechanics that are combined to create a movement pattern.
For example, if I were to squat, you would see me sitting down and standing back up, right?
But, with my perspective, I see what the ankles, knees, and hips are doing to make the squat possible.
The reason this is important, from a mobility training perspective, is that it allows us to see where our limitations are, and where our efforts are best spent.
Without this knowledge, we’re just aimlessly targeting whatever areas feel tight, which is problematic because in most cases the muscle tightness is a symptom of poor movement from another area altogether.
So to break it down, there are four independent biomechanics that should be at the top of your mind when looking to improve the deep squat position.
Listed in order from the ground up:
- Ankle Dorsiflexion
- Knee Flexion
- Hip Flexion
- Hip Internal Rotation
Although I could write an entire article on each one of these functions alone (I’m a nerd like that, what can I say…), I’m going to give a super brief explanation as to why they’re important to help you understand the purpose behind your efforts, when you choose to target them.
Ankle Dorsiflexion: In CrossFit, we do a lot of Olympic weightlifting movements. These movements, along with others like wallballs and thrusters, require us to squat with a relatively upright torso. To do this effectively, our knees need to be able to pass our toes. This is only possible with sufficient ankle dorsiflexion. Without enough range of motion (ROM) from the ankles in this biomechanical function, the heels will elevate (reducing power output) or the knees will be kept behind the toes (forcing the hips to elevate).
Knee Flexion: Ankle dorsiflexion and knee flexion are nearly synonymous. Any time you’re using your ankle dorsiflexion, you’re using your knee flexion as well. While this function is far less common to be an issue, for those struggling with prior knee injuries/surgeries, arthritis, or just plain old “tightness”, it can impede your ability to drop that ass to the grass.
Hip Flexion: I don’t think there’s much to explain here! When we squat, we sit down and then stand back up again. This motion requires our hips to move in and out of deep flexion. However, hip flexion is rarely an obvious limitation for most people as they will often easily adjust their squat stance to compensate. Regardless, it’s still something we’ll want to keep on our radar - mostly from the perspective of short-range hip flexor strength (most people stretch their hip flexors like a mother fu*ker but never actually strengthen them in their short-range).
Hip Internal Rotation (IR): This is likely the most underrated biomechanical function when it comes to the deep squat position, and that’s because it’s not something we can visibly see happening. Not only that, but it’s also one of the most commonly weak biomechanical functions across the board. I would say that 9/10 clients who come to work with us at Primal Mobility are dealing with restricted Hip IR that is causing them one negative symptom or another. Hear me out, as our hips move into deep flexion, the femur will internally rotate within the acetabulum (hip socket). If the hips don’t have sufficient ROM within internal rotation, then the hips will no longer be able to flex accordingly, causing the lumbar spine to flex to compensate (think butt wink).
Okay, hopefully I kept you through that.
Because now that you know those are the main areas of importance within the deep squat position, you will have a better understanding of what to look for, and what to improve to make them sweet sweet squat depth gains.
The Global Approach
One of the core principles we follow at Primal Mobility is to “Spend More Time In The Positions You Wish To Improve”.
Without going into too much detail, your body will respond amazingly well to simply just using the deep squat position more often.
Although we can and should use the isolated biomechanics approach (isolating the various biomechanics involved in the particular positions we want to improve and addressing them independently with targeted exercises) to make mobility gains, we should also use the global approach.
Your body will always adapt to the particular stimulus it is placed under.
The more frequent the stimulus, the more powerful the adaptation response.
Simply getting into a deep squat position will challenge all the various biomechanics involved, and will force your body to adapt to that demand.
Any time a new client comes to us with the goal of improving their squat depth, we get them on a squat hold protocol while they follow their designated mobility program.
This can run anywhere from 4-12 weeks depending on the severity of the mobility restrictions.
Influence of the Pelvis on Squat Depth
In many cases, the depth you achieve in your squat is directly related to the position of your pelvis throughout the pattern.
As we know, the hips are a huge contributor to the squat and if their ROM is limited in multiple ways, it can impact your depth-ability.
So how does the pelvis play a role?
Well, I’m glad you asked!
If we look at the structure of the pelvis, we can see that the hips are connected to it via the attachment of the femur.
