Why I Squat Every Day

How Squats Heal the Body

(This is a written out version of my YouTube video on the subject, which you can refer to for visual aid here. What can I say, I’m looking to expand my audience using Substack 😜)

We’ve been told that squats are bad for us for a while, especially if it’s a deep squat of more than 90°, or if your knees go beyond your feet, or if you lean too far forward. Or or or… The list of forbidden positions was long, so there was a lot of apprehension around squats for a while. But how could we have this ability to bend a joint but not be able to do it safely? The fear of squatting deep probably contributed to high rates of knee, hip, and back pain in the West over the past few decades. But in the last few years, people have been waking up to the power of the squat and the once-demonised exercise is now the “king of exercises” for its muscle-building, fat-burning, and even testosterone-boosting properties (although with this last one they may be thinking about the horse stance ;)).

It really makes sense that the squat phobia was just that, a Western fad, because people all over Asia and elsewhere in the world who have not been subject to this propaganda continued to happily squat sometimes for days on end, keeping their strength and flexibility well into their old age. They’re still eating, talking, playing games, smoking cigarettes outside convenience stores and waiting for a bus in the squat. And they do that till the day they die… basically. So how come we have such problems with Asians squats?

Well, it’s because for many Westerners, this squat position seems horribly uncomfortable and completely impossible. And what benefits does it offer to the people over 40? What are we missing out by not doing them?

When you look at little kids, they have no problem squatting for hours while playing, but we then put them into chairs and behind desks and then we also don’t use squat toilets any more. So it’s no wonder that if you spend your days sitting around in chairs with your knees and your hips bent no more than 90 degrees, then this is all you are going to be adapted to do. That’s it. You don’t use it, you lose, your muscles shorten.

But there is good news. What shortens can lengthen too… in time. People usually think of muscle growth in its breadth, but not many people know that they can also grow in length, that stretching your muscles regularly is not just… well stretching them, but that it can also make them longer. When challenged, the body adds segments to the muscles, called sarcomeres, which elongate them — think of it like adding more segments to a retractable telescopic antenna.

Now, here is a fun fact for you. This is one of the basic, for lack of a better word… primal or basic postures and movements that our bodies were designed to do. And we can regain that movement and the range of motion to get its benefits.

Benefits

And what are these benefits you might ask? Especially for us, over 40s?

Pooping 😜

Let me get the funny one out of the way first. Because no one wants to tackle that one head on. Sitting toilets are a very recent invention, and if you sit on them, you need to really strain yourself to push the… sh…eh…excrement out.

There have been many people who were constipated and have ended their lives by having a stroke on the toilet. But if you squat, everything aligns perfectly for what is politely called a “faeces evacuation”.

It really comes out so much easier. Have some constipation issues? Try drinking some water (or coffee) and do the Asian squat for a bit. I bet you’re going to get that special feeling soon :).

Increased Leg Strength

Regularly practicing Asian squats can help maintain leg strength, preventing rapid decline as one ages. Coming in and out of squats can be especially challenging and therefore beneficial. So is the horse stance but we’ll talk about it some other time.

Flexibility

Of course you’re also going to get improved flexibility: Asian squats require flexibility in the hamstrings, glutes, hip muscles, adductors, and calf muscles, which helps enhance overall flexibility in the lower body. The works!

Hip Mobility

Asian squats promote hip mobility, which is beneficial for various athletic activities and everyday movements.

Resting Position

Being able to comfortably Asian squat allows you to rest anywhere, no need for a chair, promoting relaxation and socializing in various settings. “I don’t have any chairs, but please squat your ass down on the floor”.

You can also be that fun grandpa or uncle or dad who can play with kids on their level without complaining about their hips and knees.

Overall Fitness

Asian squats involve functional movement patterns that mimic daily activities, making them useful for maintaining overall mobility and independence as we cruise along toward our appointment with Miss Death. Think of lowering yourself down as you’re filling the bottom of your fridge with groceries and doing it all easily as a matter of course.

