for most of the modern Fitness days there was an idea that squats were bad for you especially if you bent your knees more than 90° but would you really think it logical to have the capability to bend a joint but not be supposed to use it if anything people being scared to squat deep regularly led to our highest rates of knee hip and back pain along with some seriously messed up ankles but in the last 10 years people have been re claiming the squat in strength and conditioning the squat has been called the king of
exercises people say it builds muscle burns fat and can even increase testosterone but we think there's even more potent effects squatting can have on your body that affect your life and dramatic ways squats are more like a category of movement than an exercise what defines a squat is lowering your hips towards the ground so obviously there's many ways to do them and some of the ways that you've been told are bad are actually some of the most useful in most traditional cultures around the world back pain is almost non-existent despite the fact that people living
in these societies perform a lot of physical labor and Healthcare is much more limited one reason this may be is the amount of time that people spend close to the floor in squat like positions resting in a squat has huge effects on the mobility of our joints the hips staying flexible enough to rest into a deep squat is key for keeping stretch press off the back and sitting in a squat has actually been shown to decompress the spine and relieve tension in the lower back a little known benefit of spending time in a squat is
the positive effects it has on digestion toilets have been a relatively recent invention resting in a squat aligns our organs for optimal movement before modern toilets squats weren't even an option and let's face it modern technology has turned us into chest breathers while sitting in a squat you're forced to breae breathe into the diaphragm expanding the rib cage in all directions properly many times you can even become calmer while you squat low and breathe in the resting squat we don't want tons of muscle tension we want to feel relaxed and comfortable which means if your
back wants to round no big deal or if the knees aren't in perfect alignment that's okay but when's the last time you just sat down here most of us run into stiff hips or stiff ankles that prevent us from just relaxing here's a few things you can do to adapt the resting squat to your body if you constantly feel like you're falling backwards then you might have stiff ankles so you can use a couple books or some weights if you're at the gym put your heels up on them and that takes the ankles a bit
more out of the equation the ankle doesn't have to bend so far to be able to sit another simple one to try is holding on to something sturdy this gives you some support so you can spend more time in the position and you could even combine the two too now I've had some clients who found that sitting in a deep squat was really hard on their knees when they first started so in this case find a box or something low to the ground that can put you into a squat like position and then over time
it allows your knees to get used to being compressed like this and you can slowly take more weight into your legs one of the reasons why we have so much trouble sitting in a squat is because of these stiff ankles this is in direct correlation with wearing big padded shoes and if we want to take back our deep squat lifestyle then we're going to need to regain ankle and foot Health step one is to spend a lot of time Barefoot step two is to wear Vios perfect I got my first pair of Vios about 8
years ago and it massively changed the health of my foot and ankle I had super stiff ankles from playing basketball and getting injuries after turning to a more minimalist shoe with Vivo I started slowly regaining that back until these guys were no longer that big of an issue now imagine having shoes on but still being able to feel the ground like your Barefoot all the time that you're spending down here in your squat you're getting a nice stretch for the ankles and no arch support means that all those tendons ligaments and muscles of your foot
have to work all day long trust me this is a good thing Vivo made this video possible and right now Vivo is giving the strength side audience 20% off any order just use our link below in the description and strength side at [Music] [Applause] checkout it's rare that we'll spend enough time in the squat with chairs everywhere we look so it's key to hold some standards for ourselves especially in the beginning the place I've seen people have the most success is to use a 10-minute timer on their phone every time you pop down into your
squat you start the timer you'll begin with 30 to 60c chunks making sure to accumulate 10 minutes per day each week you can add on a few more minutes to your overall time you'll gradually find it easier to stay down in the squat for longer periods a good goal to shoot for is 25 minutes in the squat per day and as a disclaimer you should never feel pain if you do consult a medical professional now as fitnesses we like to think that if we spend our 20 minutes in the squat per day then we're all
good everything will be fine but it's more about what the squat gives you the squat is your bridge between standing and sitting many cultures don't use chairs they sleep on the ground and they work from the floor making the squat a useful and functional part of their lives for us to really gain the benefits from the squat it's not just about resting but maneuvering as well ignore all the fitness experts telling us to drive our knees out or keep perfect spine alignment you'll never have perfect alignment when moving in everyday life there's no bad exercises
just improper preparation two things you might not want to do with 300 lb on your back is let the spine round and the knees cave in but this is actually quite natural in a simple resting Squat and you'll find postures like this around the world it's better to be comfortable in all angles of low squat like positions rather than fearful one of the best places to start is by practicing touching your knee to a Target or the ground during your squat time you can tap inward or directly in front of you allow this to encourage
any other movements from the squat that feel good for you while you spend your time down low but here's the thing tons of new research suggest that being strong is key for living a longer higher quality life this makes it important to train your squat as an exercise as well and squats have been shown to be one of the best at building full body strength of course it creates strong legs but it also strengthens your core and torso as well squats can trigger fat loss through increased metabolism and intense squats can even trigger the release
of growth hormone and testosterone the way to choose a squat variation that works for you is to First be clear on your goals and intentions if you're looking for jacked legs with tons of power then you'll want to squat with intensity the easiest way to do this is using a barbell in the 5 to 10 rep range people get very strong this way the barbell makes it easy to gradually add weight over the course of training just use caution here as loading the spine comes with the most opportunity for strength but also the most risky
if you're more interested in legs that are strong for activities like hiking or running and keeping up with the kids consider the goblet squat this will be a bit less taxing on your overall system but still get your legs pumped with enough reps in my opinion this is the best option for the Aging athlete someone who wants to maintain muscle and capability but can't be grinding too hard and risking injuries elevating your heels will shift priority to your quads making it great for strengthening the knees I like to stay in the 10 to 20 rep
range here but naturally you can still become stronger from your apartment with no weights at all if you have the mobility and coordination for it a single leg squat can develop your leg strength equally and of course will make one leg work super hard one of the joys of this method is you'll develop more body control as there are balancing components you become stronger with with no equipment at all and if you're a beginner or minimalist the body weight twole squat can still give you a lot of gains your legs are naturally strong because they
carry you all day long so you'll need to get into the higher rep ranges here to create fatigue consider anywhere from 20 to 50 reps I love the toe squat variation as it strengthens our ability to press into the ball of our foot much needed for athletic Endeavors a smart way to program your squats is to go through phases spend a few months doing single leg squats then spend the winter indoors with the barbell or another method is to use two variations concurrently maybe High rep body weight squats one day and heavier goblet squats on
another squats need to be gradually worked into don't be the guy who starts sitting in a squat for 20 minutes a day along with barbell squatting three times a week and ends up with knee pain 2 weeks later everything in moderation start with the B Basics accumulate some time in your resting squat position be conscious of the changes that you see in your body and as you become more comfortable add in a squat exercise that interests you if you want to work on unlocking more flexibility this year then check out our free course mastering mobility
in your 30s and up first link in description as always
