The forgotten art of squatting is a revelation for bodies ruined by sitting
The forgotten art of squatting is a revelation for bodies ruined by sitting
qz.com
The forgotten art of squatting is a revelation for bodies ruined by sitting
56 comments
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I noticed, while traveling in Asia, that their toilets required squatting. Also that many people squatted while waiting for the bus, or just anytime. And that during my month long internship that there were no cases of sacroiliac dysfunction, something that is common in NA. I decided to keep squatting on a regular basis. Now, much more recently, I've seen a "paper" regarding squats and blood glucose levels - the experimental group did 10 squats every 45 minutes during their work day/week, and had significantly lower BGL/ HbAIC by the end of the study. This was brought to my attention by Rhonda Patrick, Phd., if you wanted to go find the citation. No guru ever told me, "If one's body is capable of a given range of motion, then one should do that range of motion regularly, so one doesn't lose that ROM." In fact, it's entirely possible that I've never had a conversation with a guru. shrug
Squats, Lunges, Deadlifts, Pullups, Pushups, Dips - neither too much, nor too little.
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What were they comparing against? If it was just your average office worker, it might just be the difference between moving and not moving in that time.
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I simply don’t have the hamstring length to squat with my feet flat. No, I don’t just need to stretch, or try more often. I wish I could add squatting to my repertoire - it would be so useful when doing physical work for example, like bike maintenance. Instead, I carry around a stool.
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That study you mentioned about squats and blood glucose is actually pretty fascinating. The researchers found that just 15 seconds of bodyweight squats every 30 mins reduced post-meal glucose spikes by around 40% compared to sitting continously. It's crazy how such a small ammount of movement can have such a big impact on metabolic health. I've been implementing this at my desk job and it's been a game changer.
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Haha yeah I remember people squatting at the bus stop in China. You bet your ass I adopted it soon enough. I'm lucky enough that I have a good stretching ability and this was a great compromise to standing to attention. It was a nice stretch with all the walking I was doing during my commute.
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This is plainly true.
Whenever I read a statement like this, my BS detector fires up.
A 2014 study in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that test subjects who showed difficulty getting up off the floor without support of hands, or an elbow, or leg (what’s called the “sitting-rising test”) resulted in a three-year-shorter life expectancy than subjects who got up with ease.
I did a bit of judo and they made us get up without support. At first it was very difficult but after a bit it was pretty easy. I encourage you to try it, it's a good skill to have. (besides adding 3 years on your life, allegedly?)
a higher incidence of knee and osteoarthritis issues.
Anecdotes are about as reliable as gurus, but anecdotally I find that there's bad squatting and good squatting. e.g. keeping knees and feet pointed out as in Sumo, is much easier on my knees than keeping knees and feet pointed forward as in Shotokan.
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The secret to extending your flexibility for getting up and down as a lazy person is a low platform western bed or a Japanese bed. It makes getting up and down a part of your routine.
Also overall for foot flexibility and knees health barefoot walking and barefoot shoes make a huge difference. I use a treadmill barefoot a few times a week, and barefoot shoes when I can.
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TaeKwonDo as a kid is why I still have that sort of stretching abilities in my forties. Even my kids can't stretch like I can, which is funny because they have been doing more judo at this point than I did TaeKwonDo!
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I've always assumed that I'm flexible in my 40s because of swimming in HS and college. Now I wonder if it has more to do with the tumbling classes my mother forced us to take until we were 5
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Stuff like the sitting-rising test always sounds like a causality reversion to me.
We have correlation but not causality.
It could be that not being able to get up without support is the cause, and training to be more agile and flexible will help you live longer.
Or more likely, people who will live shorter due to other conditions will have trouble getting up, and training to be better at getting up will not help you live longer.
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I don’t like squatting because I know it will make me light-headed and dizzy everytime. No matter now slow I stand up, happens every time:
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Ha, as I've gotten older I've noticed the same thing. I still go down to the squat though, I won't let it rule my life.
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How often do you do it? Do you exercise otherwise? I’m tall af and I’ll get dizzy standing up normally so fuck it, I’ma try this because it’s not gunna get worse and consistent practice may actually help.
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Squat like the man in the picture? Rarely. I can do squats, as in the exercise without feeling that way.
I’m on the short side of average and it happens to me when sittings sometimes.
I used to exercise quite a bit, but I haven’t been as much lately and I’ve definitely gained a little weight. I’m sure that’s part of the problem.
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Also, I really like your name, Soup.
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If only I could, my leg proportions don't allow it
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i squat on my chair regularly, and my dad always points out how i destroy the chairs with my feet
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okay dad, you destroy your back with the chair, what's your point
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L
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I'm too tall to do a full squat. Sitting on an 8-inch footstool I could manage, but it'd be very hard to type!
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I’m 6’-5” and really don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t need your computer to also be on the floor, and frankly if I were to try this I would need a raised platform to reach my desk(which now I’m considering making). Being tall is an advantage here.
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You are 195.5 cm tall. I'm slightly jealous, not because you're taller than me, though you are. Your height in cm just sounds like a better (more rounded/ even/ some sort of muchness) number than mine. I am 6'3", or 192.3 cm tall.
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56 comments
Buried in the article:
"any posture held for too long causes problems”
"that populations that spend excessive time in a deep squat (hours per day), do have a higher incidence of knee and osteoarthritis issues."
So squatting is worse than sitting, but moving is better than either.
I’m 30 years into my career as a keyboard jockey and the main principle that works for me is to change things up throughout the day and week. Having more viable positions to switch to is a net positive. I’m not looking for one perfect position anymore.
I'm just imagining trying to squat in front of a PC on the floor now.
That's what I was going to say... squatting kills my knees and back. Did it during work far, far too often.
My guess is that this problem affects westerners. People who have grown up sitting cross legged for meals and TV etc find it comfortable.
The article says nothing about sitting crosslegged. The article is about squatting. And it doesn't say the problem affects westerners. Westerners don't spend excessive time squatting. It says populations that spend time squatting have higher incidence of knee and osteoarthritis. The conclusion from this is that while squatting is worse than sitting, it doesn't make sitting healthy either.
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