🔥 ANKLE MOBILITY COMPENSATION

✅ Poor ankle mobility can lead to some terrible squat patterns. In the graphic I show three signs of poor ankle mobility during your squat. The soleus is going to be the main culprit typically for poor ankle mobility.

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🚨 Forward Lean
By leaning forward, you can limit the amount of dorsiflexion (foot towards shin) you have to do.
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During the descent phase of the squat. You may find yourself leaning forward and not being able to go low.
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Of course there are other reasons for why you may not be able to go low such as not having the proper squat pattern or just don’t have the right biomechanics to go deeper.

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🚨Feet Turn Out
As you descend in your squat, you might find that your feet automatically turn out.
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This could potentially be because you’re not able to fully go into dorsiflexion because you have poor ankle mobility.
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So, to compensate, your feet turn out to reduce the amount you have to dorsiflex.
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🚨 Heels Come Off the Floor
As you descend in the squat, you might find your heels come off the floor.
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This is 99% because of ankle mobility.

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✅ It could potential also be because of poor neuromuscular control. But, it’s very likely that your soleus is really tight.

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✅ As I mentioned earlier, the soleus will mainly be responsible for allowing your ankle to go through its range without restriction.
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If tight, you will find it hard to dorsiflex and you may end up compensating in one of these three ways. There are also other factors to consider, but this is a great place to start.