Squats are the basic exercises that are included in everyone’s exercise regime, but little do we know that lousy squats can defeat the whole purpose of doing squats. Here’s the common mistakes that people made and tips on improving your squats.
1. Lift up your heels
Do you still remember the Asian squat challenge that went viral a few years ago? A lot of people find it difficult to do, but you can get it solved by doing soleus stretching every day. In the Asian squat, your ankle needs to be flexible enough to drive your knee forwards. Our tips? Stretch your soleus.
2. Knee drifting inwards
When you squat with your knees cave inwards, you’re putting your knee in an unstable position. If your gluteus medius, the muscle that abducts the leg, is not firing properly. You can try looping a band just above or below your knee cap as a cue to spread out your leg, to put your knee into a safer position.
3. Rounding the back
If you’re rounding the back during a squat, there will be excess shear forces on your spine which can lead to low back pain. You might want to work on your mid upper back by doing cobra pose or superman. Hamstring flexibility is another part that you can look into.
4. Excessive trunk leaning forward
If your back and the knee angle are not parallel, you’re probably leaning forward your trunk a lot. Working on hip mobility like hip flexor and tightening your upper back and hip muscle can help to execute the squat properly.
Get someone to assess your squats properly, you can come to us 😉
Prepared by
Chia Cho Li
Physiotherapist from Your Physio