Crouching position limited ROM

Hi all,

I'm having trouble attaining a good crouching position:

My glutes can't get lower than 3 inches from ankles before I just get stuck. The goal is the picture above. After doing F1 pistol training, the position has become significantly easier to stay in, but the ROM hasn't increased. I feel a pretty intense tightness in the calf when I sit in this position, but I'm unsure if my calf muscles are even to blame. It kind of feels like all the muscles are contracting at once hence the stuck feeling. 

If anyone has any insight into this problem, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

Julian

Most people have problems getting into a deep crouch position. In most cases flexibility in the lower back is the culprit.

When I was a competitive spring board diver my coach had us stretch out our lower back by doing any of the following basic stretches.

A) Seated Forward Bend. (Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you and just reach as far as you can and hold the position while you relax your back muscles)

B) Standing Forward Bend (Similar to seated forward bend but use gravity to help deepen the stretch)

C) Lay on your back while holding tuck position.

Do you mean you'd like to get into the crouching position on the ball of your feet (like the photo) or do you mean with the feet flat on the ground?

Does any info in this vid help?

Probably lack of ankle flexibility. Kit has a YouTube video that outlines a few stretches that will really help this.

Jennifer said:

Do you mean you'd like to get into the crouching position on the ball of your feet (like the photo) or do you mean with the feet flat on the ground?

 

Does any info in this vid help?

I'd like to get into the crouching position on the ball of my feet, like in the photo. I'm not referring to a squat. Thanks for the video! 

Julian Wilson said:

I'd like to get into the crouching position on the ball of my feet, like in the photo. I'm not referring to a squat. Thanks for the video! 

If you're training F1 SLS, then you're going to need a full squat with your heels on the ground, no way around it. Unless you plan on training in high heels.    You can ignore it for now, but the first elements of F2 SLS will become an impassible barrier if you don't work out your ankle issues.

You'll have to work on increasing your passive flexibility, stretching out your calves and improving ankle flexion, while building active strength through the new ROM.

Some resources for you:

http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/174-super%E2%80%93duper-ankle%E2%80%93soleus-stretch-routine-essential-for-the-squat/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvAto6yIGLY

thecolin said:

If you're training F1 SLS, then you're going to need a full squat with your heels on the ground, no way around it. Unless you plan on training in high heels.    You can ignore it for now, but the first elements of F2 SLS will become an impassible barrier if you don't work out your ankle issues.

 

You'll have to work on increasing your passive flexibility, stretching out your calves and improving ankle flexion, while building active strength through the new ROM.

 

Some resources for you:

http://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/174-super%E2%80%93duper-ankle%E2%80%93soleus-stretch-routine-essential-for-the-squat/

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvAto6yIGLY

Thanks for the help. I can do a full deep squat with my heels on the ground no problem. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good (probably because of the problems I have with this position) and it hasn't prevented me from doing F1 SLS. It will probably prevent me from doing F2 SLS, but that's beyond the point.

I understand that these problems are interrelated but in this post, I am NOT referring to a squat; I tried to make this clear already. I am only interested in the problems preventing me from achieving the position in the picture. Hopefully more people can provide insight given the symptoms I've listed. 

Again, thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it!

If you want an accurate assessment you should include a picture of your squat and your attempt to get into this position you are asking about. It could be plenty of things.

Julian Wilson said:

 

I understand that these problems are interrelated but in this post, I am NOT referring to a squat;

The resources I linked to provide a wealth of mobility for the whole lower portion of the leg, straight down through the toes. Your best option right now is to experiment by yourself and work extensively on any tight areas you can find. As you said, the problems are probably interrelated, so try exploring the whole foot to look for an answer.

Unfortunately I think the symptoms you list are a bit too vague to go into any more detail. The only real advice I can suggest on the problem of "general tightness, possibly in the calf", is to do some general stretching, possibly focusing on the calf.

Seriously, do yourself a favour and go through everything I listed one by one. Once you have some more specific idea of what's going on, perhaps some more specific advice can be given.