There’s nothing particularly unusual about the act of squatting. Around the globe squatting may be part of one’s daily ritual, be it for elimination purposes, conducting business, or simply watching the world go by. In the United States squatting is mostly associated with some form of physical exercise.
In our world of weightlifting and strength training the ability to comfortably and efficiently squat often fades soon after childhood. This inability to comfortably squat is mostly related to loss of flexibility, particularly dorsiflexion of the ankle joints. Although we may have squatted easily as infants, as soon as we take to sitting in chairs or on sofas we seldom have a reason to again squat. That is until we take up weightlifting.
Achieving a proper receiving position for the squat version of the snatch or the clean requires good flexibility in the “bottom position,” ideally with the knees forward of the toes (ankle dorsiflexion). Coaching weightlifters that exhibit a loss of flexibility in this area is a challenge.
What Is a Squat?
Pull up information on squatting (and there is a lot of it) and all too often we are bombarded with the message that one should never allow the knees to move forward of the toes. In other words, keep the ankles neutral (lower leg approximately perpendicular to the ground), and avoid ankle dorsiflexion.
When squatting with proper dorsiflexion the shear forces focus near the knee joints. Keep the shank (lower leg) near perpendicular to the floor, and one must lean forward (or fall backward), thus shifting the shear to the lumbar spine region.
When seen from the side, both powerlifters and weightlifters aim to keep the bar over the middle of the foot. But how they achieve this varies. A powerlifter positions the bar farther down the upper back (“low bar squat”) than a weightlifter (“high bar squat”) and aims to keep the shanks nearly perpendicular while descending to a more shallow depth than the weightlifter. In such a posture the head and torso must project forward, with the hips rearward, behind the heels. This allows powerlifters to maximize loads handled in their competitive lift, the squat.