If we tilt our pelvis in either an anterior or posterior position, it will immediately affect the position of the hips.
For example, when we move into a posterior pelvic tilt, the hip will simultaneously shift into slightly deeper ranges of extension.
On the other side of the spectrum, if the pelvis moves into an anteriorly tilted direction (anterior pelvic tilt), which is a VERY common position for people to be chronically “stuck” in, it simultaneously moves the hips into deeper ranges of flexion.
This is incredibly important information.
Many people are dealing with a chronic anterior pelvic tilt and they will often tilt their pelvis further to initiate the squat.
This immediately reduces the amount of depth that someone can squat to.
Think of it this way…
The hips only have a certain amount of ROM to offer to the squat pattern.
If any of that ROM is taken up, it will only have whatever is left to give (if the glass is half full, it only has half of the glass left for water to fit in).
Now, since an anterior pelvic tilt will take up a portion of that hip flexion ROM before the squat pattern even begins, there will be less hip flexion ROM to offer to the rest of the squat pattern.
This stops the athlete prematurely in their squat.
So, if you want the best chance at squatting to your full depth potential, make sure you’re starting your squat with a neutral pelvis.
That can literally be the difference between breaking parallel and not.
(If you’re still struggling to grasp the concept, you can watch a little video I made here)
Before I give you a 5-day program to follow, let’s quickly chat about a perspective shift that will help you make lifelong changes to your mobility.
One Key Perspective Shift
Aside from skipping it altogether, most people are approaching their mobility training in a completely passive manner.
- Foam rolling
- Static stretching
- Banded joint mobilizations
- Muscle smashing
Nothing wrong with any of these things, but they may not be the right tool for the result you’re looking to achieve.
When it comes to mobility training, we need to understand one crucial thing:
Our range of motion is governed by our nervous system.
Again, I could probably write 5 articles on this concept alone, but I’ll try to summarize as best as possible.
Your nervous system wants to keep you safe at all costs.
If there are any particular ranges of motion that you do not have good control over, your nervous system will file them away in the unsafe folder.
When this happens, your muscles will automatically contract as you begin to reach those ranges that you do not yet have control of, which is called the “stretch reflex”.
When your stretch reflex engages, it makes you feel like your muscles are tight…but really the reflex is just “excitable”.
What needs to happen, is that your nervous system needs to be able to trust that you can manage those deeper ranges of motion.
It needs to feel like you can handle stress within those positions, without losing control, and potentially causing injury.
The best way to do this is through the development of strength.
When it comes to mobility training, we need to shift our perspective from passive to active.
This is known as strength-based mobility training.
Bringing a higher level of intensity and muscular engagement into the mix.
This is where your nervous system will wake up, realize you are creating a new level of capacity within deeper ranges of motion, and begin to “grant access” to even deeper ranges.
The nervous system is like a fu*kin ROM Genie. Just magical, isn’t it?
Anyways, now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…the program.
5-Day ATG Squat Depth Mobility Challenge
Primal Mobility has countless free resources to offer you, but by far our most popular is the 5-day ATG challenge.
It's a simple 5-day mobility program delivered daily through email.
You’ll take before and after photos to monitor your progress and bang out 4 mobility exercises per day.
If you want to give it a shot, you can opt in here!
Conclusion
Improving mobility and movement patterns is inherently complex but we can always find ways to simplify it.
If your goal is to improve your squat depth within a short time frame, let’s say 7 days, you’ll want to follow this simple process.
- Understand your unique biomechanical limitations (are you “tight” in ankle dorsiflexion, knee flexion, hip flexion, or hip internal rotation?).
- Address those particular weaknesses with targeted strength-based mobility exercises.
- Use the global approach and spend more time within the deep squat position (I would suggest starting by accumulating 3-5 minutes per day in your deepest squat position that you can manage - use support as needed)
I hope I opened your eyes to some cool new thoughts around mobility training, and how to improve your deep squat
Remember, although this article directly refers to the squat position, the concepts I introduced are completely universal to any position you may want to improve.
Front rack, overhead, forward fold, etc.
If you want to improve it, follow the steps that are in this article!
If you want more help, shoot us a DM on our IG page and we’ll point you in the right direction!
