Squatting

[Phoebe]

Not sure why it is in your interest to weigh in on (heh) this random debate from My Day, but, here is a poll for you about squatting.

[bralbovsky]

Catcher, although it can be hell on the knees when the core begins to go.

[Phoebe]

I have edited the poll because it occurs to me that people might use multiple methods, so I am leaving it open to multiple answers.

[Walrus]

only one thing to add

https://youtu.be/YbYWhdLO43Q

[Mike]

Squatting is terrible for me, but it's so goddam handy.

Due to my weight and tall arches, squatting plays hell with my plantar fascia. If i remember and the floor isn't disgusting or wet, I try to take a knee instead of squat, but I hate it. Squatting rules.

[Walrus]

[Phoebe]

So the origin of this poll is a debate sparked among my associates by a recent shared article about squatting, which claims that some cultures do it a certain way and others do not, and speculates about the physiological reasons. Or perhaps we learn to do it a certain way and then because we aren't squatting to use the toilet normally, we change all sorts of things and unlearn what we would have been capable of. Another context where this comes up is in childbirth where there was a period of women trying to give birth laying flat on their backs, and then people wised up and considered how it was done in other cultures and started moving the women around to different positions, using stools and squatting and so forth. Apparently Asian toilets are often just a hole in the ground with places to put your feet on the side, and you're supposed to squat. Personally this is always how I use a public toilet, because I refuse to poop in them unless some kind of dire medical emergency is occurring, and also because I just don't poop, and I don't miss with the liquid! But you can only squat so far on a standard American toilet, and apparently the Chinese ones are actually in the floor next to your feet. There is a benefit in hygiene insofar as you don't have to sit on a seat, but it doesn't seem like a great hygiene thing that they're all the way down to the floor either! However, I don't think people should say this is an American thing because some ancient Roman toilets are like benches that have a hole cut out for things to fall through.

Anyway the real issue is whether, given cultural habits possibly including toileting practices, we learn to squat in different ways and or unlearn ways of squatting that others would use. Or are there physiological differences connected to all of this? I always squat with my feet flat on the ground, or of course I can rock up onto the balls of my feet if I feel like it, and I struggle to see how this could be a physical challenge. But apparently it is a physical challenge for long legged people whose center of gravity is much higher than mine! My husband and most tall guys I happens to discuss this with absolutely hate squatting down for things and get upset when things are stored low like in kitchen cupboards where they would have to squat to dig them out. But keep in mind I practice Tai Chi nearly every day and I used to be a softball player who played catcher for many years. I'm positive that has something to do with developing the requisite muscles for squatting!

[Phoebe]

Finally convinced the husband to squat for me, because he dislikes doing it very much. He squats with feet flat on floor. I said nothing to prep him in advance. I feel even more vindicated. Monday we shall see about this...

[Walrus]

I squat with feet flat, training from learning the snatch and the clean from the clean and jerk

[Mike]

A) Can anyone here say "snatch, clean and jerk" without hearing Tim Curry making it dirty?

B) In the months following this survey, I have retrained myself on how I squat. As mentioned above, I have very high arches and combined with my weight I have always had trouble with plantar fasciitis. A while back, my doctor explained the physiology and physics of my condition, and eventually I tied it to my squatting technique.

All my life, I have squatted with my butt low, but my heels raised so that I am balanced on the balls of my feet. To me, that feels natural and gives me more range of motion while squatting. Knowing that was part of the problem, I started taking a knee when possible instead of squatting, and that helped, but is much more difficult and awkward. So as soon as my feet would start to heal, I'd find myself squatting again and starting the cycle over.

But now I've trained myself to squat with flat feet, and the plantar fasciitis is gone. It still feels unnatural, but the difference is night and day.

No clue if this would work for anyone else, but for me, it's been a godsend.

[Phoebe]

This may sound crazy but I am so excited to hear you say that. Since I posted this last year, I've started doing a lot more weight lifting and exercising in general, and now I'm entirely convinced that it's important people are able to get that full range of motion in squatting with their heels on the floor. It may take a while to learn, but it is important, and then the more you practice the more range of mobility will have in your ankle as well.

An exercise I would recommend wholeheartedly, and you have to imagine none of my usual goofiness is behind this but this is deadly serious and based on actual knowledge: stand about a foot away from a wall, and then practice doing your squats on your heels with your arms out or above you. Try to work up to a fairly decent number you can do in a row. So, this will keep your chest back and your back more upright, and your weight will be distributed better back over the heels, and overtime this will help with the plantar fasciitis as well. I'm really serious about this - try it and see what you think.

Right now my goal is to be able to do 100 squats unbroken, and then be able to follow that by taking breaks all the way up to 200 total. I'm also working on the goal of doing 50 squats in a row while holding certain amounts of weight in my arms, like ordinary household objects that are heavy. I would also like to be able to do 50 unbroken squats in one minute.

[Bonefish]

I keep my heels on the floor. Toes should be able to freely move, having no weight on them. Keep the knees about shoulder length apart, and make sure my knees don't go further than my toes. And then I try to get as low as I can. That's when I'm "exercising" squatting.

At work, I'm often handling logs that are around 6.5 to 7" tall, 5.5" to 7.5" thick, and up to 16' long. They can be heavy, especially if someone has decided to build their house out of Cypress. Fuck Cypress. But I still try to kinda follow the rules, but then I've got 5-10 lbs on my belt, multiple layers of clothing, awkward angles and constrained spaces...

[Phoebe]

I would assume moving objects around dynamically like that also builds greater strength, vs. doing mostly fixed movements in a particular direction. Very, very difficult. Building that old man strength!

[Bonefish]

More like causing long lasting and permanent damage, but hey, it's a living.

[Phoebe]

Well there is that way of looking at it: hip and knee replacements coming your way.

[WillyGilligan]

After seeing Pakistanis doing the really deep squat-sit, I've tried doing that from time to time. It's kind of restful, and definitely stable. Balls of my feet feels more like I'm working though, and I have a weird tightness in one of feet that I like to stretch out, so I end up with that more often.