Paleo Diet: Raw Paleo Diet and Lifestyle Forum
Raw Paleo Diet Forums => Exercise / Bodybuilding => Topic started by: wodgina on February 10, 2010, 11:56:59 pm
-
Squating isn't just for getting strong it also affects the nervous and is especially beneficial for the digestive system. Important info for IBS'ers.
I find 'the Asian squat' is great for stretching the back. The squat is a lost art for us neolithes and I believe paleoman would of spent much of their time resting in this position.
http://mikedemeter.com/articles/You%20Should%20Squat.pdf (http://mikedemeter.com/articles/You%20Should%20Squat.pdf)
-
Great article
I've been doing full squats during elimination for years (in times of eating cooked food, this is usually harder even with good leg strength and often use a "stool" which is usually anything I can grab like a trash can)
as for exercise, theres another really great no-weight squat one can do which I think was popularized by Matt Fury called the "Hindu" squat. better to youtube it as its hard to sum up in text, but basically it is sorta like preparing to jump off of something but you keep it going up in down in a circular motion.
I tend to get lazy about doing these, but I try to make up for it when I do something with free weights like biceps or shoulders, I'll go down for a full squat while I'm lowering the weight then lifting the weight when on the the rise close to my waist. not sure if this is something others recommend but works for me.
-
I agree, nice article and squatting is certainly something we should all think about adding to our lifestyle. I was quite disgusted when I was in China not too long ago entering a restroom with no toilet or paper. I found some paper and squatted for one of the first times in my life. You'll use less paper this way as well. You can do this without a stool as well, I just hop on the seat with my feet and bombard away.
This should probably be in the health section.
-
I couldn't face squatting while defecating. I've been to some of those public French toilets in certain national parks where they have such squat-toilets and the places where one puts one's feet are almost always covered in sh*t. Most unpleasant. At least with a seat and a proper toilet, 99% of people can be toilet-trained to aim at the right place, with lavatory attendants fixing any unusual occurrences each day.
-
Squatting is also [a common] way most people in the world normally sit: (http://www.cyclingpeace.org/gallery/albums/album46/Chinese_squat.sized.jpg)
So between sitting and defecating, most people in the world (other than Westerners and Western-influenced cities) get tons and tons of daily squat exercise.
Notice also the soft, flat-soled shoes this man wears, which are superior to Western stiff, thick-soled shoes with heels.
-
Notice also the soft, flat-soled shoes this man wears, which are superior to Western stiff, thick-soled shoes with heels.
+1 I hate the standard western sole-model with thick sole and elevated heel... I'd like to be able to get all seasons' footwear with the flat, soft and flexible soles.
__________________________________________________________
That way of sitting, though, isn't all great... It cuts off circulation down the backs of the legs, through the backs of the knees...
Just out of curiosity: Try going into this squatting position, heels flat on the floor and with no shoes(no elevated heels at least). How do you feel? Aside from the feeling of cutting off the blood behind my knees, I feel like I have to put quite a lot of effort in with my shin muscles to stay up as I'm not really on balance. That is with me leaning over my knees like this guy.
-
...That way of sitting, though, isn't all great... It cuts off circulation down the backs of the legs, through the backs of the knees...
I've been sitting that way (where possible) all my life, despite my mother's and other modern adults' efforts to get me to stop. It came instinctively to me as a child (and I've observed it in every other infant child I've ever seen that had working legs) and I found Western chair sitting to be much more uncomfortable, painful, and circulation-suppressing (for one thing, my ass tended to fall asleep in chairs :D --though not now that my circulation-promoting diet is able to overcome the ass suffocation by modern chairs :D ...my legs still do fall asleep if I cross them for too long, though...which is a problem squatting does not share). I find it eases the pain on my back and is better for my circulation. Note also that the fellow in the photo also has no apparent problems doing it or discomfort from it. Note also that all primates squat in nature. Humans have to be trained to not squat.
