Squat Flexibility

Bigger Stronger Leaner Beginners
1

Hi,

My friend wants to build his squat flexibility. He cannot go down low. When i saw him he could not make it to parallel.

I know that there is some stuff about this on this site, i’ve read it before. But when I did the search all I could find were threads recommending magnificent mobility, which, i’m sure, is a great DVD, but simple advice would be much more appreciated.

Cheers,

-Cloth

2

do you stretch a lot before, during, or after your workout? if not that should help. also hold your stretch for 60 secs for each everyday for about a month.

3

I know this article talks about stretching to help the deadlift, but the stretches will definitely help with the squat:

www.elitefts.com/documents/building_the_deadlift.htm

4

I am curious whether your friend can squat to parrallel or lower without a loaded bar. Many people attempt to squat more then they are actually able to squat to depth. If this is the case he should put the ego on the shelf and squat only what he can squat to parralell or lower. It is not impossible or unheard of, but I find it a bit unlikely he is physically unable to bodyweight squat to parralell.

Assuming he can bodyweight squat to parralell his inability to do so with a loaded bar represents a significant strength defecit at the bottom of his squat and is not really a flexibility issue at all.

Just give it some thought so that you don’t waste time addressing a flexibility issue when the real issue may be a matter of strength.

5

One thing he could try is sitting at the bottom of the hole and getting so that he is comfortable there. I talk about it in the first couple minutes of this video:

6

Thanks for the responses guys.

Azman, I won’t see him again till this weekend. If we find that it is in fact a strength deficit at the bottom of the motion, what can be done to correct this?

-Cloth

Thanks again to the replies. Appreciated.

7

[quote]Boris B wrote:
One thing he could try is sitting at the bottom of the hole and getting so that he is comfortable there. I talk about it in the first couple minutes of this video:

Boris has some good videos you should definitely check out. Additionally you should pick one good hamstring, Glute and Hip Flexor Stretch. The reason I say just one of each is because you want to focus on really improving your flexibility, not doing a variety of different stretches.

Classic quality over quantity. You will usually find that out of the glutes and hamstrings, one will be much tighter, not always the case but sometimes. If you notice this, pay extra attention to increasing ROM in the muscle that is tighter as this is probably what is giving you a tough time in getting deep.

Like I said Boris has some good suggestions in his videos. Although this may seem obvious, you have to make sure you do what he says correctly or it will be close to worthless like many things done incorrectly.

For instance he suggested sitting back in the hole. You have to make sure you are in the hole first off. In the hole means you are as deep as you can go with tension on the glutes and hamstrings, but not so deep that those hip extensors have pulled your pelvis thus your back out of an arch.

So what you want to do is really focus on sitting back and driving weight into that tightness of the hamstrings and glutes, it is this tightness you are trying to loosen up after all. Many people will avoid this and try to just let the knees come forward, because it may be uncomfortable for them to sit into these tight muscles, you have to see the and recognize it.