Six Mobility Checks for Your Front Squat
We all have that one movement or position that we dread to see on the white board when we get to the gym. “Ugggh, I hate that exercise. I’m just not good at it.” or “I feel like I can never get into the right position.” One of those positions that is integral for CrossFit success, whatever that means for you and your goals, is the front rack position and especially holding it while moving into a front squat. Whether it’s a finishing a clean, setting up for a jerk, or cycling thrusters, the front rack makes itself known throughout the sport.
The front rack itself can be tricky enough for some of us. There are a lot of upper body components that go into getting and holding a strong front rack. Then coach tells you to front squat it without losing any of the front rack position. They said what now? You hear the cues every day – “elbows/chest up” or “knees out” among others – but what if you can’t get there in the first place? That’s where quick mobility checks really come in handy and show you where you actually need to mobilize instead of guessing or picking random exercises.
Before we dive into the checks, let’s touch on the main performance measures of the front squat.
· Stance: Feet about shoulder width apart
· Neutral spine throughout the entire movement
· Hips drop down and back while knees track out over toes
· Hands outside of shoulders while arms stay parallel to floor/elbows pointing forward
Sounds easy enough, right? We would think but usually I will see some mobility deficits that impact the front rack position and dropping into the front squat. So while the following list is not exhaustive of areas that may prevent a good front squat, they are the first places I look at when assessing this movement. I will break them down by front rack (3) and front squat (3), although front rack limiters will obviously carry over into the squat as well if you don’t pass those checks.
· Thoracic rotation – while in a ‘lumbar lock’ position (kneeling back onto your heels, one arm behind your back), can you rotate 50degrees both directions?
· Shoulder external rotation – with your upper arm parallel to the floor and elbow in front of your shoulder, can you rotate your arm outwards?
· Wrist extension – with your fingers straight, can you pull your wrist to 90degrees (basically fingers pointing forward to fingers pointing straight up if your arm is in front of you)?
· Ankle dorsiflexion – in a half kneeling position with the big toe of your front foot 4inches/10cm from a wall, can you touch your knee to the wall while keeping your foot flat and pushing the knee slightly outward?
· Hip flexion – Laying on your back, can you touch your quad to your stomach while keeping your back flat?
· Hip rotation – two ways to measure this. If laying on your back with your leg bent into a 90-90 position (hip and knee bent so knee points to ceiling with calf parallel to floor), can you rotate your foot outward 35+degrees and foot inward 45+degrees? The second way is sitting on a table or box, keeping the thigh flat on the surface and the trunk still – look for same ranges of motion/numbers.
Again, this list is not complete but can be viewed as the more likely culprits for most individuals. We all may feel stiff in certain places from day to day and week to week, particularly if rehabbing an injury or training around some minor nagging issue. That makes it even more important to perform some quick mobility checks before loading any serious weight onto the body. Sometimes though, a little bit of load can go a long way in helping us mobilize through some stiffness and hold onto that new mobility for a little bit longer so make sure to check in with your coach or a PT at your gym to see what the best way to address your specific mobility deficits may be…and keep an eye on my Instagram for video examples of how to do these checks and some mobilizations to address stiff areas you may find!
