Why have we lost the ability to Squat, and where do we go from here?
3 Minutes of Reading
As a species, humans have the uncanning ability to move their bodies in all different directions and at variable speeds. What makes us so special is our unique movement pattern of performing a squat. Lets dive deeper into the societal ways in which our Western world has gotten away from this movement.
With the turn of the 21st century and the overwhelming technological advancements in our hand held devices, computer monitors, and other sources, we have gradually lost the ability to perform the foundational pose of the squat and accustom ourselves to the resting position of sitting on chairs with our shoulders and heads rounding excessively forward. If you were to take a walk down a busy street and you take a direct survey of 10 individuals and ask them to perform 10 repetitions of what they “think” is a good squat, I guarantee you will see eight or more do one of the following: pressure on their feet exerted on the front of their feet so they lean forward, when they drop down “into the hole” their back is excessively rounded and the head finds itself leaning more downward, and finally the depth of their squat is not what you think a full range of motion should be. Without addressing specifics, the overall aspect of this movement has been lost among the Western world’s population, so much so that there are movements to promote “30 day Squat Challenges”.
The squat evolutionary speaking is not an exercise; it is a movement pattern. Now what is a movement pattern? A movement pattern simply is the coordinated effort of your body to perform an action with the prescribed control and understanding. Other examples include pressing and rotating actions which we will address in the future. With that being said, we need to address what squatting back in the day did for us? People chose to drop down into their squat position for a multitude of reasons such as eating food, socializing with others, performing bodily functions, and giving birth. Before innovations such as chairs, couches, and stools for us to utilize we adapted to our environment; just as we are adapting to our environment in the 21st century.
You should never be afraid of doing a foundational movement or an exercise ever in your life. Now I know the individual with a Bilateral knee replacement, the mother of three with diagnosed Diastasis Recti, and the middle aged father of two who repeatedly complains of lower back pain are thinking; you are crazy if you think I will ever try and do exercises in those regions, I will be out of commission for weeks or months. However, staying focused on our squat, you have the power in your own training and your own mindset to make the switch from being afraid to “perfecting this movement with practice and intention”. Nothing is better than easing your way into a new movement with a negative connotation, and working on “perfecting that craft”, and over time you come out on top mastering it and you are better for learning your strengths in the process. Nothing comes easy in this game, but over time and throughout these processes you will forever and intuitively be able to listen to your body and understand what it is telling you. Do not ignore your bodies signs and symptoms; you will lose.
With this information given, you might be trying to figure out the last time you dropped down into a squat and really felt the feeling of control, stability, and the power of your own movement. Do not think that since you have not done it in some time, that you will never get to that point ever again; the human body is a powerful, fragile, resilient, and adaptable machine that has many systems of the body working as one cohesive unit. You drop down into a modified squat position in a way that you feel that control, stability, and your own range of motion, and then you build upon that just like building blocks.
Squatting has been and will forever be apart of our training modality and a staple in competition. Whatever level you are at, take each training session to perfect that movement and you will reap benefits you never thought possible.
– Stefan Krause
**Owner and Author of Krause Performance
