Deck Squats (SLS/PE1)

I have a question about the Deck Squat in Foundation 1.  I have had two ACL surgeries on my knees and have developed a lot of scar tissue in my joints.  I am unable to touch my glutes with my heels because of the restricted range of motion due to the scar tissue. Because of this, when doing the deck squat, after rolling,  I can not stand up  as my feet are too far from my glutes. Is there a progression or mastery  that I can do to lead up to the deck squat  ? 

Thanks,

Theodore Williams

I think with an injury like that it would be best to check with your doctor which exercises are appropriate. A lot of the SLS require a "deep squat" level of mobility, however you should be able to modify them to whatever is safe for you.

Have you tried deck squats without the role?

Many people have been starting slightly elevated and working their way down. That may help.

That's a good idea. I'll try that..

Thanks   

As stated earlier checking in with a professional, maybe physiotherapist, might be best for proper direction. Otherwise if that's not feasible for some reason you could also do a search on knee mobilizations injury specific in attempts to gain the ROM back. 

Perhaps doing the movement with some kind of equipment or a partner that can help you transition slowly from ground to standing? I had a friend hold a pvc pipe while I worked (working ) through the transition and used the pvc for balance when needed. As well I was thinking maybe you could find a straight pole (play ground area?) to squat in front of. When you carefully roll forward, with the pole close to, perhaps slightly between, the feet you could grab it to assist in the stand on the roll back while working towards using the pole less and less. Or tie a exercise band high on the pole to use in stand up assistance. Failing that perhaps finding a slightly raised flat surface to roll on to start, not sure of an example but maybe a picnic table seat, and then find or make a lower surface to work your way to the ground? All this is of course based on the idea that you don't create any abnormal knee pain in the process so take some caution here. Hope this gives you some options to explore.

With a narrow I can only do about a quarter deck squat. No pain involved at all.   With weight on my back, barbell squat with slightly wider stance,  I can go much lower.   My opinion about doctors and physical fitness isn't to high.. I was told after both ACL operations, years  ago, not to do squats of any type and stick to leg extensions.. My knees feel great after a heavy session of barbell squats....thanks for the advice.  I think I'll try doing the rolling deck squats off an elevation  

Theodore Williams said:

With a narrow I can only do about a quarter deck squat. No pain involved at all.   With weight on my back, barbell squat with slightly wider stance,  I can go much lower.   My opinion about doctors and physical fitness isn't to high.. I was told after both ACL operations, years  ago, not to do squats of any type and stick to leg extensions.. My knees feel great after a heavy session of barbell squats....thanks for the advice.  I think I'll try doing the rolling deck squats off an elevation  

Not sure if you've heard of a site called MobilityWod? He has youtube vids that deal with athletes and mobilization problems as result of injuries. Might be worth checking out. Good luck....

I have had ACL surgery before and I can do deck squats.  If you can't stand back up, I would actually look at the calves instead of the knee

I have a client who has no ACL's (injured them do badly he had to have them surgically removed) and when we first started working together he too had been told that he should avoid squatting and could not squat full ROM.

Fast forward a couple years of working together and building up his strength, mobility and retracting his body how to correctly squat and he swears that squatting full ROM is one of the exercises that is most responsible for curing his knee and back pain.

He still has issues with ankle mobility though and as a result still can't squat full ROM with his feet together though, so that's something that we are working on and probably something that the OP should look at.

I'm not saying that everyone is the same or will necessarily have the same results, but there are a lot of urban myths that still get perpetuated (even by medical professionals and trainers) on a regular basis and squatting full ROM being bad for the knees is one of them.