WODdoc Episode 274 Project365: Squat Technique; Knee Tracking

We are on to the 3rd pillar; Lower extremity tracking. If you have been following along over the past 3 days you would know I strongly believe that there are 3 pillars (3 “nonnegotiables”) in squatting. If you haven’t seen the previous 2 episodes stop being lazy, take the 10 minutes and start from the beginning.

We use the term knee tracking but it’s a bit of a misnomer.  We really care about the position of the entire lower extremity, but the knee, since it’s in the middle, is a great reference of whats going on. There are so many reasons why knee caving is bad but lets just run through one. Look at the picture below.

If the knee caves inward there is an associated internal rotation of the entire leg. This places excessive strain on the ankle and the hip. Under enough weight or repetitions we get a stress that supersedes the structural integrity of the tissues…. AKA you get gunked up. What we want to do is fight into external rotation by screwing our feet into the ground and pressing our knees outward. Try todays fun drill for some help.

Today’s WODdocket:

1. 2 mins sitting in bottom between boxes as shown (mark your feet with chalk while there)

2. 3 sets x 10 knee tap squats between boxes. Separated by 3 sets x 5 reps air squats