Hawaiian Squat

Hi All,

So I've been working on my Hawaiian squats for some time now and have been continuously struggling with one element of the squat: glute/hip/something mobility of the resting leg. ie. If I'm squatting on my right leg, then my left leg is bent so my left ankle rests on my right leg above the knee. However, when I lower into the squat, I find the depth I'm able to descend to restricted by the lack of mobility in my left glute/hip. The left knee wants to poke up at the ceiling rather than remain horizontal, and I feel a bunch of tension around the hip/glute.

Any mobility exercises you'd suggest to counter-act this so I can lower deeper into the squat? I've tried several static stretches, but nothing is really working for me.

Cheers,

Nathan

Hi Nathan the problem can be both piriformis, glutes and hamstring. Soon or later they will limit also another progression, my suggestion it is to implement your program with the middle split series which has specific exercises for the external rotator of the hips.

Thanks Alessandro, I'll give it a shot and see what happens. Are the middle splits series something just done once a week for best results?

Hi Nathan,

That is correct. Hard stretching should only be done one time per week. Still do a light limber before and after your workouts, but save hard stretching for your Stretch Series days.

A couple stretches that have worked well for me as a warmup prior to doing Hawaiian squats (I had the same issue as you, where the flexibility requirement for doing them was more challenging than the strength requirement):

1. Get into a Hawaiian squat position but with your back leaning on the wall and go down to about discomfort level, then actively press against the leg that is on the floor with the ankle of the other leg, using your hip muscles. Do a few contract-release cycles like that.

2. Active pigeon - you can find this on youtube I think, basically it's going back and forth between a lunge and pigeon pose/piriformis stretch from the Middle Split Series, again doing it actively and engaging those outer hip muscles. 

Good luck!

Piriformis stretch and others from middle split series, as already mentioned. Hawaiian squats are a useful thing to keep in your warmup for this reason going on, especially if you work a desk job.