Hi, I'd appreciate your thoughts on my single leg squat challenge. I am unable to squat knees hip distance apart with feet straight. I am a champion squatter with a wider stance and feet turned out. One of my life goals is to squat butt to ankles with knees together and I've been diligently working toward that since 2008. I regrettably announce that while I can get looser and deeper the change only lasts for the workout and I never gain any long term position change.
I've had bilateral hip surgery (impingement syndrome) and spinal fusion at L5 and wonder if the mechanics of my body (and now the additional hardware) might be prohibiting me from developing this healthy (ankle?, calf?, and hip) mobility. My surgeons encourage physical activity and my hips have no movement restrictions.
Long story to get to my question - do you recommend that I stay with the ideal positioning (which means I squat holding onto a bar), or that I move up to squatting without the bar, but with a wider and more turned out stance so I can progress in effort level (SLS/PE2).
Modified pistols are a regular exercise in my workouts - I squat down to a low box trying to just tap it and stand back up. I would love to add in the full depth someday but am not sure that's physically possible. If I knew that oneway I would have the mobility to do a full pistol, I would follow whatever training program that involved.
Thank you,
Kathy