Dr. Kelly Starrett of Mobility WOD has been preaching a more forward toe angle in the squat for a few years now. I respect everything Kelly has to say, but I don’t like to follow anyone blindly without reason. When Kelly talked about “improving torque” at the hip, it confused me. I asked various people to explain it, but nobody could give me an explanation that used mechanics and musculoskeletal anatomy.

I never got a chance to talk to Kelly about it (and haven’t attended his seminar yet, but will), but after thinking about it for a long time it makes a lot of sense. It all has to do with the distribution of force from the ground up, but the entire process is dependent on the mobility of everything from the foot to the back. The following video is a (thorough) explanation of what’s going on along with necessary visuals.



Put simply, hip torque is dependent on having good mobility. Good mobility allows the lifter to squat with a more forward toe angle, thus having optimal torque at the hip is dependent on having a more forward toe angle. When a lifter has the mobility to use a “forward toe angle” — or one that is about 10 degrees outside of “straight ahead” — and maintain proper knee and hip positioning, the distribution of their force application is more even across the posterior and anterior aspects of the thigh (regardless of squatting type). Here is another simple way of saying that: more musculature is used in a tighter way when the lifter has the mobility to use a more forward toe angle correctly. Being tighter with more musculature would result in being stronger throughout a squat.

The “torque” part is referring to the hip’s ability to externally rotate. Torque is a rotational force, and the external rotators rotate the femur laterally away from the mid-line of the body. When the lifter’s thigh, knee, shin, and ankle structures are able to allow the external rotators to do this, it loads the hip in a way that can be described as improving the “torque”, or rotational force at the hip itself. Torque can also increase at the knee and ankle since if the knee is tracked slightly outside of the toe angle, the tibia slightly laterally rotates with respect to the ankle. The result of greater torque from the foot to the hip is that the force distributes optimally across all of segments and joints to have a stronger and more stable position. This increases both performance and safety.

Specifically force is distributed more optimally to the lateral portions of the thigh. Anyone who actually has the mobility to squat with a more forward toe angle reports feeling “tighter”, especially through the proximal and lateral portion of the hamstrings, lateral portion of the quadriceps, and lateral and distal portion of the hips. It turns these areas “on” whereas with a wider toe angle these areas are more “off”. It’s not possible to show this to someone who is unable to achieve the more forward toe angle because they won’t be able to achieve proper positioning, and therefore won’t feel the difference. As someone who can do this, I can tell you that having a wider toe angle (that is anywhere from 20ish to 30ish degrees) places a greater emphasis on the adductors (inner thigh muscles), medial hamstrings, and medial quads. If you have ever been sore from low bar squats in the inner thigh region, this is part of the reason why (the adductors will still be “on” with the “toes more forward” position, it’s just that you won’t specifically be focusing on them and you’ll probably experience soreness in other areas instead).

It is very clear to me how torque is increased from a mechanics perspective, given that the “toes more forward” position increases the rotational force at the ankles, knees, and hips. It is also very clear to me, both from analyzing it and doing it, that the force is distributed evenly across the anterior and posterior aspects of the thighs and hips better in this forward toe position. If you have watched the above video and read this post and are still fuzzy on the issue, then post your questions to comments and we’ll improve our understanding of it.

Hyper-mobility is common in a lot of females and addressing it properly is necessary to avoid injury and ensure efficacy in lifting. Today we’ll focus on hyper-mobile hips; this occurs when the female lifter is able to externally rotate beyond normal ranges of motion to the point that her knees are severely outside of her toe angle. If this occurs over time, it can result in lateral knee issues and even “snapping hip syndrome”.

The first thing that needs to be looked at is the toe angle of the squat. If the lifter has her toes pointing out farther than 20 degrees, then she needs to bring her toe angle in to about ten degrees. Toe angle is dependent on mobility, and higher mobility lifters will benefit from a more forward knee position (more on this in tomorrow’s post). If her toe angle is 30 degrees or greater, than the angle facilitates the excessive external rotation in the hip. The first step is bring the toe angle in to about “ten degrees from forward position”.

