The Secret To Better Squats: Foot, Knee, & Ankle Mobility

We’ve talked before about how Slav squats, Asian squats, deep squats, sitting squats, or various other things they might by called (these are all different names for the same thing), are one of the most anti-aging exercises, if not outright the most anti-aging exercise. Yet, how to get good at them?

“Just squat more” is fine advice and will get you there eventually, but there are ways to shorten the time it takes, by unlocking whatever part(s) might be holding you back:

Piece by piece

The key to improving the whole is to not neglect any of the parts—so here they are:

1. Foot rolls: roll your foot onto its outer and inner edges to stretch; repeat for both legs.
2. Toe lifts: lift your toes up and down while keeping your legs straight.
3. Toe curls: curl your toes to engage foot muscles.
4. Foot circles: rotate your feet in circles; repeat for both legs.
5. Heel raises: stand tall, raise your heels off the ground, and engage your core.
6. Tibialis anterior exercise: lean against a wall or similar, and lift your toes off ground to strengthen your tibialis anterior (important and oft-forgotten muscle, responsible for more than people think!)
7. Heel drops: perform dynamic heel drops with your feet back, to stretch your ankles.
8. Hamstring curls & leg extension: curl your leg back toward your glutes, and then extend it forwards; alternate legs.
9. Dynamic calf stretch: bend and straighten your knees alternately in a forward lunge position.
10. Squat to heel raise: perform squats with your heels lifting off the floor and your arms raised.
11. Banded ankle dorsiflexion: use a yoga strap or towel to stretch your feet, calves, and hamstrings.
12. Seated feet circles: extend your legs and rotate your feet in outward and inward circles.
13. Dorsiflexion/plantar flexion: alternate one foot up and the other down dynamically.
14. Seated knee flexion & extension: alternate lifting your knees and extending your legs, while seated.

Note: “seated” in all cases means on the floor, not a chair!

For more on all of these plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like to read:

What Nobody Teaches You About Strengthening Your Knees ← about that tibialis anterior muscle and what it means for your knees

Take care!