I have some ankle mobility issue which makes I cannot squat deep. I remember there is a kind of socks you can wear when you sleep, basically it just pulls your toes up, stretch your calf, so it’s like you are stretch during sleep. Anybody can help me recall the name of the product? Tried google search but had no clue… Thanks!
[quote]cog1 wrote:
I have some ankle mobility issue which makes I cannot squat deep. I remember there is a kind of socks you can wear when you sleep, basically it just pulls your toes up, stretch your calf, so it’s like you are stretch during sleep. Anybody can help me recall the name of the product? Tried google search but had no clue… Thanks![/quote]
I don’t know that product i’m sorry but reemember to foam roll calves and IT band and then stretch, otherwise it won’t work as well. Fascia will keep you tight
Strassburg sock.
I would also roll the plantar fascia and calves, and do plenty knee to wall drills.
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eccentric stretching is better than a night splint. That is assuming that you dont have a some type of boney block that prevents you from dorsiflexing your foot. Stretching/socks only work for soft tissue mobilization
Thanks guys. I’ve tried rolling with a lax ball, have no progress so far.
Is it normal that my knee can easily pass the toe 5/6 inches when perform knee to wall drills but it just can’t move forward when I squat?
I read somewhere that the Strasbourg sock is a useful suppliment to stretching / soft tissue work because most people sleep with their feet in a plantarflexed position which undoes a lot of the work they do during the day on their dorsiflexion. I think you gotta build up to being able to sleep the whole night with it on, though. It is on my list of things I must buy list…
Are you trying to squat Olympic Style simultaneously breaking from the ankles and hips? Do you have to jam it forwards on the knee to wall drills whereas you can’t jam it quite so well when you are squatting? Is the immobility coming from your hips instead??
Take vids. Side on if possible.
[quote]alexus wrote:
I read somewhere that the Strasbourg sock is a useful suppliment to stretching / soft tissue work because most people sleep with their feet in a plantarflexed position which undoes a lot of the work they do during the day on their dorsiflexion. I think you gotta build up to being able to sleep the whole night with it on, though. It is on my list of things I must buy list…
Are you trying to squat Olympic Style simultaneously breaking from the ankles and hips? Do you have to jam it forwards on the knee to wall drills whereas you can’t jam it quite so well when you are squatting? Is the immobility coming from your hips instead??
Take vids. Side on if possible.[/quote]
Yes I am trying to do Olympic squat. Cuz I had some lower back pain this year, now I’m trying to get a more upright torso position to reduce sheer force on lumbar spine. I think I’ve always lean forward too much, even when front squat. My feet tend to point out when I trying to squat deeper below parallel. According to Kelly Starrett (mobilitywod.com), it’s a sign of lacking ankle mobility.
I’m not good at anatomy, but I think if I can push my knee forward a little bit, my torso could be more upright. Maybe I’m wrong, check my vids please.
Olympic squat
Front squat
aw you got the long legs. my commiseration’s, i got them too 
totally see what you are saying… but now i’m curious for some front on vids 
i remember kelly making that argument about the toes pointed out thing, too… i see the sense in it… but i’m also not quite sure about what he says… you definately want to push your weight on the heel / outside of your foot rather than letting your weight fall onto your arches and allowing your knees to cave in…
i’m thinking about the hips now. in particular, in order to keep the torso upright and not fall on your ass you got to get the knees out the way, yup. when you got long femurs you got more of a problem in doing that. there are two options for the knees:
- they can come forwards more in front of the toes.
- they can get shoved out harder to the sides.
i think the answer for most people is some combination of the above two options. making a trade-off… unfortunately we have non-ideal levers for squatting so it is harder
i’m thinking you might be able to pull your hips forwards more (so keep the torso upright in a balanced position) if you shove your knees out harder to the sides. this will place quite a stretch on your adductors to start with. it will also be very demanding on the glutes medius (the outer part of your butt / hip).
do you see how far out his knees go?? i think often people are surprised at this… but usually we see oly athletes in a 3/4 front angle so it isn’t as obvious… also… the longer your femurs are the more you gotta put those knees somewhere…
No I don’t have long legs, just have short shins…
I’ll try to shove my knees out more. To me, mobilize hips is much easier than ankle. Most of hip mobility drills give me instant result.
I have weak glutes medius, it might be a part of my squat problem, will train them harder.
Thanks alexus.