Decline Squat

When planning to start the long process and break up the progressive stages of a knee rehabilitation program, an understanding of what can influence movements from a mobility and stability perspective is critical. Many of the best exercises to develop strength into weak areas are not necessarily the best option in the early stages as the body compensates and adapts to the pain and injury. Using various tools and drills to “retrain” the brain and nervous system is very important in being able to restore efficient functional movements of the body. The quadriceps can be a real problem in the beginning as they may have contributed greatly to creating the injury in the first place, and are often left with excessive tightness and weakness. This makes it very difficult to strengthen without creating more pain, and also more dysfunction. In this article, I am going to explain the role of using the Decline Board Squat to overcome this problem. I will show you how to gradually progress to heel plate squats, to eventually floor based squats and pain free movement. The purpose of the decline squat is to improve the overall strength of quadriceps while maintaining muscle balance and optimal movement pattern of squatting.

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