However, folks with knee joint arthritis/stiffness and/or muscle atrophy from years of Western-style chair sitting do have trouble squatting. Billions of other people do not, however--including extremely elderly folk, some of which I have posted images of elsewhere in this forum. If you do it in public in a modern society, you'll soon find that it is disapproved of. The main problem with squatting appears to be social, not physical. I think that the biggest problem with it is that it reminds us that we are animals too. I don't look down on other animals (pardon the pun ;) ) or consider nature to be inherently sinful or evil, so for me it's not a problem.
See also:
"The Asian / Third World Squat" (http://conditioningresearch.blogspot.com/2008/11/posture-functional-training-and-b-squat.html)
(http://www.easyvigour.net.nz/fitness/pBshMnSqt.jpg)
Image: people who haven't forgotten how to sit. -- One thing this image reminds me of is that children and animals tend to act as if they feel more comfortable and less threatened if you squat or sit on the ground like this, at their level and in this non-aggressive posture. Standing or sitting high makes adults tower over animals and children, and thus appear more threatening and attack-ready. The best pose to frighten off even a ferocious predator is standing as tall and wide as you can. Try it some time. Squat or sit down at floor/ground level and see if children or animals come closer to you. I've seen some people instinctively squat down and use a smaller, more child-like voice when they want a dog to come to them.
I have an advantage over many Westerners, in that because of my back pain I never stopped squatting. So it still comes naturally to me. If you're joints are still limber enough to squat and your muscles can handle it, but you don't have the balance, you can also try a modified squat, described by Esther Gokhale at the above link.
Remember, that one of the principles of Paleo lifestyle is that the best way to do things is often (though not always) the opposite of how moderners do it and how the experts tell you to do it. Bear in mind that the ways of sitting and getting around that require the least amount of muscle involvement and balance are usually the worst, not the best. The primary thing to avoid is atrophy, not muscle use. You should put your weight on your muscles more than your joints and spine. When I told my nephew that flat-soled shoes are the best, he insightfully responded, "But they make you use your calf muscles more." I replied, "Precisely--and you want your calf muscles to get stronger and bigger, don't you?" He immediately saw the wisdom of that.
You can also try other sitting postures, like a half lotus, bent-knee sitting, or natural butt-on-ground sitting, which Gokhale shows how to do with images of infants. The first step in healthy sitting is to forget what Western culture taught us about it and open our minds to re-learning the instinctive ways of sitting.
Paul Chek is right about squatting, IMHO. I like other ways of sitting and reclining too, of course, but squatting is one of my faves.
-
This seems very important.
My pooping has improved since I did semi squats.
As for those pics where people do a full squat, I have never been able to do that since I can remember ever in my life, I try and but I have to be on my tip toes and then fall. Maybe I grew up not physically developing fully. Although lately I've been feeling a lot stronger, maybe there is still hope for a 40 year old guy to be more limber?
-
See if you can do Gokhale's modified squat. Try the other yogic (ie natural) sitting postures too and start out with what you can handle, then gradually work up from there. If your joints are ossified, you may find (like my father, who is in his 70's) that they gradually loosen up again on a Paleo-type diet. If it's just your balance then I think your progress could potentially be faster than folks with stiff/arthritic joints. If your connective tissues and inner ear are OK, then the main issues will probably be muscle strength and balance practice. Connective tissues and inner ear problems tend to be more permanent than muscle issues, but I have experienced some improvements in all those areas.
-
Phil, don't you feel like most of your weight is on your heel, even leaning forward as much as you can...? I could hold it for a long time.. I mean hours(though I haven't tried. I'm finding it a lot easier today than last night), but it doesn't feel particularly restful. I don't know, but I like the idea of squatting places instead of sitting anyway =) I've 'always' done (exercise)squats this way, flat feet, all the way down; just not holding the bottom part for more than 10secs ever.
It does seem like it may be bad putting your butt on the ground out of the wild.
-
Hi Miles with practice and pointing your feet out at 90 degrees it becomes effortless. Make sure your arm pits site over your knees. There is something special about the squat as PP mentioned it's grounding.
