Squat Depth: Learn “The 4 Reasons” Why You Can’t Squat To The Appropriate Depth And How to Fix Them (Updated)

I’m sure a statistical search on the internet regarding training topics would put squat articles close to the top as far as most searched lifts.

There’s no doubt the squat is one of the most hotly debated exercises and comes with the highest number of philosophies surrounding it.

One of the biggest of which surrounds the idea of “hitting depth”.

We all loathe those gym bros who load a bar with 8 plates on their back and then barely do a set of knee-breaks in the cage.

No one will argue that nothing gets accomplished when using such a corner cut.

Squatting to an appreciable depth matters for both strength development and leg development.

Impartial Advice on Squatting ATG

The “ATG-or-bust” crowd insists that you’re not really squatting until you’ve hit rock bottom. Many times that can come with a bias against good reasoning for achieving other depths.

“The way I see it, squatting ATG isn’t absolutely necessary for every goal, but I believe every lifter should be able to earn the ability to choose what depth they want to hit in a given workout or program. That means they’d have to know how to squat to ATG without any hitches and decide from there”.

If you haven’t developed the mobility and ROM to get deep, you have a new first priority in the weight room – because there’s no excuse for this. “Muscles were made to move joints through entire ranges, and a sign of good movement is being able to maintain this as you get stronger”.

Reason #1: Lacking Ankle Mobility

Ankle mobility plays a crucial role in squat depth. If your ankles are stiff, it can restrict your ability to hinge properly at the hips, forcing your knees to travel too far forward and compromising your form.

Solution:

• Ankle Mobility Drills: Regularly incorporate exercises like ankle circles, calf raises with toes on a plate, and wall ankle mobilizations into your warm-up routine. Hold each stretch for 15-30 seconds and repeat several times.
• Foam Rolling: Use a foam roller to target tight tissues around your ankles and calves. Focus on applying gentle pressure and rolling for 30-60 seconds per area.

Reason #2: Tight Hips and Hamstrings

Tightness in your hip flexors, hamstrings, and glutes can limit your ability to reach a deep squat. These muscles play a key role in hip flexion, and if they’re restricted, it can prevent your hips from hinging back properly.

Solution:

• Dynamic Stretches: Before your squat workout, perform dynamic stretches like lunges with torso twists, high knees, and butt kicks. These stretches prepare your muscles for movement and improve blood flow.
• Static Stretches: After your workout, hold static stretches like hamstring stretches, glute bridges with holds, and hip flexor stretches for 30-60 seconds each.

Reason #3: Weak Core Strength

A strong core is essential for maintaining proper form throughout the squat. A weak core can lead to excessive arching of the lower back (butt wink), potentially causing pain or injury.

Solution:

• Core Strengthening Exercises: Integrate exercises like planks, side planks, hollow body holds, and anti-rotation exercises into your routine. These exercises strengthen your core muscles and improve spinal stability.

Reason #4: Improper Technique

Sometimes, the culprit is simply a technical hitch. Cues like “knees out” or “knees over toes” can be misinterpreted, leading to improper form and limited depth.

Solution:

• Film Yourself Squatting: Record yourself performing a squat and analyze your form. Look for issues like excessive knee valgus (knees caving in), a rounded back, or a forward-leaning torso.
• Seek Coaching: Consult a qualified trainer or coach to assess your squat technique and provide personalized feedback. They can help you identify and correct any technical flaws.

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Additional 4 Reasons You Can’t Hit Depth and How to Fix Them

With that said, the following 4 reasons could shed some light on your hindrances:

1. You Lack Ankle Mobility

Especially if you’re taller, you can bet your bottom dollar that your knees will have to travel forward over your toes in order to execute a proper squat to basically any depth. It completely opposes an introductory cue that many people use when coaching a squat for beginners.

