Are you struggling with squat depth and mobility? So many athletes find their squats coming up short and can’t seem to unlock their full range of motion. If you are ready to get serious about your squat mobility, these drills will get you on the right track!
Choosing the Best Squat Mobility Drills
As with any issue, specific problems require specific solutions.
Knowing that your squat depth is limited isn’t enough. We want to know what specific areas are holding you back. The more specific we can be, the more targeted our mobility work can be for faster results.
There are two main areas to assess if you want better squat depth: your ankles and your hips.
We’ll use the wall dorsiflexion test and lateral tibial glide for ankle mobility. These two tests will see if you have the mobility to push your knees forward as you descend in the squat and if you can drive your knees out.
For the hip, we need to assess both hip rotation and where you are optimally suited to squat from.
The hip scour test will help you identify the best stance width to squat from. Perform this test and then squat with different angles of toe-out until you find the stance that gives you the most depth and comfort.
For the hip rotation tests, I typically look for which direction is more limited and then choose squat mobility drills that target that direction.
Top Six Squat Mobility Drills
The Wedge
The Wedge is one of my favorite squat stretches as it allows athletes to drive their knees out as they squat down. It also works on our ability to push the knees forward. Typically, I prescribe 1-2 minutes of work on the Wedge.
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Weighted Calf Stretch
My second favorite squat ankle mobility drill is this weighted stretch. For many athletes, years of stiff Achilles tendons means improving ankle mobility can be tough. This weighted stretch won’t be comfortable, but it works wonders!
90/90 Rotations
Moving to hip mobility, we’ll start with 90/90 Rotations that work both hip internal and external rotation. These are great for both mobility and generally warming the hips up before squatting.
Posterior Hip Stretch
The Pigeon Stretch is probably the most commonly prescribed hip stretch, but I find this modified version much more effective for athletes needing more hip external rotation and squat depth assistance.
Hip Internal Rotation MWM
This mobilization with movement is an excellent drill for those needing more emphasis on improving their hip internal rotation. The band will provide a minor lateral distraction to the hip joint as you actively move the hip into internal rotation.
Adductor Rockbacks
Our final squat mobility drill is the Adductor Rockback. I use this movement with athletes who would benefit from a wider squat stance. These are often athletes with very stiff ankles and athletes with long thighs relative to their torso (related article: Squat Anthropometrics).
Program Recommendations: Inside our Performance Plus app, you can find several mobility programs to help improve your squat depth:
