Improve the mobility in your back, hips, knees and ankles using this easy squatting activity
According to evolutionary scientists, our bodies are still primarily designed to be hunter-gatherers. For 2 million years we have evolved to spend our days migrating (walking), foraging for food, hunting animals (running) or lying down to recover. Any time spent socialising was generally spent in a squatting position. This full range deep squatting position promotes a good range of movement in the lower back, hips, knees and ankles.
Look at any pre-school child here in Australia. If they are playing with their toys on the ground, they will squat in a comfortable and perfectly balanced manner. Yet ask a 10-year-old to squat and the majority of them will already find it uncomfortable, having sat in a chair at school for too many hours a week.
Watch this video demonstrating the hunter-gatherer squat to learn what to do. If you haven’t manoeuvred yourself into this position for a long time, then be patient, just like training it could take many months for your body to gradually adapt to, and fully benefit from the changes. Ultimately though it will help to improve the mobility in your lower back, hips, knees and ankles, which will help with your chance of becoming an injury-free athlete.
The Hunter Gather Squat is one of the exercises in my three minute morning ritual. I recommend this 3 minute routine to all my athletes. Do this everyday to loosed your hips, ankles and quads
