Fixing My Squat: Part I - Assessment & Treatment

by Scott Shetler
August 18, 2006

Proper alignment, form, and technique are crucial when it comes to the execution of an exercise. As a trainer and competitive lifter, I tend to focus more on these aspects than anything else pertaining to the program development of my clients and athletes. The perfect program design amounts to absolutely nothing if the exercises are not performed correctly. At the root of correct exercise technique is structural alignment.

In speaking with trainers and coaches I always hear about making sure the hips and knees are moving correctly while squatting, the back is arched, shoulder blades pulled together, head up, chest out, etc. Aside from the direction to point the toes or "push out" on the feet, I have heard very little about the feet or how they affect the squat or any other exercise. After consideration this seemed strange to me since, for the athlete, the feet are where the "rubber meets the road." Think of the feet as the wheels on a car. If you had a high performance Ferrari would you take it and run it hard at the track without making sure the wheels and tires were balanced and aligned properly? I seriously doubt it. Why would an athlete, who spends countless hours training, practicing and preparing for competition, not treat their feet the same way a race car driver would his wheels and tires?

As a powerlifter, my feet have a huge impact in the performance of the three competition lifts, the squat, bench press and deadlift. In the squat and deadlift it should be quite obvious why the feet are important as they are both performed standing up. However, using the feet in the bench press is crucial in order to maximize the performance of the lift as well. Yes, the lifter is lying on the bench but the feet are driving the lifter into the bench. Without proper leg drive, a lifter will give up a lot of weight in the bench press. Good lifters know how to "squat" through the bench press.

The squat is probably my most inconsistent lift. As a novice lifter with a 425lb squat at 198lbs bodyweight, and having only lifted in three meets thus far, I chalked it up to a case of everything being weak. While it is true that I need to continually get stronger, I never considered poor foot alignment affecting my squatting technique, until I met Dr. Lou Pack.

Dr. Pack specializes in optimizing biomechanical structural abnormalities of the lower extremities. His methods and expertise have helped numerous athletes and five world record holders. I felt if his methods worked for high-performance athletes then they could certainly help a novice lifter like me. Dr. Pack is an expert in the field and more trainers and coaches need to consider his method of structural assessment. To reference the above car analogy, Dr. Pack likes to say that as the trainer I build the Ferraris and he balances and aligns the wheels and tires.

Dr. Pack first assessed my structural alignment and determined that my right leg was approximately one inch longer than my left leg. When looking at the way I stood in a relaxed position, Dr. Pack also determined that my left foot pronated (flattened or rolled in on the instep) excessively and also abducted (moved outward, away from my body).

Even though my left foot is partially blocked, carefully notice how much more my left foot is turned out than my right foot. This greatly affected my squat technique as it caused my left leg to rotate internally (turn inward) when the weights got heavy. This caused me to shift over to my right leg which was a stronger, more rigid lever and easier to push off of when recovering from a squat. This can be seen in the following picture taken at my first powerlifting meet while attempting to squat 415lbs. Notice the left foot/leg when compared to the right foot/leg. To see what affect this was having on my squat simply look at the angle of the bar. These structural problems cause issues with balance and can greatly increase injuries such as those to the inside of my left knee.

Aside from the leg length discrepancy Dr. Pack also determined I had tight calves, which was quite apparent from the way I walked across the floor of his clinic. He used a special trigger-point technique (that he developed) to "reset" my calf, then he taught me the proper stretching techniques to maintain my newfound flexibility. This injection is amazing as it dramatically increases the range of motion in the calf and therefore helps your squats and also prevents injuries to the calf and Achilles tendon. Even more remarkable is that once done, the totally painless injection usually does not have to be repeated.

After this he took a perfect mold of my feet in their correct structural position and had specialized orthotic inserts designed for my shoes. Most physicians cast your feet weight bearing (standing), capturing the abnormal foot position. His unique technique casts the feet in their ideal functioning position. He then brings the ground up to reach the foot and hold that ideal position.

I feel it is important to note that these are not your "run of the mill" inserts you can get anywhere. They are exclusive to Dr. Pack; designed by him and available only through him.

Here are some pictures taken at Dr. Pack's clinic of my feet both off and on the inserts during normal standing and squatting. Please note that during these pictures I was not using any special technique of pushing out on the feet while squatting. I stood and squatted with my legs totally relaxed to show how much of an impact the inserts alone have on correcting technique and structural alignment. I believe the inserts coupled with correct squatting mechanics will make a powerful combination and I can only imagine the difference it could make for lifters at the elite level.

Now that Dr. Pack has corrected my structure, it is time to see what happens to my training. I will monitor how my training lifts improve as a result of the orthotic inserts as well as how the inserts affect my competition lifts at my next powerlifting meet in August. I will report my results in a follow-up to this article. In the meantime, I strongly urge you to consider how correcting your structural alignment may affect your training, competition and overall health. If it's good enough for world record holders, it's good enough for us!

For more information on Dr. Pack and Precision Sports, Inc. please visit his website at: www.drloupack.com.