Try This Squat Cue…

Try This Squat Cue…

So I have been working with a new squat cue that I hadn’t heard before over the past couple weeks that is seeming to work really well, and not just on myself, so it is time to share. “Sit back, chest up” has two major flaws. 1.) It causes people to go into lumbar flexion or anterior pelvic tilt to keep that “chest up” versus maintaining a neutral braced position and 2.) Many times this causes people to try to stay too upright will sitting back, which results in the center of gravity being shifted back too far, and then trying to compensate towards the bottom range of motion to get back over their mid-foot and not lose balance. You will have to lean forward in the squat, you can’t fight that, and just trying to keep the “chest up” many times forces you into positions you shouldn’t be in. The fix I have found is “push your hips back and reach your chest forward”. Since implementing for myself, it has allowed me to take out the 6-7 cues I was using and replace it with just this one. To make more sense of this, pretend there is an imaginary wall at the front of your knees or your mid-foot, whichever registers better as an internal cue for you. What you will try to do is push/sit your hips back while at the same time trying to reach your chest forward to move along that wall all the way down. What results is a more natural and gradual increase in hip flexion through the squat, maintaining the correct center of gravity and positioning throughout. I have to admit this idea came to me while watching @jesse_critter25 squat videos. You can see the video of myself implementing this cue HERE, but if you watch @jesse_critter25 squat, you’ll really see what I mean. He sits back, yet at the same time that chest is staying directly above the mid-foot the entire time and “reaching forward”. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.