Squatting to sit on a chair

[weihawang]

What a gem from seven years ago . It is short but packed with information.

[lindasue]

So interesting about pushing out with the feet! That distribution of energy/force makes it so much easier than simply thinking about pushing oneself UP.

[johnmoir]

Wonderful demonstration of how to sit down. CAN YOU DEMONSTRATE HOW AN OLDER PERSON CAN SIT DOWN IN A BATH, PLEASE?

[painmagician]

'Pushing' outwards with my feet while standing up was a game changer moment! Never have I thought or heard to do this...there are so many muscles I haven't been using at all - deep inside my pelvis. I have hurt my lower back today from working around the house. I am watching your videos now to unlock what I have been doing wrong posturally all afternoon. I have been hardly using my glutes. I wan't using them at all for the full body twist you demonstrated. Thank you Alfons...see you in the next lesson...

[ImpulsoCreativo]

Wjat does it mean when I squat and I end up parallel. Flat back like a table. I cant keep my chest up.

[jasonsanders]

Really enjoying your lessons Alfons. This is a great video, and some salutary wisdom about squatting to sit. I myself have been learning the Alexander technique lately, in order to fix a chronic SI joint problem, and have been focusing on deep squats as a way of resetting usage of my body. I disagree with one point you make about squatting however. You say the lower back should not curl under at the bottom of the squat (what Americans call butt wink) because it is loading the back up too much, while flexed. However I am being taught to do exactly that. And I have found it is really helping lessen the pain of my SI joint, which constantly comes out of good alignment and gets stuck, often throwing my whole back out. My lower back is getting more stable at last, partly because I am addressing the lordosis of my lower back in my squats (and generally).

So I agree with you about keeping the back relaxed and not using back muscles much while squatting; also using the glutes as much as possible, etc. But I think sending the behind out too far in squats, and getting some lordosis in the back as the backside lowers is not ideal. If you look at the way people squat in countries where squatting is done a lot, like the Japanese, Portuguese, Africans, Indians etc. they don't mind curling the tailbone under at the bottom of the squat. Their squats are quite vertical, and their feet are reasonably close together, sometimes right next to each other. This has not led to plagues of lower back problems like slipped discs and loose SI joints I think you will find. (on the contrary, yoga teachers who are often taught to squat without tucking the tailbone are highly prone to too loose SI joints).

Possibly not a good idea to do so if one lifts huge weights in squats, like some weightlifters, but then it could be argued this is not natural to do anyway as it is damaging to the body, even if done with a no butt wink squat. Long term the Alexander Technique asserts weightlifting is very bad for joints.

[rossmiles]

What if a person has damaged knees and can't bend down that deep ??

[fatandy]

I tell Elizabeth she's hot cuz she squats