The full deep squat – often referred to as the ancestral squat, Asian squat, or primal squat—is a natural resting position where the hips are lowered fully below the knees, and the feet remain flat on the ground.
While modern lifestyles have made sitting more common, many cultures and traditional societies continue to use this deep squat as a comfortable and stable position for resting, eating, and socializing. When performed with proper form, the deep squat engages the glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and even the core muscles. Unlike sitting or partial squats, the full squat recruits a wide range of muscle fibers, building balanced lower body strength and stabilizing muscles.
The full deep squat isn’t just a functional resting position; it offers a range of health benefits that can improve mobility, posture, digestion, and even longevity. This guide explores the benefits of the full deep squat, how to improve your ability to squat deeply, and why incorporating this movement into your daily routine can have lasting positive effects on your body.
Key Benefits of the Full Deep Squat
1. Improves Hip, Knee, and Ankle Mobility
The deep squat helps maintain and restore full range of motion in the hips, knees, and ankles. In contrast to the partial squats often seen in gym routines, the full squat involves a much deeper angle at these joints, ensuring flexibility and joint health. This is critical for preventing joint stiffness and supporting overall lower-body strength.
- Hips: Squatting deeply stretches and mobilizes the hip flexors, abductors, and rotators.
- Knees: The full range of knee flexion helps prevent stiffness and maintains cartilage health.
- Ankles: Deep squatting stretches the Achilles tendon and improves dorsiflexion (the ability to bend the foot upwards).
2. Strengthens Lower Body Muscles
When performed with proper form, the deep squat engages the glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and even the core muscles. Unlike sitting or partial squats, the full squat recruits a wide range of muscle fibers, building balanced lower body strength and stabilizing muscles.
- Glutes are activated in the lowering and rising phases of the squat.
- Quadriceps support knee flexion and extension.
- Hamstrings assist in stabilizing the knees and support hip extension.
3. Promotes Spinal Health and Posture
The deep squat encourages proper spinal alignment and core engagement, which helps improve posture. By keeping the back straight and chest up, the deep squat reinforces proper movement patterns and spinal mechanics, reducing the risk of back pain or injury caused by poor posture.
- The squat teaches you how to engage your core muscles, which stabilize the spine.
- It stretches the lumbar spine, keeping it mobile and less prone to stiffness.
4. Enhances Digestion
The deep squat has a positive effect on digestion because it compresses the abdominal region, creating a natural massage for the internal organs. In many traditional cultures, people squat while eating or after meals, which may aid in digestion and elimination.
Bowel movements: The deep squat position is close to the natural squatting position used for elimination, which is known to promote healthy bowel movements and reduce straining.
5. Improves Balance and Stability
Maintaining a full squat requires balance, especially when your heels are flat on the ground. This challenges and strengthens your proprioception (the body’s awareness of its position in space), which improves overall stability and reduces the risk of falls.
- Practicing the full deep squat can significantly improve coordination and control over the body.
6. Enhances Longevity and Mobility
In some cultures, where deep squatting is a common practice from childhood through old age, people often remain mobile and functional well into their senior years. Studies have shown that the ability to perform movements like the full squat without support correlates with improved longevity and a lower risk of physical decline.
- Daily squatting keeps the lower body joints and muscles functional, reducing the risk of joint replacements or mobility issues later in life.
7. Gets More Oxygen to your Brain
In his podcast Just One Thing, the late Dr Michael Mosley says that “when you’re doing the squat, you are working the biggest muscles in your body, those in your bottom, and on top of that, the up and down movement means that you’re getting more oxygen to your brain.”
“And that, in turn, leads to the release of a substance called BDNF brain derived neurotrophic factor. And that is like fertiliser to the brain, so the squat will make your arse look good and also your brain feel good.”
Transformative Benefits Over Time
Matt Evans from fitandwell.com highlights the transformative benefits of doing deep squats every day for a month. Initially, he says it was challenging and uncomfortable, but over time, Matt experienced increased hip flexibility, relief from back pain, and improved overall fitness. By the end of the month, deep squatting improved his posture, balance, and even performance in exercises like barbell squats. He emphasizes how consistent practice of deep squats can counteract the negative effects of sitting, improving mobility and reducing pain.
How to Improve Your Full Deep Squat
If you’re not used to squatting deeply or find it challenging, there’s no need to worry. With some consistent work, most people can significantly improve their mobility and ability to perform the full deep squat. Here are a few techniques to help you get there:
1. Stretching for Hip Mobility
Tight hips are often the main limiting factor for people struggling to squat deeply. Incorporating stretches that open up and loosen the hips can make a big difference.
