Two simple ways to get more comfortable with squats

Squat a little deeper, a little more easily

Few fitness moves, aside from maybe good old walking, are more functional than a squat. After all, being able to stand up safely and comfortably from a chair (or, you know, a toilet) helps you move with ease throughout your daily life, and maintaining the strength to go from seated to standing also helps you keep your independence as you age. But in a fitness setting, many folks can’t — or believe they can’t — do a “proper” squat, where the hips get to parallel with or just a bit lower than the knees.

While a more shallow squat (aka a partial squat) will give your quads a nice challenge, reaching parallel or just below parallel helps engage even more muscles in your hips, legs, back, and core. If you’re adding weight, the just-below-parallel squat will also help your back maintain a more optimal angle for your knees.

Of course, nearly every trainer, CrossFit coach, physical therapist, and weightlifter has their own opinion about the ideal depth for a squat, and I’m not here to tell you that you must be working toward an ass-to-grass squat — as a long-limbed person with a congenital hip issue, this isn’t something that’s really within my reach, especially if I’m using weight. But a solid guideline is to get as low as you can while maintaining a neutral spine: If your lower back begins to hunch and you lose the natural curvature in the lumbar spine, you’ve gone too far (at least for right now).

There are many hip and ankle mobility exercises you can do to help deepen your squat, but for some, simply working your way up to becoming more comfortable with the positioning will do the trick. If that’s you, give these two exercises a try.

Box squat

A box squat (aka bench squat). Image: Anna Maltby

Stand a few inches in front of a bench, or hard-seated chair (or, if you’re in a gym, a chair-height box — hence the name), feet about hip-width apart. Initiate the movement by pushing your hips backward, then ground through your heels to lower your hips until they tap the bench, and stand right back up, squeezing your glutes at the top. You can experiment with this quicker format — just a tap on the bench — or sit all the way down, pause, and then stand back up. As you become more comfortable, try a surface that’s closer to the ground, like a little step stool.

One other cool thing here is that a box squat can be a great way to build single-leg strength and stability if you slightly remix it: Sit back on the box, then lift one foot off the floor, and stand up tall pressing into the remaining foot on the floor. Then repeat on the other side. (You can either alternate or do a set of 8–12 on one foot, then repeat on the other foot.)

Assisted squat

Using the back of a chair for an assisted squat. Image: Anna Maltby

Stand with your hands on the back of a chair, on the edge of a counter, or if you have one, a barre. If you have TRX bands (this move is great with TRX bands), stand with the handles in your hands, facing the anchor point. Initiate the movement by pushing your hips backward, then ground through your heels to lower your hips as deeply as you can without allowing your low back to hunch, and stand right back up, squeezing your glutes at the top. If you’re just starting out, you can really use the chair for assistance; as you get stronger and more confident, experiment with resting your hands just a bit more lightly on the chair.

(I sometimes do assisted squats while brushing my teeth! I use my hand on the bathroom sink to help me sit back into a nice deep squat, and either repeat, or hang out in the bottom of the squat, stretching my hips.)

Ok, one last little nitpicky form thing: I filmed these a few years ago and have slightly adjusted the way I squat! It’s a tiny thing, but instead of initiating the movement by pressing my hips back so much, with locked-out-knees, that I actually slightly lift off my toes and rock back onto my heels, I try to ground through both feet evenly. I still like to start with a tiny backward movement with my butt, but not quite so major as the one you see above, and I keep my knees a little softer. Always learning!

xo
Anna

Note: A version of this post, and the accompanying images, originally appeared on Medium when I was writing for Better Humans.