Mobility progressions- Why we squat and lunge with our knees past our toes

I'm often asked by other coaches how and what do you do next after opening up new range of motion (ROM) at a joint? Most everyone understands what it takes to acquire the new range but typically struggle with progressing, many times rushing into advanced drills that aren’t necessarily appropriate. 

A post shared by Coach Chris Campbell (@coachchriscampbell) on Jul 26, 2017 at 1:17pm PDT

The goal of mobility training is to create sufficient range of motion, strength and control at a joint so all tissues involved can perform optimally for whatever your goal or task may be. 

Once a coach has progressed his/her client to open new ROM and even improved neuromuscular control, we must continue to progressively load said tissues to further adapt to build strength and resiliency.

Which brings us to POSITIONAL ISOMETRICS. Putting your client in a position that they need to perform in and gradually loading their tissues in this position is the safest, most effective way to continue their progress.

Positional isometrics allow us to:

1. Create a safe and strong foundation. I often put clients into the ½ kneeling position or tall lunge position to load their knee and ankle tissues, below pain threshold, especially when pain presents in a more dynamic drill i.e. step up, lunges. 

2. Focus training areas of weakness through full ROM that may be neglected in a more dynamic set-up i.e. momentum from a plyometric may be masking weakness at a certain point. 

3. Ensure we strengthen the appropriate tissues and get maximum carry over to sport and life requirements without doing any damage to unprepared tissues. Most people need to squat or step up to some degree. We can and should train these positions without additional wear and tear on these joints if limited due to pain or injury. 
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4. Master the basics by reinforcing proper technique and helping to build to more advanced movements.