I have been using the leg press machine but I would like to begin squatting. But I do not have the soleus flexibility to go down very far without lifting my heels up. So I think my choices now are:
(1) Practice squatting with no weight until I get the flexibility.
(2) Squat with weight and limited range of motion.
(3) Put some plates under my heels when squatting and continue to work on my flexibility.
Any thoughts? Thanks.
My flexibility was horrible with squats too. What I found that helped me out was a wider stance with your feet pointing outwards a bit. Be careful not to go too wide though. Try this with limited weights at first to get used to the feeling then pack on the weights
My $0.02…
Don’t put plates under your heels.
Take a light weight with a good stance and lower it to the lowest point of the squat and pause there for about 5-10 secs then come back up, repeat, do this as part of your warmup and it will help flexibility.
Grab a broomstick and practice squats with that. Air squats (with nothing in your hands) feel very different than if you are forced to keep a bar in a certain position.
bad flexability isnt a bad thing if your new to squats It will help you at the bottom and get you to useing decent weight