How Do I Keep My Heels Grounded While Squatting

I have trouble keeping my heels on the ground when I squat keeping my feet close. How can I fix this problem?

You need to lengthen the achilleus tendon. There are several exercises that stretch and gradually lengthen that tendon. One of them is standing on a step on the balls of the feet and slowly coming down, so the heel drops to a lower level than the step. You can do this with one leg at a time.It may take a long time and carefully planned training to lengthen this tendon. But if you persevere you will finally see results. Avoid overstretching and prefer to go slowly about this, because this tendon is sensitive and very important!Another exercise that lengthens it is to sit on the floor with the legs stretched out and try to pull the toes towards the body. If you can, grab the toes and push them towards you, so that the feet flex more than 90 degrees.Before you start any workout like the ones described here, have it approved by your doctor.

While squatting, I lift my heels. How do I fix it?

Squatting is a compound exercise, meaning it involves multiple muscles and joints to be performed. Which also means that if one muscle or joint movement is restricted either due to a stiff muscle or due to restricted joint movement due to the muscle attachments, your form and range of sqautting gets affected. Yes, your muscle attachments can be a reason for your movement of a particular joint and also result in a varied movement path. And there is nothing one can do about how their muscle attachments are as it is genetically pre-programmed to be so. And also with this, the length of the bone can also result in varied movement range and path, also genetic.So the lifting of heels can happen if say your> Achillies Tendons don't allow your ankle to bend beyond a particular angle and you're trying to low squat (ass to the grass style) then your heels tend to get lifted.> Your glutes are stiff which results in restricted pelvic movement and hence you tend to lean forward to balance out and the heels tend to lift.> If your femur is longer, then your sqautting depth cannot be too deep as your glutes run out of range and to counter balance this you lean forward and your heels get lifted.There are a few more reasons but the solution is observe your movement and improvise. There are myths about sqautting like knees should not cross the toes and the feet have to be straight pointing forward. Better ignore these. Keep your feet as comfortable to your walking posture and try to keep the knees in an outward position while you squat.The best is hire or consult a good instructor who can help you with proper forms of exercises depending on your body movements.Hope this helpsSTAY CONSISTENT STAY PERSISTENT

Is it making my squats less effective to lift my heels off the floor?

If your heels are rising up then, yes, there are a number of problems that need to be remedied if you want to work into proper squatting position with your heels down.  If you have something available to do this, you should put a small wood block under your heels when you do the squats, and push into that instead of having the weight on your toes.When performing squats properly to hit your entire lower body, you want the weight evenly distributed throughout your whole foot; ideally, all the pressure should be pushed through the middle of your foot rather than the ball or the heel directly.  If you can't keep your heels down, then you lose the even pressure and put excessive force on your knees which can definitely cause injury.  Putting the block under your heels will give you a point of contact with the floor that will allow you to evenly distribute the force.This, however, is only a temporary solution.  You do need to improve your hip and ankle mobility so that you can squat better, but more so for your own physical well-being.  Have tight ankles and hips can lead to several different types of lower body injuries, but the biggest problem would be for your knees and your lower back.  Continue doing the squats, but also look at fixing the mobility issues so you can ensure joint longevity as well.

How can I improve balance when doing side heel and thrust kicks?

Bruce Lee is said to have said, “I don’t fear the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,ooo times.”There a any number of good answers to this question, the most obvious being - “Do ten thousand kicks” — but I think that too many martial artists lose track of the fact that there can be a more effective methods than sheer repetition of the technique.There are a number of factors that go into the ability to throw a powerful and accurate side-kick:The factors to work on developing (roughly in order of importance) are:Muscle strength in the core, as well as the muscles that flex and extend the leg.Grounded and well-balance stances in general, including whatever ready stance you begin in.Body alignment and balance when standing on one foot in your kicking stance.Muscle and joint flexibility.Proper foot positioning for best striking surface.Proper extension and retraction.So…the way to develop powerful side-kick techniques is to integrate these goals in each section of a standard martial arts workout.In the warm-up: Increase muscle strength through conditioning that includes core training—such as squats, burpees and plyometrics. Move into flexibility training that focuses beyond simply static stretching to dynamic range-of-motion training to increase joint flexibility.During basic technique practice: Proper stance and alignment on all strikes to develop grounded stances while learning to engage the core in all movements. Use half-kick techniques, such as knee strikes and knee-blocks to develop balance on one foot. Use bracing, such as a wall, a piece of equipment or a partner to develop proper extension and hip flexion in side kicks. (e.g. - Practice slow side kicks while braced with one hand on a partner shoulder, while the partner practices horse-squat stances.) Focus on proper foot and body alignment, as well as retraction to a balanced stance.During forms practice - Work on explosive power, extension and consistent stances before and after a kick.During freestyle/impact work - Work with heavy targets, such as a heavy bag, or partner holding a full shield. Light targets encourage poor, improperly under-extended techniques, where heavy targets force you to use glutes, lower back, core and hip muscles to extend kicks. Work with partners or light targets to practice striking surfaces such as the heel and the outer blade edge.If side-kicks sound like a life-long project, they are!