The resting squat has been a game changer. It is the position where you descend into a complete (full) squat, hips lowered to the ground, feet completely flat, knees angled slightly outwards.
This is one of those positions perfectly natural for toddlers, young kids, monkeys, as well as isolated communities acclimated to living in nature. Yet a contemporary adult accustomed to chairs and furniture naturally loses this aptitude. Or rather, the respective muscles atrophy.
The static position fortifies myriads of those otherwise unused tiny leg muscles.
Cultivate the resting squat. It pays dividends. Maintain the position often and for prolonged periods. Specifically, aim for at least 5 minutes, and better yet, 10.
Initially, your Achilles heels will require a period of acclimation. In my early struggles, I made it a daily practice. The leg muscles would cry a few minutes in. I had to constantly vary the knee positioning and perform various mind hacks to sustain the act.
Focus on any other activity was out of the question. And standing up after those ten grueling minutes, I could barely walk, such degree of muscle spasm.
Nowadays, this has become a fairly trivial routine. As far as a premeditated exercise, I probably don’t descend into a resting squat more than twice a week, the respective muscles already well maintained. When I stand up, hardly a muscle spasm is felt.
However, there’s much opportunity for the resting squat in the course of natural lifestyle. I sometimes just rest in one for a few minutes between exercises. Or when brainstorming in a notepad. Or during a conversation, as singular of an apparition as this may seem for a normal human being.
As an added bonus, you can rest in this squat anywhere in nature, never more preoccupied with sitting on dirt.
In a similar situation, an average being would probably crouch on the toes. Not only does this sacrifice the recruitment of all those muscles inherent to an authentic resting squat, but it also creates shoe indentations.
Not so with the resting squat, not with the heels flat on the ground! Never again fear wearing out your Italian shoes as you lower into a resting squat in your business formal attire.
Just the other day, I remained in a resting squat on a gigantic rock at a waterfall, impervious to the moisture and dirt on the surface after heavy rainfall, fatigued after a long hike. Pure rest.
Questions, comments? Connect.