Most of us spend all day sitting. We sit at a desk at school or work for 8 hours. Sit in our car or on public transit during out commute. Eat our meals seated. And then flop down on the couch all night. But despite all the sitting we do; we spend almost no time sitting with our hip crease below the top of our knees. In fact, most of us cannot comfortable hang out in a deep squat or resting squat position for any length of time. We don’t regularly spend time in the position, so we lose the ability to get there. However, If you look at people outside the Western world, the deep squat is a natural position. People sit in a deep squat to eat, to read, to relax and to go to the bathroom. There are huge physical benefits gained from sitting in a deep squat.
Anecdotal and scientific evidence has shown that these benefits can arise from sitting in a deep squat for even a few minutes a day. Everything from mobility to gastrointestinal health is improved by hanging out in a deep squat.
The Benefits of A Deep Squat Hold
There are 4 main benefits associated with a deep squat hold:
- Digestive health improvements
- Increased ankle mobility (and lower body mobility in general)
- Improved deep hip muscle strength
- Full-body integration
We’re going to dive into each of these benefits below.
First, if you’re just starting out with deep squat holds then you might need some assistance. Squat wedges and long resistance bands can be a huge help with getting into a deep squat hold.
Though a deep squat hold will increase your ankle mobility, you do need a requisite amount to begin with. Lifting your heel with a squat wedge can help decrease the demands on your ankle range of motion, allowing you to get all the way down into the squat.
Similarly, you will be working on your hip and lower body strength by being in a deep squat. Long resistance bands can be used to help support your hips in the deep squat position as you begin your practice. It’s great to have these on hand.
Why you should spend time in deep squat every day:
#1. Deep Squatting Improves Digestive Health
If you are anything like me, you eat more processed foods, drink more coffee and don’t eat as much fiber as you are supposed to. All of these things can wreak havoc on your gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Changes in the gut microbiota (the good bacteria that breaks down food in the intestines) can result from a poor diet. And these changes have been associated with all kinds of health issues, including the development of osteoarthritis (ref). Poor GI tract health is also associated with colon cancer, cardiovascular disease and may be linked to mental health issues.
Luckily, sitting in a deep squat can help improve digestive health. The benefits of sitting in a deep squat while going to the washroom (#2) have been well documented. This position allows the colon to fully straighten, and thus relax more. Full relaxation allows for the full release of your stool – and thus full emission of the toxins held within the stool.
Sitting in a deep squat when not on the toilet benefits your ability to fully release when do you get a toilet. While in a deep squat, your colon is able to straighten. This decreases your risk of diverticulosis.
Even if you don’t go to the bathroom while in a deep squat, sitting in a deep squat during the day will decrease your risk of hemorrhoids, and constipation.
So, if you want to have healthier bowel movements and better GI health, put in some time in a deep squat.
#2. Improve Ankle Mobility
As you spend more and more time in a deep squat hold, you will notice your knees travel further in front of your toes.
Unfortunately, if you started training any time before 2010, it has probably been embedded in you that your knees traveling past your toes is a terrible thing.
However, if you look at nearly every athletic movement, the knees travel past the toes. And scientific literature has debunked the myth that this is dangerous (ref).
Using a full-depth bodyweight squat is one of the easiest ways to increase the range of motion at your ankles. After all, the SAID Principle says that the body responds to the stresses placed on it. In order to sit in the bottom of a squat with a vertical torso and feet flat on the floor, the ankles will have to significantly dorsiflex.
Your ability to maintain an upright torso during is associated with ankle dorsiflexion. The more ankle mobility, the more upright you will stay. And the more upright you can stay when squatting, the higher the probability of success in high-bar back squats, front squats, and Olympic lifts.
In addition, decreased ankle dorsiflexion is associated with:
- An increased tendency toward landing characteristics associated with ACL injury (ref)
- Increased risk of patellar tendon injury (ref)
- Increased IT band loading and risk of IT band syndrome during running (ref)
Rogue provides a ton of great mobility tools that can assist in your ability to get into a deeps squat. My personal favourites are The Orb for rolling out and Voodoo Bands to help mobilize joints. You can also check out my extensive review of the impact massage guns have on recovery and range of motion.
Read More: 5 recovery methods to get the most out of your workouts
#3. Increase Deep Hip Muscle Strength
As a strength and conditioning coach with young athletes (15-24) one of the things I am most surprised by is their lack of awareness and strength around their hips. There are 21 muscles that cross the hip joint and I would argue they don’t get the respect or attention they deserve.
One way to see this by asking people to hold a deep squat. Often you will see people completely collapse through their posterior chain. The butt tucks under and the spine is bent into a semi-circle. In addition, below 90° people often lose their ability to support themselves.
I feel that this all stems from weakness at the hips!
And really, the best way to address weaknesses is to be better at the movements that expose them. Which means spending time in a deep squat.
Initially, you may need to hold onto a table or squat rack to help pull yourself into a good body alignment. The goal here should be to use the support just enough to be able to get into good positions. And then try your best to activate through the muscles around your hips to create tension. This tension means your muscles are working.
The more your muscles are working, the stronger they are becoming.
As time goes on, reliance on the support structure will decrease. At the same time, the ability to use the powerful (and small) muscles around the hip joint will increase.
This will carry over into full-body lifts too. I can confidently say that being able to organize through the hips in a deep bodyweight squat hold has dramatically increased my proficiency in the deadlift, squat, clean and snatch.
After all, if you can’t be stable and hold good positions under no load, how would you expect to under load?
Read More: The home gym equipment you NEED for less than $100
#4. Full-Body Integration
Hanging out in a Third World Squat develops your ability to create full-body tension.
This may come as no surprise based on the other benefits listed, but it is important to state, nonetheless. Maybe it is because of the ‘primal’ nature of the position or because it’s hard to do – but the whole body is involved in this relatively simple-looking position.
Your feet create a base and your arches are activated. The calves are being stretched but are tensed. The quads and hamstrings are co-contracting to keep you from collapsing. The hips are creating tension that radiates up and down the body. The spinal erectors and anterior core are keeping the upper body erect. The mid-back pulls the shoulders into a broad position. And finally, the muscles of the neck are keeping the head neutral.
Depending on how your body naturally organizes, you will feel varying levels of activation throughout the body. But without a doubt, the muscles from your feet to your head will be working.
This full-body integration is obviously something we are looking for as athletes – whether we’re strength-based, aerobic-based or team sport-based. The sequencing of muscular activity will allow us to produce the most force and transfer our power from the lower body to upper body and vice versa.
Read More: The 7 movement patterns that will make you more athletic and get the most out of your training.
Getting Started
Getting started with deep squat holds doesn’t take much. Simply drop down into a squat where your hip crease is lower than the tops of the knees and hang out.
You’ll probably want to start by holding onto something for support as you sort out your balance and ability to create tension throughout the body.
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you begin:
- Point your toes as forward as possible
- Alternate between letting the back of your legs rest on your calves and actively holding your bodyweight in the bottom of the squat position
- Try to show the logo on your shirt to the wall in front of you
- Maintain as straight of a line as possible between the base of your spine and the back of your head to keep a neutral neck position
- Extend your hands straight in front of you to help with balance
- Rogue resistance bands for joint mobilization
- RumbleRollers Foam Rollers
- TheraGun Mini to target muscle knots and promote recovery
- VooDoo Floss Bands for compression and increasing pain-free range of motion
Happy Squatting!