- Hip Flexor Stretch: Kneel on one knee with the other foot forward. Push your hips forward while keeping your torso upright to stretch the hip flexor of the back leg.
- Butterfly Stretch: Sit on the floor, bring your feet together, and press your knees toward the ground, stretching the inner thighs and hips.
2. Ankle Dorsiflexion Exercises
Limited ankle mobility often causes people to rise onto their toes in a deep squat. Improving ankle dorsiflexion can help keep your heels flat.
- Ankle Rocking: In a lunge position, shift your weight forward over the front ankle while keeping the heel on the ground.
- Calf Stretch: Use a wall or a raised surface to stretch the Achilles tendon and calf muscles.
3. Hamstring and Adductor Flexibility
Tight hamstrings and adductors (inner thigh muscles) can also prevent you from squatting deeply with proper form.
- Seated Forward Fold: Sit on the floor with legs extended and reach toward your feet, keeping your back straight.
- Lateral Lunges: Step to the side into a wide stance and shift your weight onto one leg, stretching the inner thigh of the opposite leg.
4. Strengthening the Core and Glutes
A strong core and glutes will help you maintain proper form in the full squat, especially when trying to keep your back straight.
- Planks: Strengthen the core muscles that stabilize the spine.
- Glute Bridges: Strengthen the glutes, which are heavily recruited during the squat.
5. Practicing the Squat Itself
One of the best ways to improve your deep squat is simply to practice it regularly. Start by holding the squat for 30 seconds at a time, and gradually increase the duration as you feel more comfortable.
- Assisted Squats: If you’re struggling with balance or flexibility, hold onto a stable surface (like a doorframe or a countertop) for support as you work on getting deeper into the squat. Or, if you have access to some TRX Suspension Trainer Straps, these are great for improving your squat. They enable you to really lean back and use your upper body to take a lot of the strain as you lower yourself towards the full squat.
6. Painting the Floor
In the full squat position, reach with the palms of your hands facing downwards and imagine painting the floor around you. Reach as far forward and to your left and right as is comfortable and try to “paint” as much of the floor as possible. Adopt a sweeping motion and don’t worry if at first your heels lift off the floor, or you pivot on your toes. You’ll find that this exercise becomes easier over time as your mobility improves,
- Hip, Knee and Ankle Mobility: The painting the floor exercise forces you to reach and stretch out whilst squatting, which over time will help improve the mobility of your joints.
How to Incorporate the Full Squat Into Your Daily Routine
- Resting in a Squat: Try using the full squat as a resting position throughout the day. Instead of sitting on the couch or a chair, squat while watching TV, reading, or chatting.
- Start and End Your Day: Spend 1-2 minutes in a deep squat every morning and evening. This can help you wake up your joints and muscles and relax your body before bed.
- Use a Squat for Movement Breaks: If you sit for long periods, use a deep squat as a movement break. This will help counteract the negative effects of prolonged sitting on your posture and mobility.
Long-Term Health and Longevity Benefits
Performing the deep squat regularly can contribute to:
- Increased longevity: Cultures that practice deep squatting see people maintain mobility into old age, which can reduce the risk of falls, injury and chronic pain.
- Joint health: The full range of motion in the squat helps keep joints healthy by maintaining cartilage integrity and reducing the risk of arthritis.
- Improved metabolic health: Engaging the muscles regularly in movements like the squat can improve circulation, muscle tone, and overall metabolic health.
- Functional independence: Squatting mimics many daily movements, such as picking up objects or rising from the floor, which helps maintain functional independence as you age.
How your environment can influence your ability to squat
Your environment has a demonstrable impact on your ability to squat. It’s an under-appreciated but important consideration. You may find that outside in a wide open space, your body is more relaxed and consequently you find it easier to squat. However, in a cramped office, you’re psychologically less at ease, your body is tense and you can’t perform the move as comfortably.
Neal Hallinan has a popular YouTube video where he goes into much more detail on how environment affects squatting. The key takeaway is that if you’re struggling with the movement, try changing your environment. The more relaxed you feel, and the less tension you have in your lower back, hamstrings, calf muscles and ankles, the easier it will be to get into a squat position.
Conclusion
The full deep squat is a fundamental human movement that offers wide-ranging physical benefits, from enhanced joint mobility and lower body strength to better digestion and improved posture. By practicing the deep squat regularly and incorporating stretching and mobility work, you can unlock greater flexibility, strength, and longevity in your body.
So, whether you’re using it as a resting position or incorporating it into your exercise routine, the deep squat is a powerful tool for maintaining lifelong health and vitality.