This may fix the issue by increasing torque to the point that she can’t excessively externally rotate the hips (torque is explained tomorrow), but if not then it needs to directly be addressed. The lifter must be taught that her knees need to track in the same angle as her toes. This gives her a reference point for where her knees should go, especially when “knees out” has probably been drilled into her head. “Knees out” is vague in that it means “get the knees out more than where they are right now”. Having the knees out is important, but mindlessly using the cue can help produce this “over external rotation” issue that causes problems and injury. “Track the knees over the toes” is a specific, descriptive phrase that tells the lifter where to put her knees. A usable, concise cue to use after explaining the concept is “track knees”.

The lifter may require a few drills, un-weighted squats, or light squats to practice this refined technique. If she is unable to do it properly with heavier weight, then the weight obviously needs to be lowered. It’s not just the “skill” or “technique” that we are changing here; it’s the distribution of force and how the musculature applies that force. In other words, the musculature necessary to do this properly must be developed from chronic training. If she has been doing it wrong for a period of time, her structures will have developed within the context of an improper ROM, and now she has to develop them in a good ROM. Any serious problem with knee angle on the squat (whether the knees are too far in or out) will probably require at least several weeks of “treatment squatting” — lighter weight squatting that focuses on the proper mechanics so that the musculature develops with the optimal ROM.

The video below explains everything above while showing the various positions. It also includes two effective mobility methods that a female with tight hip external rotators and abductors should use if she is having trouble with internal rotation. Having a lack of internal rotation is only natural if the external rotators are excessively tight due to pulling the femurs out beyond the toe angle. Tight internal rotators would have a negative effect on split positions in Olympic weightlifting as well as general athleticism and agility.

It’s PR Friday. Post your training updates and PR’s to comments.

Question of the Weekend
What do you think is the most effective assistance exercise for your training? List your training focus to give us perspective.

There is no reading list this week (I lost all the links I had saved up).

Random pic of Mike and Mark Felix from the Arnold

Scott P. asks,

Justin, I know you’re probably not considered an expert on the subject but if I were training for an endurance event like the GoRuck Challenge, what would you recommend to keep strength gains made while on 70’s big programming? Ideally I would obviously like to continue making strength/power gains while bolstering endurance and I know at some point something will give. I figure if my character in Skyrim can whip a dragons ass with an 90lb hammer while running 60+ miles in a day why can’t I?

CONTINUE READING THE Q&A Continue reading →

If you’re wondering why there wasn’t a post yesterday, it’s because my ISP took a shit. Today, I had to use internet at a public location. I had a nice “Toe Angle when Squatting” post lined up, but the upload speed for the accompanying video is abysmal. Instead, here are some videos to wet your whistle.

Ask questions for tomorrow’s Q&A in today’s comments. I’ll gather up the good ones and use them tomorrow. Also, feel free to post interesting articles for me and other readers (if they are solid, I’ll add them to the weekly reading list).

Oh! I nearly forgot. Klokov was in my dream last night. We sat on a bench in Soviet Russia and had a conversation.. He was wearing a tank top. He talked about life and training. I came.

Here’s Norik Vardanian cleaning, then front squatting, then jerking 210kg (no big deal):

Here’s another of him hitting a really solid snatch at 170kg. He also CJ’d 215. Norik used to lift for USA Weightlifting but tested positive for marijuana. He now lifts for Armenia and is a 94kg lifter.

Here’s Konstantinovs doing his max effort squatting day:

His recent “deadlift training day” vid is even more impressive.

