“Butt back, knees out, weight in the heels, hips down below the tops of the knees!”
How many times have you heard us say this in class? It’s probably something that pops into your mind as you go about your day. Not only in our squats but in other movements we do as well. In our push ups telling you to get your chest to the deck, or pull ups to fully extend your arms to the bottom and then pull up, and even in our presses to fully lock out overhead.
It’s a broken record, we say it everyday and I’d go as far as probably every hour of our day. We have our reasons and I’m here to tell you why (if you’re not already sure).
As humans, we start out in a fetal position in the womb—which is practically the most limber you’ll ever be in life.
Let’s take Logan, Wyatt, Ruby, Grae, Sayler, Marold kids, and all the other little toddlers you see. These awesome kids have the most perfect air squat (most days, if their diapers aren't full). If you asked your kid to stay in the air squat position for a few minutes (dangling a donut over their head) I'm sure they could hold it and not break a sweat—its a natural position to be in.
Why do we lose our ability to achieve full range of motion as we get older? There are a few reasons, one of the biggest culprits is too many isolation movements and LACK OF MOBILITY. I’m sure we’ve all see someone out there who loves to do nothing but bench press and curls, “bro, what about leg day”. Now take that same person and ask them to hold a barbell in the front rack position. It’s highly unlikely they’d be able to achieve a full front rack position. As we continue these isolated movements and never focus on mobility or yoga, we start to lose our range of motion. Think of a person in an arm cast for 6 months. For 6 months they’re stuck in an isolated position and when that cast comes off, it becomes pretty tough to achieve full range of motion. How does the immobility get fixed? Hours of physical therapy to lengthen and elongate the muscles that have been shortened over time. The same is true for any of our joints, hips, shoulders, knees, and ankles.
So now, let’s talk anatomy and physiology—something I spent thousands of dollars on to learn in college. If we constantly allowed you to squat above parallel, or never really lock your arms out overhead—we’d be doing a great disservice to your body and your overall health. Full range of motion is scientifically PROVEN to strengthen, increase flexibility, and decrease sheer force on our multidirectional joints. When we squat below parallel, we increase strength in our posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings) and create equalizing forces on our quads to maintain integrity in knee. Simply put, it takes a ton of pressure off the front of your knee.
All it takes is at LEAST 10 minutes of mobility and stretching every day. We don't want you to become stiff, and immobile as you get older. We're here to keep you young and full of longevity. One of the first things we learn in our Level 1 is that CrossFit is defined as “constantly varied, high intensity, functional movements”. Functional movements are all around us, squatting to sit down in a chair, pressing overhead to get your luggage in the overhead storage, bending down to pick up the pen you dropped on the floor. Everything we do is designed to translate into our lives.
When the zombie apocalypse comes and you need to pull yourself up onto a tree limb at full extension, you'd better be thanking your coaches!
Happy Squatting,
Coach Jess
