One of the biggest benefits of being involved with a gym catering to small class sizes is the attention to detail we are able to give to each and every member to allow the development of all of their big lifts. It’s not uncommon that after joining a gym most people are shown how to use the machines but are given little to know help with regards to the complexities of the free weights section.
So, as a result of this, with our “Breaking It Down” series of blogs we will look at various key lifts and drill down exactly what you need to do to develop and maintain perfect lifting form. Without further ado, let’s get to it.
Individual Biomechanics
Let’s start by saying that there is no perfect squat! Having said that, there is a perfect squat for you!
What I mean by this is that individual body structures as well as biomechanics mean that everyone will squat slightly differently but this doesn’t mean that there aren’t guidelines that you should apply to your body. Femur length, acetabulum depth and even height can play a big role in developing your perfect squat. We will keep all of this in mind as we address each area.
Mobility
Before we think about putting any weight on the bar we need to think about performing a perfect bodyweight squat. Let’s look at the areas that will be non-negotiable when performing a squat.
Starting from the bottom and working our way up…
1. Ankle
In order to prevent sending our hips back and your chest down, increasing your ankle dorsiflexion allows for you to maintain a more upright torso in the bottom of your squat.
2. Knee
Your patella should track roughly over your second toe. So the width of your stance isn’t so important to a point. So long as your knees track over that second toe. This links nicely to our hips.
3. Hip
You may have heard people talking about pointing your toes out in your squat stance. Angling our feet outwards and following this with our knee path results in an external rotation of the hip joint. The reason this is important is that it allows our femur to sit deeply within the socket of the hip when in the bottom of a squat. This won’t come naturally at first as you will need to develop this mobility in your hip through various hip mobility exercises.
4. Shoulder
Creating a ledge for the bar to sit on is important regardless of whether you are performing a front or back squat. This comes from scapular mobility as well as mobility within the gleno-humeral joint (shoulder joint) and clavicle. Retraction for back squat and elevation, protraction and external scapular rotation for the front squat.
Flexibility
Often it’s not the case that joint mobility is lacking. Sometimes it can be a simple case of tight muscles. If the hamstrings are not flexible enough for example then achieving a deep squat can be very difficult. (Working from the bottom up) The main muscle groups needing flexibility to achieve a deep bodyweight squat are :
- Calf Muscles
- Hamstrings
- Quadriceps
- Hip Flexors
- The Glutei
- The Adductors
Stability
Once the flexibility and mobility boxes have been checked the next job is to make sure we maintain stability throughout the lift. For this we focus primarily on the mid section. Maintaining a neutral spine and working against a rounding of the lower back. This comes from isometric strength within the lower back as well as the abdominals. Maintaining a neutral spine allows for the load to be shifted to big weight bearing joints like the knees and hips and away from the intervertebral discs. Allowing for a safe squat.
So there you have it. Developing the perfect squat is a lot of work and can take a lot of time. I promise you the effort is worth it though as big movements like squats are not only great for building muscle but also getting stronger, losing weight, staving off knee and hip related issues, boosting hormone levels, increasing bone density along with much more. So fix your squat, squat safely, squat heavy and squat often.