In this instructional video, the presenter explains that ankle mobility is often the overlooked factor behind lower back, knee, and shoulder pain. He demonstrates a step‑by‑step diagnostic sequence: first, the heel‑on‑books squat test to determine whether limited squat depth is due to ankle or hip tightness; second, the ankle mobilizer test (foot one foot from a wall, driving the knee over the toe) to differentiate between tight calf/Achilles, tibia‑fibula rotation deficits, and anterior ankle impingement. Based on the findings, he provides corrective techniques: a front‑ankle joint mobilization using padding under the knees and a “toes‑together heart” position while rocking the hips; followed by a calf‑raise exercise with a 5‑second isometric squeeze and subsequent stretch, optionally performed unilaterally. Finally, he retests the squat with heels on books to confirm restored ankle mobility, which should translate into better glute and hamstring activation and reduced pain throughout the kinetic chain.
Chapters
We're going to talk about the thing that you missed in your mobility program. The ankle. The ankle can be responsible for your lower back pain, knee pain, even your shoulders being out of alignment. Today, we're going to show you how to diagnose it and how to fix it. First test, if you're tight in the hips and as you squat, you lean forward, we got to see if it's an ankle issue or a hip issue. All you have to do is get some books, put your heels on top of the books, and then squat again. If your squat improves and you don't lean forward as much and you can squat deeper, you have an ankle issue just like 95% of people we've worked with. Next, we know that you have an ankle issue. Where is it coming from? The ankle is very complex. One of the things could be just a really tight calf and Achilles tendon. This tendon in the back could be so tight that it won't allow the shin to move forward. The next thing it could be is the tib and fib might not rotate correctly. Those have to rotate out as you squat. To create space for your hips, or you could have an impingement here with the tibia and the talus, and that could be binding up. We're going to figure that out right now with this quick test. To test, we're going to do an ankle mobilizer test. You're going to put your foot about a foot away from the wall and drive your knee over the toe as far as it'll go. Now, if you feel all the tension here in the back, that means that your calf and Achilles are tight. If you feel any tension in the front, like an impingement, that means you have an impingement. And usually with this, I like to think if there is any kind of impingement at all, that you have a blockage in the front of your ankle. So if you have a blockage in the front of the ankle, we have to stretch this part out and open up the area between the two joints. You're going to do this, put some padding under the front of your knees that'll lift them up and create a better angle for you. And then you're going to put your toes together like you're forming a little heart. From here, you're just going to drop your hips back and forth and put pressure on the ankle joints themselves. If you want to, you can advance it with your arms up nice and slow and stretch out the front of your ankles. Next, we're going to retest that ankle mobilizer and make sure that the knee is going over the toes smoothly. Then we can move on to the next one and really stretch out the Achilles tendon. Now we're going to do a calf raise. Hold and squeeze our calves for 5 seconds, and then we're going to stretch afterwards. This releases your sympathetic nervous system and allows you to lengthen tissue. If you want to, you can perform it with one leg and get an even better stretch. Lastly, retest. Make sure that your squat felt just like it did with the books underneath your heels. Then you know you fixed your ankle problem. You're able to use your glutes and hamstrings more. The knee pain, the lower back pain, and everything else that can get caused from your ankles being off should feel better now.
