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I’ve been working on my squat for a week now.
The left leg is a reluctant participant.
There’s plenty of feedback from the leg.
All the feedback is legitimate. The good doctor grafted a slice of muscle onto the tendon to help the mended tendon regrow into a more robust structure.
And that foot was ‘immobilised’ in the stretched position for a couple of months.
The muscles and tendons that ‘bend’ the ankle (dorsiflex) now have to relearn to deal with load. And of course, I have to relearn how to push the floor away through my forefoot.
There’s a lot going on. And when you’re squatting on two legs, the stronger one is impatient and will refuse to wait for further instructions as you try to restore parity with the impaired leg.
So I introduce constraints. The stagger stance squat with the working leg on an elevation and non-working leg on the floor is what I went with.
This forces the left leg to stay engaged and take the load. I can also feel how much of my right leg I am relying on to get the job done.
It was day 1 with this pattern. And I might use this more than the regular squat moving forward. So much of the rehab process feels like finding the right tool and right move to remind that left leg how to work normally.