Hyde
Legend
ART said my facet joint is fine, moving normally and inflammation seems minimal. He was able to loosen a ton of sticky spots all over my low back musculature and I felt much better after seeing him. Lots of cat camels and icing is the recovery plan, he said I can pull Sunday but lots of warmup (including cat camels for the facet joint prior).
We believe the extra ankle mobility I did prior let me squat deeper than I have been, so if I lost a little spinal position at that depth it seems like my muscles took the strain. But it is muscular, not the joint or connective tissue, so best case scenario for a back strain. We’re going to curb the issue by squatting to a 16” box for now (not boxsquatting, just a tap to ensure I squat high in a safe range for now). 14” is my comp depth.
That being said, he really assessed my left ankle/foot - the one that has been badly sprained several times and torn something on the top in an exploded farmers carry, plus the Achilles that has been nearly torn by a super heavy truck pull. He believes, specifically for me because of how my “arch” is collapsed out and doesn’t fire, that squatting in lifters so I have arch support to better hold things in place will allow me to avoid the left calf tightness, knee stress, and underutilization of leg muscle I have there. He thinks if I can find one with a low lift and wide enough toebox to accommodate my extra wide feet that it will raise the ceiling on my max potential squat strength (coming from a guy who squats in flats).
We believe the extra ankle mobility I did prior let me squat deeper than I have been, so if I lost a little spinal position at that depth it seems like my muscles took the strain. But it is muscular, not the joint or connective tissue, so best case scenario for a back strain. We’re going to curb the issue by squatting to a 16” box for now (not boxsquatting, just a tap to ensure I squat high in a safe range for now). 14” is my comp depth.
That being said, he really assessed my left ankle/foot - the one that has been badly sprained several times and torn something on the top in an exploded farmers carry, plus the Achilles that has been nearly torn by a super heavy truck pull. He believes, specifically for me because of how my “arch” is collapsed out and doesn’t fire, that squatting in lifters so I have arch support to better hold things in place will allow me to avoid the left calf tightness, knee stress, and underutilization of leg muscle I have there. He thinks if I can find one with a low lift and wide enough toebox to accommodate my extra wide feet that it will raise the ceiling on my max potential squat strength (coming from a guy who squats in flats).
Upper back was fine, got in position, and finished strong.

3x National Champion now
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