On topic: problem with squats

External Since: Oct 04, 2006 Posts: 514

Shute wrote:
> On Fri, 3 Nov 2006 22:39:37 -0000, "Bully" <bully1 DeleteThis @proteinbars.co.ok>
> wrote:
>
>> I now have my subject doing PNF daily on his ankle using a
>> thera-band. We'll see if that helps with his squat. Althoguh I will
>> measure the results over weeks/months rather hours/days [get my
>> poont Smile

?]
>
> I feel some tingling going on in my ankle foot and shin area tonight.
> Perhaps there is some healing that needs to go with the stretching.
>
> I had too look up PNF stretching. In doing so I ran across some
> article saying stretching had better results after a workout then
> before. They said the stretches where more efficient when the muscle
> was warmed up. Have you heard that before?

Blimey, you ARE new to this aren't you ;~) ! TBH, if there were a Usenet
group called rec.stretching that had started 20 years ago, this topic would
have been the first topic they discussed and they would still be arguing
about it now Smile

! Or now thinking about it, the argument would be whether
stretching before exercise reduces the risk of injury. Or was it, does
stretching after exercise reduce the risk of subsequent muscle soreness?
Whatever, they'd be arguing about something; maybe dogs or guns!

Anyhow, I'm not sure stretches are "more efficient" when the muscle is
warmed up, but doing your stretching once the muscle is warm will reduce the
chance of injury whilst stretching. The $2.50 question though is "when is a
muscle warm"?

--
Bully
Protein bars: http://www.proteinbars.co.uk

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't
matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

External Since: Oct 29, 2005 Posts: 614

Dnia 2006-11-04 Shute napisa³(a):
> On Sat, 4 Nov 2006 02:09:43 +0000 (UTC), Andrzej Rosa
><bakters DeleteThis @yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>To be honest, I do not expect that stepups will fix your problem. They
>>do not require much flexibility, but if you have a problem with
>>stability on top of flexibility issues, they might work fine. For calf
>>flexibility I'd recommend squatting. Like, you need to rest a little
>>between your sets, squat. Sissy squats, if you can't do flat footed
>>squats. Or one leg flat footed and other sissy squatting. It actually
>>helps with flexibility. For me it worked much better then stretching,
>>but you already know that I'm lazy, so I don't stretch often enough
>>and for long enough. And I remember that Dan John wrote somewhere,
>>that in his first gym they had a machine for ankle mobility. It was a
>>step on a staircase. Take a look around your gym, maybe they have this
>>machine? Wink

>>
>>Anyway, as long as you can squat, keep squatting. Over time your body
>>will adapt to new demands.
>
> What would be a symptom of a stability problem?

Ankle moves in all directions. If muscles around it aren't strong and
balanced, one may experience problems with keeping it rigid under load.
Well, that's how I understand it...

> If I squat down with
> no weight my legs begin to shake a bit before I reach the sticking
> point. That may be why I never felt the pain during squats. My body
> starts having problems even before I get that far.
>
> I had to look up the sissy squat here:
> http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Quadriceps/WTSissySquat.html

These are a bit extreme. I thought just about squatting on your toes
with normal vertical spine, like here:
http://www.alanorr.com/htdocs/combat/hs.jpg

However, the link you found shows a very good exercise for quads with
much better resistance curve than knee extensions.

> There is no way I could do those. The pain in my ankle occurs as my
> knee moves forward over the top of the foot. My knee can just barely
> go forward during a regular squat. Those go to an extreme I can't
> match.
>
> Tonight I tried squatting with a plate under my heels. My back feels
> a lot better tonight. I thought maybe I was having problems with
> deadlifts but it may have been the squats screwing with my back. If
> you do a squat with no weight you can see your knee move forward the
> deeper into the squat you get. In my case it can't move forward to
> far so my body compensates by shifting my upper body forward.
> According the web page Bully posted that does some nasty things to the
> spine.
>
> I am going to keep the plates under my heals for a while. Then
> continue with the stretching. I have been stretching my hamstrings
> for years. I have never done a calf stretch until today. My ankles
> might not be moving better but they seem to feel better. It feels
> like I released some tension I didn't even know was there.

It seems like you are on a right track.

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R