Exercise of the Week: Wall Squat

Exercise of the Week: Wall Squats

Improving the Squat Part 2

This week will will continue to discuss how we can use different exercises to improve squat technique. Last week we discussed Cook Squats to overhead Squats in order to improve hip mobility and thoracic spine(upper back) extension.

If you missed Part 1 CLICK HERE.

Sometimes when athletes perform the cook squat they don’t have the motor control to pull themselves down correctly and they will end up with an anterior weight shift. The anterior weight shift will put the athlete on their toes and they will end up with a poor squat pattern. The Wall Squat will help combat this anterior weight shift problem very nicely. If an athlete has a problem with their knees shifting too far forward in a squat the wall squat is the best exercise to correct this.

The athlete will use the wall as a guide to help them squat more efficiently. The athlete will set up with the feet nearly touching the wall. The distance will vary depending on the individual, but in general should be an inch or less away. The athlete will then start to sit back and then squat down while keeping their chest out as they squat facing the wall.

If the athlete rounds their back their face will smash into the wall. This cue works very nicely because in most people don’t won’t to hit their face on the wall!

If the athlete’s knees come too far forward the athlete will bang their knees into the wall. The again is a great self check since the athlete will not be able to perform a proper squat to depth if they make the mistake of letting their knees drift too far forward.

When proper squat is performed they will be able to achieve a desirable depth without a problem. The only thing the coach needs to watch for is the extreme posterior pelvic tilt as discussed last week.  This means the athlete is squatting too low for the hip mobility that they currently have or it could be a technical flaw. Also make sure the athletes feet are flat on the ground and they do not roll to the outsides of their feet. We call this “frogging” the feet(looks like a frog) and this defeats the purpose of the drill. Other than that this drill is nearly fool proof.

Here is a video of the wall squat below. This exercise can be used as a warm up or an entry level exercise for teaching bilateral squats. The great part of the exercise is that is provide immediate feedback to the athlete and they know if they are performing it correctly right away.

Any questions about performing the wall squat? Please post in the comments below or e-mail me at gaglionestrength@gmail.com Have a great weekend everyone!