To TD those french toilets are probably ruined by tourists who couldn't squat although when I was in France I was suprised by people pissing in public more so than in Australia.
-
To TD those french toilets are probably ruined by tourists who couldn't squat although when I was in France I was suprised by people pissing in public more so than in Australia.
Hmm, I remember my uncle, who was an eminent high-court judge, being disgusted by the sight of Norwegians pissing in public. Apparently, there are now even urinals open to the air in some countries. As for those toilets in France, I just don't think they were used to squatting, French or otherwise. Personally, re squatting, I shudder at the thought, as one only has to become imbalanced and end up sitting in one's own excrement - not pleasant. When I was in scout-camp in my childhood and faced with a similiar predicament, I made damn sure that the hole I dug was at least a couple of feet deep, and steadied myself by holding onto branches.
-
In Malaysia and Indonesia, it seems squat toilets are common.
Our provincial folk in the Philippines squat on top of the crapper toilets.
-
Other than pictures, I havn't seen euro or asian squat toilets, but for me the elimination squat is far different then the resting squats above or exercise squats. I would think a full on squat although good for strengthening those internal muscles, would have similar issues to the typical western bowled over on a seat - compression. What works the best is creating an open up line (from the side this would look like a diagonal from your head into the receptacle) of your elimination organs by basically performing a chair like posture over where the hole is (with American style the seat being up of course) and lifting your arms above ones head helps greatly as well.
-
... lifting your arms above ones head helps greatly as well.
I have done that on and off for many years using the bathroom. It is a help, or it feels like it does.
-
Other than pictures, I havn't seen euro or asian squat toilets, but for me the elimination squat is far different then the resting squats above or exercise squats. I would think a full on squat although good for strengthening those internal muscles, would have similar issues to the typical western bowled over on a seat - compression. What works the best is creating an open up line (from the side this would look like a diagonal from your head into the receptacle) of your elimination organs by basically performing a chair like posture over where the hole is (with American style the seat being up of course) and lifting your arms above ones head helps greatly as well.
LOL How to make the shit-simple complicated. And the picture of uplifted arms! This is naturally a prayer posture. :) Too funny. ....but it might help if one is constipated...
In the 1980s rural Mexicans also squatted on top of the toilet seats.
Pissing outdoors is called using "The Big One" by the lucky who have escaped overcrowded repressive civilization.
As for falling into it while squatting, this is impossible.
-
william i pee on my shoes all the time
i am pretty sure i am not blessed with as much grace as yourself and although i has not happened yet feel there is a great possibility i could land in my own "natureduke" at some point !
the squat is powerful tho, planting and harvesting low crops has you in that position for hours on end and is pretty sure to relieve any sluggish digestion and perhaps expedite the process
-
No, I've never had a problem with squatting. Nor apparently do the billions of other people (Asians, Indians, Africans, etc.) who squat-sit. On the contrary, I like it. I like half-lotus too. I can do full lotus for a little while, but my left knee gets sore in full lotus (my left side is the main problem side), apparently due to my spinal malalignment and tight muscles in that area--though that's another thing that's slowly improving.
-
As for falling into it while squatting, this is impossible.
Us raw paleos have no problem, as our bones get healthy density and our muscles get more muscular. I have been super skinny and no hips. I was a little scared I'd fall in. I was sitting though. Yes, squatting is more secure, like a bird on a perch, they don't fall.
-
Paul Chek is an anorexic over exerciser but I agree he does have some good things to say and squatting is one of them. I try and not go to the toilet that much and not drinking any water helps this. By dehydrating the colon and being semi constipated your body can culture more beneficial bacteria. That helps add the healthy body fat and builds fitness that way.
-
In Japan, the traditional public bathrooms are for squatting. And usually there is not shit where you put your feet!
-
^ lol that's because they have a lot of aiming practice. I saw some of those in rural bars here but they are not clean and it's probably because drunk people don't have much skill.
