Due to a very painful and incapacitating injury to my left ankle from a couple of years ago, I am unable to bend the damn thing less than 90 degrees (dorsiflexion).
But Mama - I wanna squat again…!
I’ve found that squatting with a two-inch platform under my heels means that I can squat OK, but am I setting myself up for some horrible injury due to shearing across the knee etc…?
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
I may sound lame
but you need and can restore the mobilty to your ankle. unless you severed something it can be done.
start with 10 ankle circles every morning work up to two hundred a day for enhanced mobility and propprioception. add dynamic and passive streching to your gastroc, soleous and dorsiflexor (tibialis muscle)
add one legged excercise (and maybe some stuff from the recent article by alessi on calf training) to ad to your joint’s strength and stability. work on uneven surfaces(jpfitness, here’s your chance). one of the best things for ankle mobility is deep sand running, bearfeet if possible.
in the mean time do box squats/powerlifting squats - you dont need ankle mobility there.
hope this will help
good luck
S-man
box squats dont require much ankle mobility at all.
Thanks for the replies, gentlemen.
GluteSpanker - Unfortunately, my injury involved a fair bit of nerve and bone damage, to the point where the bone has actually swollen up and jammed the joint in place. Whatever mobility I have in it now is all I’m going to have…! Titanium ankles anyone…?
Goldberg - thanks for the box squat tip - I’ll give it a shot (form based solely on your posted videos, of course)
R.
I didnt know bone could swell. You might want to check out ART to see if there is any soft tissue restrictions with your ankle.
Im sorry but unless youve severed a tendon/nerve, you can restore mobility,
WHY DONT YOU TRY
its just HARD work.
You’ll be hitting your vastus medialis pretty hard all the time, but for most people, that’ll actually help with knee stability.