If you guessed the one on the left is the squat that sucks, then you're wrong and you suck. haha. No I'm kidding, you don't suck. But prepare to get schooled, son. The squat on the left is the one that you always hear about, how it's so good for your knees, hips, pelvic floor spine, etc. If you're doing the squat on the right, you're never going to see any of these benefits.
First lets compare the form. In a good squat, the shin bone will be vertical, the feet will be wide and flat and the outside edges will be parallel. The tailbone will be untucked, the torso fits between the knees, and the entire spine extends, right up to the crown of your head. This lengthens the hamstrings and calves, and requires you to use your glutes to hold yourself up (it's a great butt "work out"). It helps tone the pelvic floor, and maintains hip mobility. It doesn't overload the knees, and it doesn't open the spine in a dangerous way.
The bad squat allows the heels to lift, the knees to track over the toes (non-vertical shin) the tailbone tucks under (like the dog you yelled at on your lawn that time) and the spine curves forward, causing the neck to compensate by curving in the opposite direction. This overloads the knees, doesn't do a damn thing for your pelvic floor, doesn't really work on hip mobility, it opens the spine dangerously (especially for all those people who sit a lot) and it causes unhealthy disc compression in the neck. boo!!
So there you have it. That's why one is good and one is bad. Someone once asked me "but, isn't it better to squat rather than not squat, no matter what your form looks like?" My answer would be no. A squat is not really an exercise that you should do, but rather a movement you should be capable of doing, and one that you use multiple times throughout the day when you need to get down to the ground for something (maybe to pick up the present the dog left on your lawn). When you can do a proper squat, you are in REALLY good shape, alignment-wise :) Instead of saying "well, this is the squat that I can get into, so I'll just keep doing it this way" you need to pull back and do some stretches that will help you be able to do a full squat. Start here, with this awesome tropical squatting video by our favorite Katy Bowman.
Then head on over to her blog to check out some other sweet squat stuff that you can do to get your body back to where it needs to be :)
What if I can partially do a good squat, but can't get all the way down? My feet are parallel on the outside, my tailbone is untucked, and my spine is aligned (although I haven't paid that much attention to my neck--hmmmm....) but the only way I can support my body without having my knees shift forward is to hold on to a doorframe or something or keep my butt up high over my hips in a decidely non-squat fashion. Is it still worth my time?
ReplyDeleteYEP, totally worth your time. This is part of the prep stage to get into a full blown squat.
DeleteElisabeth, don't worry too much about the neck right now. The thoracic spine is a whole other section to deal with, you have to have the ability to extend through the spine without lifting the ribs and that can take a lot more time.
DeleteIn fact doing a modified squat the way you described is better than doing a full squat with bad form. Good job! It is totally worth your time because you'll be getting the benefits and you'll be working toward a full squat the whole time. Squatting is hard work, and takes a lot of little steps to get there. It's like learning a piece of music. If you can't sit down and play it perfectly from the start, that doesn't mean practicing the piece isn't worth your time. :)
What's a good marker for the width of the feet? For some reason I was thinking they were supposed to be hip width apart, but now I see they're wider than that. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLisa, you want your shins remain vertical and stay directly below the knees (from profile, but also when looking from the front), but you want your knees wide enough so that your torso can fit between them. This is slightly wider than pelvis width apart, which is the general rule for all other things (even while walking!!)
ReplyDeleteGreat - thanks Jillian, more things to play with :) And to think I used to think walking was boring - hahaha......
DeleteMe, I always love walking. But, I used to think it was EASY. hahah. It's neither easy nor boring. Watching my daughter learn to do it has really made me think a lot more about it as well. :)
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ReplyDeleteGreat visual, thanks for taking the time!
ReplyDeleteI knew which one was correct because I read katie's blog, and I understand why. What I don't understand is how it can be done without falling backward. Even the girl in the drawing looks like she should fall over.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I know what you mean. I could never understand why either, until I started actually doing it. Sometimes you have to be able to excecute the posture to understand the physics behind it. It has a lot to do with the way you balance your weight (if you lift your arms up in front of you it gives you some good counter balance) and actively engage all your muscles, especially your thoracic spine and your glutes and hamstrings. I promise to post a real life picture just as soon as I'm able to do it. :)
DeleteI'd love to see a real life photo, not because I don't believe it, but because a photo might help me better understand how you hold your weight, balance, ect. Meanwhile, I'll keep working on it. :)
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