Wall Squat Drill

[@tylerpaquin4004]

"Walls are a great piece of technology, most people have it." -Zach Forrest

[@brummr]

Forcing an upright torso opens the hip angle placing the person's center of gravity behind the middle of the foot and he falls backwards. Cueing "Hips Back" closes the hip angle putting the center of gravity over the middle of the foot.It also causes the "slight shift" at 2:29 when the torso leans forward a bit.

[@beowulfwadd]

Many thanks for the awesome drill. I'll try it just now cause today is my leg day!

[@xoxrazzyxox]

My lower back hurts trying to do that. Any tips?

[@pickngrin73]

This is a great drill. The negative comments are bogus. IMO the goal of the drill is to develop hip flexion mobility, and that the instruction that the hips need to go back is a bit misleading. This drill is easily done with arms down. By reaching up the wall you introduce shoulder mobility issues (which are obvious in the video), but are nicely addressed with this drill.

[@TheSchneeeewitttchen]

i would love to have an advice how to proceed from forward wall squats into sit up (and back).... i kinda stuck in my squat

[@cwiehle0]

I am 42 and currently in PT for tightness in hip and low back. I can get down to where my thighs are almost parallel to floor before hands creep into wall, head wants to come down, and low back gets tight. Will performing this daily address my inability to perform the action, or are there additional drills someone can recommend to improve my mobility.

[@IrritatedOnion]

could be ankle mobility. are you squatting in squat shoes? if not, simply using a pair of squat shoes may get you past parallel. before you buy a pair you can see if it would help by using 2.5 or 5 pound plates placed under your heel and then trying a squat (i would not suggest doing this permanently as you risk the plates moving and causing you to fall).

[@judoder998]

¿Que hace Andres Guardado en el fondo?

[@clashandpotatoes]

Zach Forrest!

[@carloszumel348]

buen metodo. yo creo q aun las hago mal... voy a implementarlo

[@cougarrain]

👏👏👏👏👏👏 awesomeness

[@ratelhoneybadger]

Lol! The coach is fun😁

[@vipero00]

I watched this one twice. It's the only one I disagree with. I agree that we want to keep the torso upright. The wall is great for keeping the hands and shoulders back but we want the center of gravity to stay above the middle of his feet. You can see when he gets closer to the wall he loses his balance. He loses balance because his center of gravity is pushed back behind his heels. The only way to keep the center of gravity over the middle of the feet is that if the arms and shoulders move back the hips must be allowed to move forward. But the wall is not allowing his hips to move forward because it keeps his knees from coming forward. The wall doesn't discriminate between arms and shoulders and knees. Using the wall exacerbates failure not good technique. The knees need to mover forward and the only way that can happen is flexibility of the ankle. Ankle flexibility will do more for your squat than any wall. You also will squat easier if you put a plate under your heel.That will let your knees and hips move farther forward keeping your center of mass over the middle of your feet.

[@mpanayi1]

+vipero00 i see your point, but putting a plate under the heals is in fact the exact opposite to what you should be doing if you want to increase ankle flexibility. Put a plate under the front of your foot when training form (i.e. not when you are going heavy) and that will help you increase ankle flexibility. A plate under the heels just circumvents ankle flexibility issues instead of addressing them. Just my 2 cents!

[@vipero00]

+Michael Panayi Thanks for your thoughtful reply. My suggestion of putting a plate under your heels is just to demonstrate that you need to have more ankle flexibility. Not as a way to cheat. Sorry if it came off that way.

[@trentedwards5005]

+vipero00 The problem with using a more knee forward squat is that is load the quads and puts a lot of pressure on the knees. If you watch any good squatter they try and keep the knees as vertical as possible to load the glutes and hamstrings which are bigger muscles that are made to handle a heavier load. Skipping past improving dorsil flexion by using lifters or plates is just a cheat that will not transfer to workout.

[@daleg.9673]

+vipero00 With a little practice he'll be able to maintain the mid foot balance point without the knees or torso coming forward as much.

[@mattstazza]

+Trent Edwards any good squater tries to keep the knees as vertical as possible...i dont think so. olympic weightlifters are the purest form of squaters. check their knees out

[@dmasheen]

How is this drill helping his squat again? Pushing him closer to the wall is forcing his center of mass behind his mid foot. He's only able to compensate because his arms are elevated. There's no way he could maintain that with a barbell on his back. Perhaps this is training for the front squat? Regardless, why are we allowing him to stare at the ceiling while he squats?

[@saketsawkar8770]

Derek Degges this is real good technique to get your balance right and make your lower back strong! it works on your legs and your lower back if you do it right

[@dmasheen]

Interesting take on it... Seems like loading a heavy barbell on his back and having him squat also works your legs, hips, and trunk. And the fact that they complete the squat without falling over means they were able to balance the whole way through.

[@SkeetersCousin]

It’s actually the worst form and worst technique. He’s asking for injury

[@codythrive5154]

Derek Degges this is a drill every Olympic competitor does. It’s been around for decades and is a great drill.

[@TheSf49erfan]

Cool! His knees seem to be passing his toes. Great learning video though.

[@DJM-yr7gk]

TheSf49erfan so?

[@lakshyachaubey307]

TheSf49erfan is that Paulie Walnuts on yo dp?

[@paramisamadhi]

Is it just me, or is Joe getting some anterior pelvic tilt on the ascent?

[@98rangerscout]

yup...lower back arches quite a bit, my guess is deep core stabilizer weakness, tight hips, thoracic mobility issues, and scapular stabilization issues.. From what I can see...

[@ivangulko7426]

@@98rangerscout the real issue is the fact that he places his load behind the midfoot, which leads to back rounded in order to compensate it

[@ivangulko7426]

@@98rangerscout the real issue is the fact that he places his load behind the midfoot, which leads to back rounded in order to compensate it

[@mikeadair8625]

feet out of alignment and are too wide. get them closer together, toes pointing forward then see how deep you can squat.

[@Geogaddii]

Depends on how you’re built. Depends on how your hip sits in socket, and where your sockets are located in general. Some folks have externally rotated femurs, will never be able to squat with parallel legs.

[@jd0879]

Why is this coach so jumpy and unauthentic

[@SkeetersCousin]

This is why CrossFit causes a ton of injuries. This is the worst way to teach Depth and stability

[@mrdave777]

So….what do you suggest!?

[@SkeetersCousin]

@@mrdave777 looking at Squat Univesity's page on how to work on ankle and hip mobility

[@ondrejhanslik9368]

Terrible shoes for doing squats. These shoes are made for running, terrible for squatting because they bring your weight to the knees.

[@williamsotak2870]

As with most of crossfires they make up things with bad form to pretend to be real athletes. In this joke the person is putting his feet at a sharp angle and frog legging his knees around the wall to cheat. Because he and the instructor can not do the drill and do not understand it.

[@ree3197]

Just wish he wore something a little more revealing.. 👀

[@felipuno9235]

That is not natural movements, it can snap up your lower back.