You may have seen yogis crowing with their bum nearly touching the ground, or people on Instagram getting their hamstrings to touch their calves when they squat – so why can you only make it to 90° (if that)?

“When we squat, the ankle flexes and one of the deep calf muscles, the soleus, has to lengthen. Typically, this is a very short muscle, and it’s shortened further by wearing heels – even if they’re not high. When we then go to squat, this muscle can’t lengthen enough to let the knees move forward and the hips come down,” Sarah explains.

If you want to check whether it really is your tight soleus blocking the movement, you can test your calf flexibility. Stand facing a wall or door, ideally without a skirting board, with your toes 10cm away from the wall. Bend your knees to see if you can get them to touch the wall. Struggling? “‘Normal’ range is being able to get your knees 10cm over your toes – that is what human bodies are designed for. But most people can’t do it,” Sarah says.

If that’s you, stretch your soleus and see what difference it makes to your squat. In order to do that, your typical calf stretch just won’t do – you need to be stretching it with a bent knee.

Wall stretch with double knee bend

Stand facing a wall and place your hands against it at shoulder height. Your feet should be a few steps away from the wall, so that you’re leaning forwards.
When you step your right foot forward, there should be a smaller gap between your right heel and your left toes than before.
This time, bend both knees.
See if you can get your right knee to touch the wall, or bring it as close as possible. The left knee should go as deep as you can to feel a stretch in both calves.
Keep your upper body straight and upright.

Hold for 15 seconds and repeat on the other side

Squat corrections: how to improve your squatting form to get rid of discomfort and pains