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I know this has been asked before and I have heard a lot of info on this topic but I am still having trouble with ankle flexibility in the front squat, overhead squat and back squat.

I am trying to perform deep olympic squats and keep upright torso as much as possible. I have made some progress but still have a great deal of forward lean that is really harming my ability to recover from cleans etc. Front squat is easiest for me to reduce forward lean, then overhead squats, and with backsquats, I just can't get rid of the lean.

I stretch my calves 2-3 times per week statically after workouts.

Thanks

Hi Ryan. Unfortunately, as my age goes up, my flexibility goes down, so I have to work on it a lot. What works for me sounds like what you're already doing. I just do the front and overhead squats with an empty bar daily, sometimes several times a day, followed by static stretches. I stand a foot or two away from the wall, keep the feet flat, and lean into the wall. Anyway, I was thumbing through Art Dreschler's The Weightlifting Encyclopedia, and noticed he had a few pages with suggestions on this. It's rather lengthy, but you have a decent library out there at Davis, and you might want to look at his book.
Tim

Thanks Tim,

I will give that book a look.

From looking at pictures of olympic lifters and their position, it seems like I am only lacking the ankle flexibility that lets them push their knees so far forward and thus keep an upright torso.

Do you think that weight loss would help?

In other words, I have some extra inches around my belly, do you think this somehow is messing up my leverage?

LOL, well, I hadn't thought of that, but now that I do think about, when I let myself go up a bit, in lbs and in inches around the waist, I do get a bit inlexible in the hips and in almost all areas below the waist. I can't say that it will cure the problem, but it surely will help.
Tim

Do you have a history of ankle injuries?

If you mean sprains/twists/ etc, then yes.

I've had a stage III sprain in each ankle and dealt with flexibility issues over the years. Something that has helped me is the glucosamine-chondroitin (sp?) supplement Osteo Bi-Flex.

I used to wake up in the mornings and have to walk on egg shells because of the pain and stiffness but I've been on the g&c supplement in 1 form or another and now can wake up pain free with no more popping or stiffness.

The only downside to the supplements is the price but you can usually find a good deal on unopened/unexpired bottles on Ebay.

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