So Your Squat Depth is an Embarrassment?

In Death to the Squat?, I talked about how I was removing the back squat from our Power Points system.

My main reason is that all athletes do not have equal ability to reach the same depth on their squat.

I am not saying that this is acceptable, but I am saying that this fact alone is enough to make me want to remove squatting from our test days.

The last thing I want is an athlete hurting his lower back because he lost his arch while trying to get to a depth he currently is not physically capable of achieving.

I put an emphasis on the word currently, because there are quite a few ways to improve mobility.

Coincidentally, after I wrote Death to the Squat?,, someone posted the very good question:

"How do you help your clients increase their squat mobility / flexibility?"


After a mere six months, I decided to answer.

One key way to help safely achieve optimal squat depth is to improve your ankle mobility.

The more mobility you have in your ankle, the deeper you will be able to squat without losing the arch in your lower back.

I have provided 3 videos below which demonstrate simple, effective ankle mobility drills.

If you struggle with your squat depth (and even if you don't), I highly recommend incorporating these movements into your normal routine.