McKinney Chiropractic Care;
Deep Squats for Full Range of Motion
Video Dr. Travis Downs
Deep Squats
When patients come into the office, one of the biggest problems we see with them is how they perform a squat. The squat test is a part of our Spinal Health Assessment so that we can assess your bodies biomechanics, and see how the lower kinetic chain is working. If the body and all of its part are not working in sync, it will eventually start to cause us pain. People have a problem doing squats because we just fail to do a deep squat at least a few times a day. So what has happened overtime, is we have lost our ability to do so. When we don’t do the full Deep Squats Hiltons law comes into effect. This will cause our joints to lose their full range of motion in the ankles, knees, hips, the low back and eventually pain is inevitable in these joints. Then throw on top of that our lifestyle of just sitting for hours at a time and squatting becomes very difficult as we age. Even as an adult we should be able to get all the way down to the ground and stay there just like a little toddler. This is a motion that is critical to our health. If we lose our ability to squat, it can lead us down the road to arthritis, degeneration, and even surgery when it becomes sever enough. The research backs up what we know about Hiltons law and full range of motion to keep the joints healthy when it comes to squatting: “Concerns about degenerative changes of the tendofemoral complex and the apparent higher risk for chondromalacia, osteoarthritis, and osteochondritis in deep squats are unfounded. With the same load configuration as in the deep squat, half and quarter squat training with comparatively supra-maximal loads will favor degenerative changes in the knee joints and spinal joints in the long term.” (1)
I challenge all of you to start incorporating 5 to 10 Deep Squats just as a sitting break while at work, watching tv, or whatever sedentary inactivity we are doing a couple times a day. Even if you cant get all the way down to the deep squat at first keep working it and you will get there!
References
1.Analysis of the load on the knee joint and vertebral column with changes in squatting depth and weight load
Hagen Hartmann 1, Klaus Wirth, Markus Klusemann
Our Message
At our McKinney location, located near the corner of Eldorado Pkwy. and Ridge Rd., we are here to help you get out of pain! Our Chiropractors will relieve your pain through Chiropractic adjustments and teaching the proper form for exercises, like Deep Squats. We also look at nutrition to make sure you are getting the proper nutrients while helping you manage stress to give your body the best fighting chance against pain and disease!