#3 The Squat
You knew I was going say this right?
As far as human movements we tend to lose, squatting is right up there. The squat is something that it’s worth trying to cultivate though because it has a lot of ‘bang for your buck’.
Squatting with a neutral spine is a full body movement and takes our hips, knees and ankles into their full range of motion. Getting up and down in a squat is great for creating strength in your hips, legs, and core, hence the presence of squats in so many exercise programs.
Squatting can also relieve lower back discomfort, improve pelvic floor health, keep knees moving optimally and help with ankle and foot mobility.
But why are squats so challenging?
Chairs tend to disable us from doing squats (see part one) and we never get our hips lower than our knees. So our knees and hips don’t like to bend that much anymore because we don’t do it and it becomes a vicious cycle. Other stuff that prevents us from squatting fully is lack of ankle mobility and core strength. We might end up thinking – ‘well thats not for me’ but all these things can be worked on gradually!
If you can squat by lifting your heels or need a block under your heels, this means you could work on your ankle dorsiflexion. Standing with part of your foot on a block and raising and lowering your heels with control (calf raises) is one of best things you can do for ankle mobility as it works on strength as well as stretch.
If while trying the squat your knees bother you – don’t go as far, take your bum back further and practice strengthening your hamstrings. (I have a hamstrings and hip flexors video here)
If your hips bother you, try adjusting your foot stance and width (no one way is correct) and work a little more on glute strength.
Finally, if you feel you are falling backward, you might need to work on core strength. Try hanging onto a counter or a couch back as you squat and work on relying less and less on the prop as you go both up and down.
Here is a little squat progression video for you to try both of them I have heel support and the first one is with feet straight ahead and the second is feet wide.
see you down there!