Flexibility problems with squat as a tall lifter

[andyP]

I am 45 years old, have an office job and have just started doing the Starting Strength program.
It has been 20 year since I last trained with weights. The period in between I have mainly done running.
I am quite tall, 6'3 and am having trouble with the squat. My ankles hurt afterwards, a bit like if I were to sprain them. I took one lesson with a personal trainer (unfortunately there does not seem to be any Starting Strength Coaches in Norway where I live), and he found that I have poor ankle dorsiflexion.
Also my hip flexors hurt. The wider the stance, the more they hurt. Seems the pain is caused by tight hip adductors. My sideways flexibility in the hips is terrible. Where Van Damme can do a split = 180 degrees I can do less than 90 degrees.

Am I correct in assuming that as a tall lifter I need either or both extra flexible ankles and hips? Should tall lifters take an extra wide stance?

My personal trainer recommended mobility exercises for my ankle. I understand Mark Rippetoe is not a big fan of mobility exercises. I watched this interesting video on youtube:
Why Stretching Isn't The Answer by Dr. Quinn Henoch. He basically argues that tight muscles are not usually due to short muscle fibers but due to the nervous system instructing the muscles to tighten to make up for other muscles that are weak. In my words: poor flexibility is the symptom. Poor strength (in another muscle) is the cause.

In my case I believe that my ankles, hip adductor and hip abductor are weak. Apparently weak hip adductors are a common problem in runners (as opposed to say football players) since all the movement is in the foreward plane.

Now how do I fix this problem?

I see Mark recommend using the Leg Press since this allows weight less than bodyweight.
I tried this yesterday and noticed that I could go really deep with no pain in hips or ankles. One possible solution would be to progress using this machine for some time before moving on to the squat.

Yesterday I also tried alternating walking sideways with elastic bands around my legs and using the hip adductor machine.
My hips already feels a bit better. Today I have been doing some light butterfly stretches with elastic bands (since working the abductors causes the antagonist: the adductors to relax).

What are your toughts on how to achieve the desired ankle and hip strength and flexibility?

Thanks in advance for any answers!

[Ryan Arnold]

I would suggest buying the Blue Book and performing the lifts as described. You may not need as much flexibility work as you think.

[carson]

I agree with Ryan. Muscles recruited into activity always resist. Didn't TS Eliot once write: "April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering earth in forgetful snow, feeding a little life with dried tubers..." ?

[Mugaaz]

I am 6'4, significantly overweight, can't come close to touching my toes, and have no problems squatting to depth. It just isn't limited by flexibility, unless you make it so by doing it incorrectly in such a way that requires you to be flexible in order to achieve depth. You just started doing squats for the first time. Which is more likely, your technique being poor, or your body being such a unique snowflake that squats are impossible for you?

[Eric Schexnayder]

If you can sit in a normal chair, you can squat a la Starting Strength. Buy the book and do them as taught therein.

[IanTeda]

Hey andyP,

I'm 6'4" and found the same issue starting out.

As Ryan suggested, get the Starting Strength (SS) book and follow the cues.

Spend some time looking through the squat form check videos on the forum. Then video your lifts and critique your own form against what you see in other form checks.

What helped me: out of the SS book, and thus what I was doing wrong. Get the right foot separation, rotate the toes out and then track the knee position vertically over the foot.

[Mike Barry]

A pair of proper squat/weightlifting shoes should also help quite a bit.

[andyP]

Thank you all for your answers! I've got this sorted now. My solution was this:
+ Buy weightlifting shoes with medium drop (0.6 inch), which is still way more than the flat sneakers I was using.
+ Take a stance slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
+ Make sure my toes are at least 30 degrees pointed out.
+ Mobilize my ankles and hips before workout. For my hips I do monster walks with elastic bands around my knees.
+ Do a lot of warmup sets. I start with 2 sets of bodyweight. Next set is only the bar, then add 20 kg and so on. When rereading the blue book I found this was very well explained in the "WARM-UP SETS" chapter, I just choose to ignore it since I have never had to do that much warmup for eg. a bench press.


I also sometimes do bodyweight squats on my offdays and sit in the bottom position for a while. My hips are already more flexible. I can now get to about 110 degrees split. In physical education class in school I remember being able to do about 135 degrees so that is what I am aiming for. Since my motivation for strength training is general health I am pleased that it requires some flexibility so that it forces me to fix that as well.