And lastly, here’s Hysen Pulaku CJing 200kg at a 77kg body weight. He’s an Albanian lifter who is rumored to get US citizenship…

Shawn and I attended the finals of the Arnold Classic at the Arnold Sport Festival. We had sorta followed bodybuilding a few years ago and there’s still a few guys that Shawn is a fan of (like Kai Greene), but when we sat down, we both had that, “I immediately regret this decision,” feeling. It was mostly because we were subjected to at least 45 minutes of dudes posing (badly) to (shitty) music. I don’t know what bothered me more, the fact that Branch Warren won best poser with music choices of Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock, or that everyone was whistling, hooting, and hollering during the abortion of a performance. Seriously, what happened to the grace and artful posing I saw in Pumping Iron? The bottom line is that Shawn and I weren’t aroused by this type of stuff.

The culture of today’s bodybuilding is where the disconnect is. When I look at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding, it just seems different than today’s bodybuilding. Yes, guys were still training to improve their physique, but the drugs resulted in a more streamlined look. They had good shape, and even the bigger guys weren’t uncomfortably bulky; the size seemed to fit each man’s frame. But the issue isn’t that the physiques are significantly different (as a result of the drug improvements), but instead the difference is the culture surrounding it. Remember the scene in Pumping Iron when Arnold visited a prison and did a posing routine? The thugs and gang bangers had an honest appreciation for the beauty of the human body. It seemed like the world was more impressed with bodybuilding and strength sports back then. There were powerlifting broadcasts hosted by Bryant Gumbel in the ’70s and routine public appearances by bodybuilders. It seems like it was all so new to society that there was still that “go see the strongman at the circus” aura behind it. It’s only natural since the preceding century saw the Civil War, World War I, and World War II; society didn’t have the luxury to bodybuild and it was fascinating because it was different.

Yet, today’s culture has gone through a metamorphosis that makes it…weird. The majority of attendees at the Arnold Classic finals were wearing designer clothes, plucked their eyebrows, and applied fake tanning solution — and I’m not even talking about the girls. This crowd also trains to only improve their physique, but there’s also that “we’re going clubbing” feel to it. It seems that if you integrate yourself into today’s bodybuilding culture by working out or competing, you inherently implement the “peacock” mentality of spreading your wings. “Look and be flashy” is not only standard ops, but what it’s all about.

And it doesn’t matter why this is the case, because it doesn’t matter. What matters is that there is a culture that not only prides itself on how good it looks, but on how flashy and shiny they can appear to others in the same group. Ultimately, that’s just weird to me. Sure, I want to be attractive, masculine, and muscular, but to me these traits (at least the latter two) are dependent on ability, performance, and health. Be strong and look strong. I’m not saying that the inherent level of narcissism in today’s bodybuilding is wrong, I’m just saying that it’s different and not my kind of thing.

We’re very accustomed to the “me” generation. Social media like Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter give people the impression that other people give a shit what they have to say. Posting pictures of yourself and how you look is not only standard ops, but expected. Perhaps it’s a result of a generation of bad parenting and society catering towards kids. Unfortunately, marketing to kids is a good idea because parents are able to spend money for their children. This AI animation tool can also help market your services. YYou can also create fun and unique images using an AI GIF generator. We see entire television networks and restaurant menus devoted to kids. Instead of getting told what to do, as they should be, kids get a choice about everything. They are given the impression that someone gives a shit about their opinion. This fills them with a sense of self-importance at an age when they shouldn’t be heard at all (especially in airports, restaurants, stores, or any other public place ever). Once they reach adolescence, they continue to spit their self-important thoughts and image to their peers, and this kind of behavior flows naturally into the bodybuilding culture.

Seeing bodybuilding online is different than seeing it in person. Since we’re subjected to people posting pictures of their clothes or body, it’s not abnormal to see that on bodybuilding forums. Yet when you’re in a building with several thousand people who are trying so hard to be noticed, it’s almost overwhelming. Shawn and I stood in the lobby as the crowds flowed out of the auditorium after the show. There were scarves, v-necks, and overwhelming stenches of cologne. I was unshaven in jeans, boots, and flannel, and I couldn’t have wanted to be further from that crowd (perhaps on the side of a mountain next to a river chopping firewood). It’s not that I thought everyone was wrong, it’s that I just know I’ll never fucking understand it.

(Video of Arnold’s speech at the Arnold Classic finals)