Yeah, Scott has the right of it. This particular squat drill is probably not giving you enough pressure to actually overcome the stiffness in your calves. Ergo, any attempts to push your knee forward will overcome your relationship with gravity before they overcome your calves.

The calves are a strong example of how crappy and stiff your tissues can really get. You will probably get more results at this point by preceding any actual “stretching” with soft-tissue work.

If you check out some of the ankle Daily Rx’s from recent months, they have been doing this mob where the ankle is put up on a bench, with a band distracting backwards. This is freakin’ money. You can keep your heel down and use the bench to pull your chest into your knee, resulting in a much better ability to load that stretch. Just take it in doses and don’t go crazy!

Ankle mobility can take a lot of consistent work to improve. Remember that even one degree more of freedom there is worth gold.