Moving toward a squat
… the why’s and how’s of this oh-so-important human movement.
Squatting. Love it, hate it, shelved it ages ago.
Once a common human position for working, playing, hanging out, and, of course (ahem), going to the bathroom, very few bodies in our modern culture find this move accessible, much less desirable.
More than a ‘wouldn’t it be nice if’, there’s scads of science behind why this complex orchestra of joint mobilities and strength facilitates health on many levels.
And, when considering the ubiquitous increase of foot, knee, hip, back and pelvic floor dysfunction, here is one connection we might do well to improve upon.
Squats or squatting?
A number of my clients (and maybe you are one of these) have come in for a session after ‘doing squats’ at their gym/fitness class. It’s usually brought to my attention because, well, they’re feelin’ it.
My often unspoken question is twofold: Is there any other time in your daily life spent in a squat position, and if not, are these 30, 50, 100 squats in rapid succession transferring to you actually being able to get into (and out of!) a squat position for a prolonged period of time?
And, why does that matter?
Maybe it doesn’t.
But, it’s been a growing realization that with each ‘nutritious’ movement we extract from our daily repertoire, we repackage it and put it back in the form of a prescribed exercise that doesn’t quite feed the body in the same way. (I call this the ‘enriched bread syndrome’ :).
Doing a bunch of squats (or most ‘exercises’) a couple of times a week doesn’t condition, expand and nourish your body on the same sustainable movement level as increasing the variety of strategies and sitting positions in your day-to-day life.
Contained workouts can and do offer movement benefit, but they aren’t necessarily going to ‘undo’ the adaptations incurred by all the other things we do with our bodies outside of the gym (like chair/car sitting..)
But, maybe that’s not your goal. :)
It’s important to note that our bodies are adapting to what we do with them all the time, and is very specific (read: economical) about how it’s adapting.
So, if you are wanting to get the squat back onto your movement menu, OR, if it’s been ages (if ever) since you’ve gotten into that position (and it’s painful to even think about) OR, you find that even getting up out of a chair requires push-ups, pull-ups, grunting noises or a momentary loss of balance, here is where you can begin.
It starts with the butt.
Well, it starts with getting clear what you’re using to lower and lift your center of mass from standing to sitting and back again, as in, your hands, knees, momentum … or, the god-given anti-gravity forces of the largest muscles in your body: your glutes.
Try this:
Sit on the edge of a firm, flat seat chair, so your feet are flat on the floor. (Cushy chairs/couches are not recommended here.)
Come to a standing position. Note what you may have used to do this: pressing down on your knees, or the edge of the chair, or hoisting yourself up quickly, possibly with a grunt.
Return to sitting.
Now, using your same strategy, begin to rise up and note whether you can raise your bottom off the chair just slightly - like an inch or two. And, if so, are you doing that with or without pressing on your thighs. And, can you hold it there for 5, 10, 20 seconds? And if, so, where are you feeling it? (I.e., knees, shins, butt…)
Now, try this:
From your sitting position, note where your feet are when you go to lift up. Do you automatically move them slightly under the chair, behind your knees? If so, reposition them to plant just below your knees or slightly forward.
Next, bring your arms forward (or keep them placed lightly on your thighs without pressing down).
BEFORE RAISING UP: Lean your upper body forward, roll your tailbone slightly off the chair, and feel your weight pressing down through your heels.
Now, press through your feet and elevate your body upward through the strength of your gluteal muscles.
(See the video below…!)
What’s the big deal, here?
For such a slight, almost imperceptible shift in where your body weight is, this can make all the difference to your knees, hips, and overall balance (as well as the potential to reclaim your squat!)
With the feet starting behind the knee joints, the set-up is already going to immediately place your center of mass and the burden of lift and stabilizing on the small bones of your toes and your knee joints.
Also, between this weaker positioning, and the strategy of momentum to elevate against gravity, your body is momentarily ‘thrust’ forward from your center line, and then must quickly recover to bring it back to balance.
This is one of key points we look for in the “Get Up & Go” test: whether you can rise with control to a standing position, and then pause for a second before walking forward.
In some cases where momentum is used, the pause is bypassed in an effort to get the feet out in front to prevent toppling forward.
In a body that has other systems to contribute to that quick response, this may not appear as significant, if at all.
But, as those other instruments in the orchestra of our bodies become muted, the vulnerability that presents in that momentary loss of centering can be crucial. (Another reason why hands are used as support on the thighs.)
I observed this in a class I’m teaching to mostly 70 and 80 somethings, and the difference was immediate and remarkable once they made this simple shift.
But, it takes practice.
And, even from the level of a chair, the muscular strength of the glutes may not yet be developed enough, in which case, one can practice from a higher level - using either some bolsters, or a higher stool. (It helps if you can still place your feet flat on the floor.)
Also, the shift of weight which requires a little pelvis mobility, as well as the awareness of how to hinge at the hips first, before bending the knees can take some time to get used to.
In this video, I walk you through the whole process, including how to practice the hip-hinging.
I’m Gina Loree Bryan, bodyworker, movement & meditation teacher, human.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. Feel free to forward to a friend, and thank you for respecting the thought and time I put into these writings by sharing them with all credit due to the author. :)
You can find my free movement and meditations videos on YouTube, and some of my rambly-er extrapolations on Substack. © 2023 - gina loree bryan
