How to Perform the Exercise
Setup: Fit the patient into the Solo-Step harness and connect the lanyard to the trolley on the overhead track. Position the patient directly beneath the track with feet shoulder-width apart, toes angled slightly outward. Adjust the lanyard length to allow a full squatting motion while ensuring the system can engage immediately if balance is lost. The patient may hold their arms out in front for counterbalance, or lightly grip a dowel or resistance band for added feedback.
Starting Position: Have the patient stand tall with feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, and core lightly engaged. Instruct them to find a focal point ahead to help maintain an upright gaze throughout the movement.
The Exercise
- Cue the patient to initiate the movement by pushing the hips back and bending at the knees simultaneously, as though lowering toward a chair behind them.
- Instruct the patient to keep their chest up, their knees tracking over, but not beyond their toes, and their weight distributed evenly through the full foot.
- Lower to the prescribed depth: this may be a quarter squat, half squat, or full squat, depending on the patient’s strength, range of motion, and clinical goals.
- Pause briefly at the bottom of the movement to establish control before rising.
- Drive through the heels to return to a full standing position, squeezing the glutes at the top.
- Repeat for the prescribed number of repetitions.
Progressions: As strength and confidence improve, the therapist can advance the exercise by increasing squat depth, adding a brief pause at the bottom, incorporating light resistance or a resistance band, introducing a single-leg squat or split squat variation, or adding a reaching task at the bottom of the movement to challenge dynamic balance simultaneously.