In the Asian squat position, you are forced to breathe through your diaphragm, properly, there is no other option down there :D

Increased Brain Power

It will also make you smarter. I wholeheartedly believe in doing new things and new patterns of motion to keep your grey matter active. Call me biased, after all, I’m the guy who learned how to write with his left hand for the perceived cognitive benefit of not losing his mind under some very stressful circumstances. Asian squats can potentially contribute to better focus and cognitive function indirectly through increased physical activity and mobility. So there you have it. Move your ass or go senile. Not much of a choice, is it?

How To Do It

So now how to get into doing Asian squats if you haven’t been doing them and they feel terribly uncomfortable and even painful?

Moderation is the key. Remember, I said that your muscles can lengthen, but it will not happen overnight. What can happen “overnight” or even instantaneously, is “tissue damage”. Don’t be that guy (or gal) who wants to get 2 years of benefits from stretching in 20 minutes. I have become more flexible after 2 years of doing the Radio Taiso stretches. It was a very much welcomed side effect.

The practice of the Asian squat is more focused so you’re likely to see the benefits and improvements earlier than that. Personally I found that I’m starting to settle into it and finally can touch the ground comfortably with my heels after about 3 months.

As I said before, I believe that the Asian squat is one of the primal human positions that our bodies were just designed to be in (you know, the whole faeces evacuation thing), and they probably prevent a whole lot of problems created by our modern world with its poorly designed chairs, tables and computers. In cultures where these postures are more prevalent there is a lower incidence of back pain and there is also much less spinal degeneration and the spines of the twenty year olds and 60 year olds look very much the same — what we in the West have accepted as age related degeneration, is actually an environment-induced damage. Asian squat is one of the ways to help your body adjust to the right posture and reap the benefits.

So how to do this, if you haven’t done this in a while (which in my case, as I suspect may be the case for many of you out there, was since childhood)?

Go gradually. At first, you may find that you’re a bit stiff at your ankles and that you cannot touch the ground with your heels. It’s okay to give yourself a bit of a support there with a book or two. You can also hold on to something to prevent yourself from falling backwards and to keep yourself in the position. Or even do both, why not. It’s your body after all, you know best what’s going on with it and what you’ve put it through over the last few decades :D.

Also, don’t strain yourself to have the “perfect form”, but try to relax as much as you can in this position. You don’t want to be tense. It’s not supposed to be an active exercise. It’s more like that dead hang for your shoulders.

Aim for putting all, or most of your weight on your heels and if you’re struggling, trying not to fall back, try to adjust your posture or hold on to something. Do not tense up, remember, you’re supposed to relax in this posture… eventually.

And of course, perhaps I should have mentioned it in the very beginning, it’s best to do it barefoot. It’s really difficult to do these things in shoes. Now I’m a bit of a barefoot fan, I run and sometimes also hike barefoot as well. But it’s not just that, it will help both with the position and with strengthening your ankles.

As you do these squats, you’re obviously not supposed to be in pain, if you are, then consult with a physician, et cetera, et cetera. And don’t blame me, remember, I’m just an anthropologist.

It is a good idea to have a stopwatch with you and time your squatting time during the day. I have started with very little, under 3 minutes a day. Eventually, you can aim for 20 and that’s the point where all will be right in the world. Eventually, you may like to read a book in this posture, or work or even try working on a computer sometime. Gradually expand your Asian squat time so that you can safely progress. Remember, your body will adapt and adjust, the secret is repetition and not aggression. Give it time.

Go as deep as you can and if you can’t reach the Asian squat yet, then build the postures that lead up to it. Work on mobility, don’t try to spend more time on those intermediate positions. Horse stance anyone?

I’m also curious to know how long you are able to hold the deep Asian squat position. Is it one minute, three minutes? What has your progress been like? Please share in the comments down below.