Related Articles: The Side Effects Of Squatting: “The 5 Main Reasons” Why You Should Never Squat

Having good ankle mobility to allow this to happen can change a lifter’s entire body geometry and allow for a better upright position while at bottom depth, without having a backbreaking forward lean and insufficient depth that we’ve probably all often seen. There are a few ways to tackle this:

Release your Calves: Simple enough, using a lacrosse ball to your calves and lateral shins can help release tissue that causes restriction. Rolling the plantar fascia can also relax the tension on the Achilles tendon and allow for a greater range to be achieved.

Strengthen the Tibialis Anterior: Doing toe raises using a band or a specialized machine is a smart way to improve dorsiflexion and ankle mobility. If it’s too difficult to set up either of these options, start by spending 3 straight minutes walking on the heels only.

Keep the toes as high off the ground as you can and do so by spending 1 minute with the toes facing in, 1 minute with the toes straight, and 1 minute with the toes out.

Groove the Pattern: Take a page out of my friend Kelly Starrett’s book by positioning yourself to go through proper ankle mobility patterns. View the video to see the drill.

2. Your Pelvis Needs Work

The proper balance of the entire pelvic girdle is necessary for healthy function, and ultimately for a good range of motion to be achieved in a squat. A pair of tight, jacked-up hip flexors can wreak havoc on low back tightness and compression, and cause the pelvis to find a new “resting” position that’s undesirable.

Often, the result when “going too low” for your body’s allowable range is rounding of the low back, butt-wink, and a dysfunctional bottom end range. The more you practice squatting to partial ranges while allowing this stopping factor to remain, the worse it will probably get.

Here are two solutions:

Focus on hip capsule mobility drills: The spiderman walk (seen below) is a safe way to put the hip complex through a dynamic stretch and mobilize a lifter for deeper ranges than he’s used to going through. When performing them, remember to keep the trailing knee on the floor, and let the front knee track forward over the toes.

When reaching up, be sure not to reach behind you – aim for the roof right above your shoulder. And don’t rush the movement!

Squat to full range with bodyweight only: This can be a game-changer if you give it a chance. You’re out of risk territory when we talk about calisthenic training, and it gives you much more “room for error”, so to speak when compared to loading a bar with 2 or 300 pounds and fumbling for the right form.

Force more range of motion while completely unloaded by squatting down and focusing on nothing other than your heels staying flat on the ground. Your back can round, your shoulders can slouch – it’s fine. Hold the position and then bring the elbows inside the knees and use them to push the knees outwards.

Related Articles: The Ultimate 10 Killer Tips To Boost Your Squat

Do what you can to find your balance and raise your chest as high as you can, to straighten out your spine. Hold the bottom position for 3-5 seconds and repeat. Doing this exercise more than once per day can cause your squat mobility to make leaps and bounds. But you have to put in the time.

3. You’re Only Doing Back Squats

This one’s simple. When you load a bar or weight on your front, you’ll be able to squat deeper.

If you think about it from a geometry perspective, it’s true. Your torso gets to stay more vertical to counterbalance the load, and your knees will shift much further forward for the same reasons.

This will lead to a slightly more quad-dominant lift but will reduce shear forces on the spine and allow for a greater range of motion to be achieved. Especially if you have lever length issues, loading a bar on the back can cause a forward lean that even the best drills and fixes won’t be able to completely address.

Note the differences in my back squat torso angle and depth versus that of a front squat.

Improving your squat performance may be as easy as adding variety to your squat variations. Start by trying some goblet squats to get used to the front-loaded pattern, and then hit up the front squat once you’re comfortable.

4. Maybe You’re Not Built For it

I make this subheading with a disclaimer: This should only be a conclusion once significant trial and error with the other three subheadings have been completed over a reasonable period of time.

If you’ve done enough mobility work at your load-bearing joints and don’t display any range issues or dysfunction in other lifts to feed into your squat immobility, there’s a definite chance that your skeletal build is not conducive to deep squatting.

We all know that no two skeletons are built exactly the same. The hip socket (acetabulum) of one person’s hip may be in a wider or narrower spot on the pelvis than another person’s. In addition to that, there may be more of an enclosed coverage (or a deeper socket) depending on whose hips are being examined.