Supertraining

People shift their weight forward onto the ball of the
foot because their glutes are not strong enough to
push the heel down when in the extreme position.  If
want to test this just have someone do a wall sit with
their legs at 90 degrees.  People obviously will not
have "ankle flexibility" issues at this joint angle
but they will still shift their weight to the front of
the foot and lift the heel up when they become
fatigued.  This is because they want to use their
stronger quads and not use the weaker tired glutes.

Oh and one more thing, what kind of "flexibility" is
everyone talking about??  Many people may have great
passive flexibility in all of the joints you are
talking about, but once you ask them to do a movement
they are unable to relax and contract the appropriate
muscles at the appropriate times unabling them to do
the motion you are talking about (an Overhead Squat in
this case).  Developing these kinds of abilities are a
lot more complex than just having someone do static
stretching for the muscle groups talked about.  

Chad Scheitel, MA, CSCS
Minneapolis, MN
 
--- Bill Ryan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> I said it has nothing to do with ankle flexibility.
> It could be numerous issues including flexibility in
> the hips or hamstrings, the length of the femur in
> relation to the torso, stance width, foot position
> and bar placement. 
>    
>   Bill Ryan
>   Havertown, Pa
> 
> "Smith, Stephen (Health Sciences)"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: 
>           If I am not mistaken individuals usually
> place a board (or some other
> device) under their heels because they cannot squat
> without the heels
> coming off of the ground. If that doesn't have
> something to do with
> flexibility then could you please elaborate as to
> why? I was certified
> through USAW and was specifically taught by Leo
> Totten and Paul
> Fleischer that the board does not fix the problem
> and the problem is a
> lack of flexibility. Most of Olympic lifting can't
> adequately be done
> with excellent flexibility. So could you please
> elaborate on the post
> that it has nothing to do with flexibility.
> 
> Thank you kindly,
> Steve Smith, ABD, CSCS, USAW
> Lynchburg, VA