Squatober

🏋🏼‍♀️SQUATOBER 🏋🏽 Been seeing lots of #squatober vids & some of y’all need help #blessyourheart I work with an injured population & have strict rules for starting/ return to lifting. If you can’t do a posterior pelvic tilt on your back properly, you have no business squatting. If you can’t control your pelvis in a gravity assisted position, there’s no chance you’re going to do well with weight compressing your spine. Theres not a 1 size fits all way to squat, but there’s a lot of very wrong ways squat.

🔑 Squat 🔑 Points 🔑

✅Feet shoulder width apart accommodating hip anomalies (antero/ retroversion), squating barefoot allows your toes to splay & grab the ground

✅Tibia (lower leg bone) external rotation (pointed out) & upright creating foot stability w/ “lifters wedge” 🦶🏻

✅Knees track over midfoot but *not* beyond toes. Knee Valgus (knees collapse inward) & knee translation beyond toes creates shear forces leading to injuries & turning the exercise into an anterior vs posterior chain exercise

✅Pelvic floor contracted, activating Transverse Abdominis. Use a posterior pelvic tilt to engage the core & create a flat neutral back

✅Engage the Glutes equally trying not to shift to one side. Hips break first & sit back w/ minimal knee motion. Butt depth just below parallel no further. 🍑

✅Torso is upright w/ chest out creating a mild forward lean

🙅🏼‍♀️Do not....🙅🏼‍♀️

❌Wear shoes that limit toe splay

❌Let knees cave in or beyond toes

❌Valsalva (hold your breath to create stability) on descent

❌Shift hips to one side or drop hip on single leg lift

❌Arch your back & dump your pelvis

❌Squat “ass to grass”. It causes “butt wink”(unstable motion) which creates shearing force at the lumbars & sacrum (low back bones)

*Injuries include hernias, blown discs, spinal fractures, torn/ strained ligaments or rectal tears. 📚 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20838275/ . . .

Front Squat- more upright trunk w/ more quad & core activation than a back squat https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25630691/

* Use 1.3-1.7x BW as a standard

Bulgarian Split Squat & Lunge- single leg variations require more proprioception, balance, core & lateral Glute strength

* Use 75-85% of back squat weight (1.5-2x BW) as a standard

OH Squat- requires more core stabilization, thoracic extension, shoulder mobility & stability

*Use 1-1.3x BW as a standard