I'm Jeremy Shore for Livestrong.com, and this is how the squat test is measured. The squat test is an excellent movement assessment tool used to identify muscular imbalances and weak links in the kinetic chain. Based on the results a corrective exercise prescription can be applied. When performing the squat test there are key areas to watch. Keep an eye on the ankles, knees, hips, trunk and arms to get feedback on muscular imbalances, over-activity and weakness. Faulty movement patterns can lead to decreased performance and ultimately injury. Let me show you how to perform the squat test and what to watch for. When performing the squat test it's best to assess yourself by either looking in a mirror and watching yourself or having someone else watch you to give you the feedback. To perform the squat test, stand with feet hip to shoulder-width apart, arms extended overhead. From here, we're going to drop into a squat slowly until we get to the bottom position where our thighs are just about parallel to the floor. From here we'll extend back up through the knees and hips standing tall. Things to watch out for, again at the ankles and move all the way up the body. So at the bottom of the movement as you're dropping into the squat, you notice the ankles collapsing in or feet turning out or feet rolling out. The other thing to look for is at the knees, when dropping into the squat, the knees tend to bow out or collapse inwards towards one another. Moving up the chain if you look at the hips, as you drop into the squat, do you notice an excessive forward lean where the trunk is dropping close to the hips as you drop or do you notice the tail tucking under excessively as you lower into the squat? Next, look a the trunk and shoulders. As you are dropping into the squat, are the arms staying outside of the ears or are they falling forward as you squat? By assessing each of these points, it will uncover which muscles are tight or over-active and which muscles are weak so you can prescribe an exercise corrective plan for yourself individually. I'm Jeremy Shore for Livestrong.com, and this has been how to measure an overhead squat.
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