Well squatted

A lot of information about the squat exercise is aimed at swear-covered “muscle men”, or at athletes trying to improve their performance. But anyone, with at least one good leg, can use the squat to achieve improved health and function.
The key is learning how to use the squat exercise with several variations.

In the elite circles of strength sports, the squat exercise is long been known as the No.1 exercise for any program. Others agree that it’s the one exercise that provides the greatest overall benefit. This is largely because the squat is a free-body movement that requires use of every muscle in the body. Given enough load and/or intensity even small muscles in their face will contract.

Although the squat has been considered a keystone exercise there have been many detractors of late. It has come to the point that even finding a squat cage (or Smith machine) in a gym is difficult because they are being replaced.

SQUATING IS PRIMAL PATTERN

As the human race developed, the majority of our activities were ground-based activities that demanded physical readiness and the ability to get down to the ground easily. Many books have discussed these specific movements we had to perform in order to survival.

These included seven basic movements: squatting, lunging, bending, pushing, pulling, twisting and gait – walking, jogging and running. Until very recently, squatting was crucial for our survival and remains just as important today as it was then.

THE PHYSIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE SQUAT

Most people aren’t likely to think of the squat exercise as being beneficial to digestion and elimination, but consider a few unique anatomical features of the human being in this regard.

First, human beings are the only ‘animal’ that had to push faeces uphill. In our natural environment, where we were squatting repeatedly throughout the day as dictated by a ground-based living environment this was not a problem because of our anatomical design. Whenever we squatter to work, socialize or defecate, we would naturally squat until our hands reached the ground, (since that’s where everything was) or until our torso was fully relaxed and supported by our thighs.

The full squat results in compression in the lower abdomen from the thigh: the right thigh will compress the cecum (the origin of the colon), mechanically pushing the faces uphill into the transverse colon, while the left thigh compress the descending colon, moving faeces into the sigmoid colon and ultimately the rectum. With this understanding in mind, it is not surprising that many early naturopathic physicians attribute the massive increase in constipation in the late 1800s and early 1900s to Thomas Crapper. (Mr Crapper has often been mistaken to be the inventor of the modern-day seated toilet. He was actually a plumber who popularized the toilet but didn’t invent it.)

Digestion and elimination are further facilitated by the full squat as a result of both pressure changes in the abdominal and thoracic cavities in the abdominal and thoracic cavities and improve motility of organs. Whenever you perform the full squat, a pressure wave is created by the thighs compressing the abdominal viscera. Additional pressure waves are created by the action of the diaphragm as you breathe.

These pressure waves, coupled with the mechanical action of the thighs, literally mobilise the viscera. They also pump blood and lymphatic fluids as well as mechanically aid the intestinal system.

Many athletic types, Type-A-personalities and those who cannot relax or calm their mind, are likely to find breathing squats a valuable addition to their daily routine.

To get the most from your breathing squats, make sure you go as low into the squat as you can without any discomfort, fully exhale on the way down and pause briefly at the bottom. To keep your mind from wandering, simply focus on counting your breaths. Keep the effort low and the movement slow.

The most common mistake is to try and make it too athletic, which defeats the purpose. One way to make sure you do your breathing squats correctly, you will not feel uncomfortable with a full stomach.

I recommend that you commit to performing at least 50 breathing squats a day. If you can’t reach 50, at intervals throughout the day, do a set of 10. This is an effective way to energise the body and combat the effects of sitting, which is an activity that the body is not designed for and is stressful to the lower back. Many of you will find that as you get better at breathing squats, your flexibility, digestion, elimination, energy, appearance, concentration and mental clarity improve.

SPINAL HEALTH

The discs of our spine have no direct blood supply. They receive their nourishment and fluids through a process called imbibition. This is a process whereby the jelly-like structure of the nucleus and collagenous outer rings of the annulus absorb fluids from the porous bone of the vertebra. The process of nourishing the spinal discs is improved by movement, which results in pressure changes in the disc tissues.

When the human race was developing, we didn’t have chairs. If we wanted to stop and socialize we’d simply go into a full squat and rested our trunk on our thighs. This process, along with our sleeping postures naturally facilitates rehydration of the spinal discs.

Today, most people have such a poor diet and exercise programme that performing a loaded squat places them at risk of ligament or disc injury, which has led to most exercise and rehabilitation professionals not teaching maintenance of lumbar lordosis (curve) during a squat.

What we need is to use the natural full squat at low intensities in the gym, or during activities of daily living where the load is light enough to comfortably lift less than 20 times, or light enough that they can easily breathe naturally.
For Those Who Have Been Injured by a squat
Many people have been told by doctors, physical therapists and personal trainers that squatting is dangerous, but there are some real physiological consequences that must be faced when following this advice.

First and foremost, when it comes to squatting, rule of thumb is, if you can’t – you must! Orthopaedic rehabilitation and sports conditioning experts suggest that injury during a squat movement is the result of incorrect squat movement and\or inadequate strength in the pattern. If you need further proof just think about what it takes to get tables into your car: you must perform the equivalent of a single-legged squat with a lateral shift and a twist, particularly if you own a sports car.

There can be little doubt that squatting is a very important Primal Movement Pattern. Initially, the squat movement need not be performed under a greater load than that afforded by your body weight. Body weight squats offer the following benefits:

- Improved respiration of all working tissues used in the squat; the squat uses almost all the muscles in your body.

- Improved pumping of body fluids, aiding in removal of waste and delivery of nutrition to all tissues, including organs and glands.

- Beneficial physiological stress to your hormonal system: properly performed breathing squats actually shift the body away from sympathetic nervous system dominance and encourage parasympathetic activity. This aids in tissue repair and cultivation of chi, or life-force energy.

- Improved movement of faeces through the colon and more regular bowel movements.
Breating squats and functional squatting can be performed anywhere, anytime-no equipment is needed.

- Prepares your body for more advanced training.

When you are capable of performing at least 100 breathing squats in a row, you will have mastered the squat with body weight and conditioned your tissue to effectively handle greater intensities as achieved with resistance training.

Adding muscles mass and increasing your metabolic rate are among the many benefits available to you by applying this information.