Squat limiting factor

So I've been making great strides with the new lower leg progressions and I can actually do fairly decent deck squats now even though I'm still on PE2. I've notice that my right ankle is almost at full range of motion will my heel coming off the ground by about 1/4 an inch. I know my right ankle will have full range of motion in no time but my left ankle seems to be stalling. What I have noticed is tightness in my Tibialis anterior of my left leg that seems to be slowing my left ankle progress. Are there any supplemental exercises that loosen up the Tibialis anterior so I can finally get a full squat?

I highly recommend getting the front split series if you can afford it. This specific area is targeted as part of the series.

Hi Dorian,

Like Cam said, the FS stretch series is exactly what you need. 

Can you please also post a video of your SLS/PE2 form? You do not want your heels coming up off the ground at all. Even if it means less squat depth for now, you want to ensure they both remain on the ground. 

Hi Dorian as stated, use the FS stretch series but I highly suggest to do the achilless stretch of the series daily.

Yea I have the FS series, it's been working wonders for my left ankle flexibility but my right still feels stalled. When I do a squat I feel a lot more tightness in my right tibialis anterior which is why I figured it might be my limiting factor. For SLS/PE2 I'm pretty sure my heels stay on the ground for parallel squats, it's just full squats that they come up. I will try to take a video tonight though. 

14 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

.... I highly suggest to do the achilless stretch of the series daily.

Alessandro - so It's ok to do  these daily? Coach mentioned in the video we should only do the stretch series once per week. I found tremendous release and relief when I did those calf/Achilles stretches and was going to start a separate post to ask until I saw this comment. thanks.

Hey Ted,

Great question! You can include these in a daily limber but they should be treated much differently.  Let's continue this is the appropriate subsection if you still have questions. 

When people do squats another limiting factor is the hips. When the hips are also tight as you squat you lean more forward ( otherwise you end up on your butt ) putting  more pressure on the ankle and the Achilles etc. What I started doing was to back up to a wall and and squatting down as far as I could and doing this for 5 minutes at a time daily. The distance from the wall depends ion you and your comfort level as I improved I brought my heal closer to the wall. This really works the all the areas that is required for the squat. I also do this with different foot width. First I started with feet shoulder width apart and at times I put my arm between my legs using my elbows to separate my knees and pulling my torso forward. I have also done it with my legs together and wider apart. I now can do a squat all the way down without the wall. This also has improved my compression when doing tuck ups. This just something I have done as well as the stretch courses. I do not know if this is some thing you want to do but it has helped me a great deal.

Michael

3 hours ago, Ted Rarrick said:

Alessandro - so It's ok to do  these daily? Coach mentioned in the video we should only do the stretch series once per week. I found tremendous release and relief when I did those calf/Achilles stretches and was going to start a separate post to ask until I saw this comment. thanks.

Yes Ted, all the series once a week, the achilles I suggest daily. where is the point? as an adult grew up with a lot o limitation i need to consider the realistic situation. we are going to use the calves all the day of all the months of all the years of our life. calves built up deficits due to imbalanced movement. and restrictions are the results of hours and hours of imbalanced movement. these strong connective tissue are also located in a super advantageous lever like calves so the possibility to overtraining on them it is very low. the more you mobilize the connective tissue in THIS case the better it is. in particular i suggest the following exercise daily:

-elevated seiza

-curled seiza

-kneeling achilles

13 minutes ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Yes Ted, all the series once a week, the achilles I suggest daily. where is the point? as an adult grew up with a lot o limitation i need to consider the realistic situation. we are going to use the calves all the day of all the months of all the years of our life. calves built up deficits due to imbalanced movement. and restrictions are the results of hours and hours of imbalanced movement. these strong connective tissue are also located in a super advantageous lever like calves so the possibility to overtraining on them it is very low. the more you mobilize the connective tissue in THIS case the better it is. in particular i suggest the following exercise daily:

-elevated seiza

-curled seiza

-kneeling achilles

 

Ciao Alessandro, this is good to know. I've been doing these 3 exercises an additional two times a week but at lower intensity and volume. Is this correct or would it be ok to work at close to the intensity/volume as in the FS course? By the way, what I have been doing has definitely loosened up my Achilles faster and I have only been doing the additional work for the past month.

Nice to hear your experience, personally I've found that spending an amount of time on limbering it is good. for example for my ankles I do the 3 exercises cited above while watching the Tv in the evening, i do not measure the time exactly , one set of about 2 minutes for every pose. IF i present asymmetrical flexibility I work one limb at time.

5 hours ago, Everett Carroll said:

Hey Ted,...... Let's continue this is the appropriate subsection if you still have questions. 

Good idea. Will do.

4 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Yes Ted, all the series once a week, the achilles I suggest daily. where is the point? as an adult grew up with a lot o limitation i need to consider the realistic situation. we are going to use the calves all the day of all the months of all the years of our life. calves built up deficits due to imbalanced movement. and restrictions are the results of hours and hours of imbalanced movement. these strong connective tissue are also located in a super advantageous lever like calves so the possibility to overtraining on them it is very low. the more you mobilize the connective tissue in THIS case the better it is. in particular i suggest the following exercise daily:

-elevated seiza

-curled seiza

-kneeling achilles

 

The curled seiza and kneeling Achilles feel great. The elevated seiza is tough for me as I still have some adhesion in my left knee, so I scale with blocks. It's amazing how these movements will identify the weak links in your body.

9 hours ago, Ted Rarrick said:

The curled seiza and kneeling Achilles feel great. The elevated seiza is tough for me as I still have some adhesion in my left knee, so I scale with blocks. It's amazing how these movements will identify the weak links in your body.

Try putting a block under your knees in elevated seiza. I found the stretch was much deeper while being easier on my abs.

10 hours ago, Ted Rarrick said:

The curled seiza and kneeling Achilles feel great. The elevated seiza is tough for me as I still have some adhesion in my left knee, so I scale with blocks. It's amazing how these movements will identify the weak links in your body.

sit on the seiza position but move the weight on one feet at the time so that you can manage the intensity, use th palm of the hand to hold the feet regular without let it to compensate to the side.

5 hours ago, Dorian Brown said:

Try putting a block under your knees in elevated seiza. I found the stretch was much deeper while being easier on my abs.

Dorian - great idea! A simple way to scale but I'm sure will make a huge difference in my progress with this stretch. thanks.

4 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

sit on the seiza position but move the weight on one feet at the time so that you can manage the intensity, use th palm of the hand to hold the feet regular without let it to compensate to the side.

Alessandro - I understood the first part of your sentence, but could you explain the part about using the palm of my hand to hold the feet? thanks again for all your help.

If you are tight the heel tends to move sidward, keep it in line.

3 hours ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

If you are tight the heel tends to move sidward, keep it in line.

OK, now I understand. thanks.

Just wanted to update I've been doing the daily limbering with elevated seiza, curled seiza, kneeling achilles and I can already feel my squat getting deeper. My Tibialis anterior also seems to be loosening up. Hopefully I can get some good lighting this week to send in a form check.