Fix Your Squat: Part 1 - Ankle Mobility for Squatting w/ Dr. Aaron Horschig of Squat University

Many service members have poor ankle mobility that negatively impacts their ability to perform a FROM squat without falling back. Poor ankle mobility impacts your ability to transition your knees forward and out during the eccentric part of the movement. This causes your center of gravity to shift posteriorly which can result in the falling backwards at the bottom of the movement. Poor hip mobility acts to compound this as well.

The usual culprits, especially for "old guys" like me, are: 1) too many years of mid and long distance running/rucking without proper flexibility training (both ankles and hips) and 2) many years of wearing boots with a significant heel-to-toe drop for 10+ hours a day. Both cause the myofascia and achilles tendon to shorten and tighten over time.

Two things that have greatly improved my ankle mobility: 1) using a "broom stick" type roller daily focusing on the lower part of the calves and 2) weighted calf raises pausing at the bottom of the movement and holding for a 3-count.

It's something to assess. It's not something that I would assess first, second, third... It's not an indicator of squat performance or success and are you talking front squat, back squat or overhead squat?

I tend to not go here because we're really taking about neural tension in the leg which restricts the moment in the ankle. This may be going a lot deeper than you wanted but I find that neural tension will correct with corrective exercises/active warm up/movement preparation drills. We shouldn't just jump into full blown end of workout movements, especially if we have pain with them. We must train the body how to move, then weight the movement to seal the movement pattern.

have to be careful... they can be as much harm as good if not properly administered...