The ability to squat is beyond helpful for healthy movement and daily living. In fact, if you cannot properly squat you are accelerating the rate in which you will eventually damage your knees, lumbar spine and feet. Go to most third world countries and you will see the native people squatting in the streets and country side to converse, eat, rest and play games. They squat as naturally as you and I would turn the door knob and open and close a door. On the other hand, in most western industrialized countries you will find a population that cannot squat well and consequently is plagued with hip, knee and back problems.
Most of us have been told by fitness gurus and health officials not squat below parallel which basically means that you should not lower your hips lower than the level of your knees. That is total baloney. It’s actually worse for your body because it limits the range of motion at the hip joint which makes you put even more stress through the knee joint.
The ‘stress’ should be in the hips and feet, NOT in the knees or in the back.
Tips to Improve Your Squat:
* Start slowly and gradually work on increasing the depth of your squat
* Sit your hips back and down
* Maintain tall posture (think of sticking your chest out and up)
* Keep knees tracking the second toe (knees should not cave inwards)
* Try holding onto a KB or dumbbell at the chest level with both hands (you will keep better posture this way and squat deeper)
Happy Squatting!
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