Quick Recap

Head on to last week's thread or week one to catch up with us. If you slacked off or caught up just now, it's still not too late. Join us!

##Week 3: Quadriceps Stretch

• Video for Week 3

• This week will focus on your quadriceps muscles. The quadriceps is a 4-headed muscle, that consists of 4 different muscle heads on the front and the side of your thighs. They have the function of extending your knee, while one head, the rectus femoris muscle also flexes your hips. In a deep squat, the quadriceps' major function is not only standing up though, but also stability of your center of gravity. For some people, a tight quadriceps is the limiting factor in a proper deep squat and lets them fall back - even though they have good ankle flexibility. Because of that, we want to focus on quadriceps flexibility this week.

###How to do this weeks stretch:

• Seat your calves and feet on the floor, keep them in a straight line, and flex at the knee.
• Now lean back with your butt until you can't lean back with your thighs anymore.
• If you are very inflexible, put a chair/box in front of you for support.
• If you need a pillow, please put it between your calves and your butt, or under your knees.
• If you can sit comfortably in this position, lean your upper body back (hinge at the hips).
• Lean back until you notice the stretch.

How long do I hold this stretch?

• If you're doing the stretch for the first time, 1 minute is enough.
• When you start to feel comfortable, repeat the stretch up to 3 times a day.

###Mobility Box:

Spend a few minutes on the exercise/sequence. Change daily.

If all of the mobility exercises are way too hard for you, try putting something under your heels for support or scale them down to easier progressions. If it's still undoable, focus on the main stretches and call it a day.

#####Mobility Routines:

• Squat Clinic V1
• Squat Clinic V2
• House Cleaning Drill
• GMB Hip Routine
• Hip Sequence
• Monkey Drills

#####Skill Exercises:

• Basic Frogger
• Basic Monkey
• Frogger Variations
• 360° Monkey
• High Monkey

#####Single Stretches:

• Pistol Flexibility
• Russian Baby Maker
• Ankle Partner Stretch

If you encounter pain, especially knee pain, during the stretches, please do not continue! It could mean that you are stretching too deep for your level, or even injuring something. Visit your sports-oriented physician or physiotherapist and find out what is causing the pain and how to fix it.

Don't be shy

Don't keep it to yourself! Share your thoughts and pictures, right here on this sub or on any other platform! We would love to hear from you! Don't be a stranger. :-)

If you use instagram, tag your posts with hashtags: #rflexibility #squatmonth!

##TL;DR

• Do the Week 1 Main Stretch.
• Do the Week 2 Main Stretches.
• Do the Week 3 Main Stretch.
• Pick something from the Mobility Box. (Spend a few minutes!)
• Repeat daily.
• ???
• Profit!

##Unrelated Bonus

Check out Antranik's 2nd video on arm circles. I've posted number one last week. This has nothing to do with squatting, but it's really good!