yesterday after the squat-form-absurdity day, I searched old postings and found a link to this article:
Leg Training Myths - The Science of Total Training
here's the pertinent section:
In order to perform a full squat, flexibility and range of motion must be maintained in the lumbar spine and SI joint, as well as in muscles such as the iliopsoas, hip external rotators, piriformis, and gemelli.
If a client can't squat past 90 degrees of knee bend without their heels raising or their body bending excessively forward at the waist, but they can squat all the way to the floor while holding onto something, we know there are muscle imbalances and stability issues around the pelvic/lumbosacral region as opposed to a knee or ankle dysfunction.
Interesting...
Bytsi - how's your flexibility from karate? I still can't do a full split, and even my floor straddle stretch is minimal - I felt a renewed motivation last night to work on stretching my hips/groin.