Today, I’ve got a new crawl exercise for you that I call the Forward Squat Crawl that provides 2 major benefits:
1) Cement a deep and stable bottom squat position
2) Lengthen your hamstring ROM
A bonus benefit is it might also make you feel like an assassin.
Work up to 2-3 sets of 6 reps per but focus on QUALITY, not quantity, so even if you do just 1 rep per side properly, that’s better than 6 done poorly.
Please try the exercise then let me know how it feels i.e. where it feels restricted, what muscles are working, any cramping etc.
Technique Cues
1. Get into a deep squat with neutral spine – if you have to put your hands on the ground or lift your heels to maintain neutral, do it
2. Staying low, reach forward with one leg to crawl forward
3. Actively drag yourself forward with the lead leg, firing up the hamstrings
4. Go slowly with controlled movements and breathe
Today’s video is going to improve your squat mobility.
Yes, I can make such a bold claim, regardless of what you’ve done before, because I know the drill we’re going to go through includes elements I’ve never seen anyone else use to improve their squat range.
Before we get to it, one element I’d like to highlight is how it’ll help you gain ankle dorsiflexion (pulling toes up towards knee), a common factor when limited that makes people feel like they’re going to fall backwards when in the deep squat.
It’s not the only factor that contributes to this, but it’s definitely a common one.
If you run or jump a lot or do any other high impact movements on your feet, your ankles take a beating.
Over time, dorsiflexion deteriorates and because it’s not something most people (well, not peeps like you and me) think of training, it gets worse and worse where it can ultimately result in a compensatory movement and injury.
The thing is, the injury will often occur elsewhere, such as at the knee or hip.
But because the root cause is limited ankle range, it’s never addressed and you might go on for years and years hurting yourself and treating symptoms while feeling frustrated and hopeless not being able to do what you want to do.
That’s why keeping tabs on things like ankle dorsiflexion is important and this drill will help you not only keep tabs on it, but MAXIMIZE it so it never causes an issue.
That’s just ONE of the benefits of this drill and it’s why it’s a new staple in my warmup.
So let’s get to it, shall we?
Follow-along then let me know how it felt in the Comments when you’re done.
By the way, the approach used in this drill is just one reason why my Hip Flexibility Solution has proven so effective.
Getting down into the bottom range of motion in the Squat is a fundamental human movement pattern that we’ve lost because of all the sitting we do.
We don’t need to think anymore about it.
But is getting down deep into the Squat an absolute necessity?
You could argue against it because in modern western society, we really don’t have to get into this position all the time.
For some sports, yes, but just normal day-to-day activities, we can avoid it completely.
The thing is doing so definitely helps to maintain full flexibility in the hips, knees and ankles, it helps your digestive system do it’s thing because in this position, your guts press up against each other at the same time your anus is opened up (weird, but reality and come on, we’re all adults here).
Plus, I want my body to be able to do everything it was designed to do.
I don’t want to be robbed of my natural movement ability.
And getting down there is fun, especially when you’ve got people down there to play with.
Today’s exercise I call the Deep Squat Prayer Pushup and it will help you get further down and more comfortable when you’re down there.
A good test of this is to get down into the deep Squat and feel what it’s like to hang out down there for a minute or two, then stand and walk around for a minute, do this exercise, then stay down in that deep Squat position to compare.
If you do this test, let me know what it feels like in the Comments.
As always with the exercises I share with you, TECHNIQUE is critical, so pay close attention to the pointers in the video and follow-along and watch a few times.
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It’s also a great idea to bookmark/save/share/whatever you have to do to ensure you can come back to this video to further refine your form.
So try it out and let me know how it feels in the Comments and if you’ve got any favourite Squat mobility exercises.
