How Squat Technique Reveals Your Mobility

The squat.

It’s one of the primal human movements, meaning it’s a foundational movement pattern that comes naturally to us. 

However, if squatting feels like anything but natural, you’re not alone. Our ability to squat well often declines as we get older. But just because it’s common for this to happen doesn’t mean it’s inevitable. Or good.

I would argue that time spent working on improving your squat is time well spent. Why? Because the way you squat will shed light on mobility issues in your ankles, knees, hips, and back.

The way you squat will shed light on mobility issues in your ankles, knees, hips, and back.

What My Squat Says About Me

In my defense, I can do better after I've warmed up. But this is me, impromptu squatting at the office. My squat mobility screams, "long femurs and a bad knee." Bone structure geometry isn't the focus of this post, but it's worth mentioning that people with long femurs have more of a challenge when it comes to having a textbook squat.

However, what makes my squat truly unimpressive is my bum knee.

Pain and loss of mobility in my right knee has resulted in years of compensation patterns. For better or worse, our bodies are excellent at adapting.

In my case, my right knee injury has created problems up and down the chain, and on both sides of my body. 

Before looking at Shanda's squat, let's go over some common "faults." A more positive spin would be to see these "faults" as helpful information. If any of these things happen when you squat, you could benefit from doing some squat mobility exercises.

• One or both knees drop inward
• Heels come off the floor
• Struggle to go low (ideally, hip crease gets below knee level)
• Torso falls forward
• Spine flexes (rounds forward) or over-extends (arches)

What Shanda's Squat Says About Her

If I'd have known that her squat would be better than mine, I might not have asked her to demo.

Ha! Shanda's such a good sport. 

Initially she set up her squat with her feet really wide. This is common when your hips are tight, and Shanda's are. But I asked her to bring her feet in a little for the picture on the right, and it looks pretty good!