Femur Bone Rhythm practice to improve your Squats and Lunges

We made it 15 years into our careers in the performance world before learning a lesson on the importance of bone rhythm for multi-joint movements.

Z-Health Performance is the first educational company to outline, step-by-step, exactly what the rhythm should be between the femur and the tibia during a squat. 

We have seen people talk about a hip hinge vs a squat but we haven't seen people describe the joint actions quite like this. 

This lesson will show you what a squat should look like when you pay attention to the starting and stopping of the hip, knee, and ankle joints. 

Practicing the bone rhythm of a squat and lunge accurately will prevent things like the infamous "butt wink" or a mismatch between knee and hip rhythms. 

Femur Bone Rhythm

Here's how you perform the drill:

• Begin in neutral stance with tall spine
• Start & stop hip and knee motion at the exact same time (in the video you will see the bottom arrow move forward and at an upward angle while the top arrow moves backward at a downward angle)
• The top and bottom of the femur should be moving at the exact same speed at the exact same time
• You can apply the same rhythm to a lunge also
• If you are having trouble with timing, you can set a metronome to 40, 50, or 60 BPM and match your timing to the beat

Common mistakes:

• Leading the squat or lunge with knee motion and then finishing the squat with hip motion
• Leading the squat or lunge with hip motion, leaning forward, and then finishing with knee motion

Assess a movement or range of motion before and after practicing your bone rhythm. In fact, perform with poor bone rhythm and reassess just to see what the result is. It is fascinating to see that when you use faulty bone rhythm your range of motion will decrease!

This is why we spend so much time on teaching proper bone rhythm. It takes the breaks off your nervous system and allows you access to better performance. 

Let's clean up your squats and lunges!

(Education Credit: this drill is part of a series of mobility drills taught by Z-Health Performance Solutions - a leading educational company in neuro-centric training for pain and performance) 

About the Author: 

Taylor Kruse, recently featured in Men's Health, is dedicated to empowering you with the truth and tools for improved health and performance.

His inspiration stems from more than 15 years of education and coaching through systems like Zhealth Performance, The Burdenko Method, and various movement practices.

In 2013, he co-founded KRUSE ELITE with girlfriend, Alisha Hale. Both are dedicated to inspiring people, coaches, and trainers into their best health and performance.