-
I've seen plenty of restrooms in bars and other public facilities in this country where the were the toilets were filthy and even the entire floors at times were covered in urine and/or vomit. I even volunteered to do some janitorial work at a Catholic elementary school and there was always urine on the floor of the boys' bathroom and there were even feces on the floor a couple of times. So it seems to require education, practice and sobriety to properly use any toilet, though the squat toilets apparently take a bit more skill (though I haven't had a problem; just make sure to keep baggy pants clear--I almost sprayed my baggy pants once, and I think I now know why baggy pants weren't common in history :) ).
-
When I was working a factory job, there were some guys from Turkey who obviously didn't quite get the thing about sitting on a toilet, so you would have dirty footprints and sometimes feces on the toilet seat... So I like squatting toilets better. It's better to stand in shit than to sit on it.
-
When I was working a factory job, there were some guys from Turkey who obviously didn't quite get the thing about sitting on a toilet, so you would have dirty footprints and sometimes feces on the toilet seat... So I like squatting toilets better. It's better to stand in shit than to sit on it.
Middle Easterners can be quite primitive. I remember when some north african immigrants broke into our villa in Italy and used the curtains for wiping their arses instead of the toilet-paper.
-
Middle Easterners can be quite primitive. I remember when some north african immigrants broke into our villa in Italy and used the curtains for wiping their arses instead of the toilet-paper.
They probably thought it polite to at least leave behind a little present for you after they stole your stuff. People in southern countries are much more warm-hearted and hospitable than in the north.
-
They probably thought it polite to at least leave behind a little present for you after they stole your stuff. People in southern countries are much more warm-hearted and hospitable than in the north.
I don't know if they were Middle Eastern too, but someone did basically the same at my home while I was out. This was like thirteen years ago. I guess all Southern countries do that.
-
Middle Easterners can be quite primitive. I remember when some north african immigrants broke into our villa in Italy and used the curtains for wiping their arses instead of the toilet-paper.
That appears crass on several fronts, though I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it's unintentional. North Africa is mostly Islamic, but it's not the Middle East, so people from North Africa are not Middle Easterners. All of North Africa and the Middle East should not be stereotyped based on a handful of immigrants. I had an apartment broken into, robbed and trashed by Americans. Does that mean that all Americans are primitive?
Also, your tone implies that what's "primitive" is bad by definition, despite your eating of a primitive diet. Most moderners would condemn you as an extreme primitive because of your diet and lifestyle, regardless of how much you might protest to the contrary, so it's ironic that you would use that word with others as if it were an insult. You also don't know why those intruders wiped themselves on the curtains, so it appears that you're making assumptions relating to cultural primitiveness when there could be other reasons, such as simple vandalism.
Did you know that centuries ago the first Arab travelers in Europe reported back to the Middle East that Northern Europeans were tattooed savages who didn't bathe? You’re probably aware that the Romans regarded Northern Europeans as savages. Maybe those perspectives will help you see that you shouldn't generalize and make assumptions at the expense of others and should instead take a broader historical perspective and consider circumstances, for often it's only when prejudice is aimed at us and people like us that we recognize it for what it is. Plus, if toilet paper defines what's not primitive, then does that mean that you regard the entire human race before its invention to have been "primitive"?
-
That appears crass on several fronts, though I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it's unintentional. North Africa is mostly Islamic, but it's not the Middle East, so people from North Africa are not Middle Easterners. All of North Africa and the Middle East should not be stereotyped based on a handful of immigrants. I had an apartment broken into, robbed and trashed by Americans. Does that mean that all Americans are primitive?
Also, your tone implies that what's "primitive" is bad by definition, despite your eating of a primitive diet. Most moderners would condemn you as an extreme primitive because of your diet and lifestyle, regardless of how much you might protest to the contrary, so it's ironic that you would use that word with others as if it were an insult. You also don't know why those intruders wiped themselves on the curtains, so it appears that you're making assumptions relating to cultural primitiveness when there could be other reasons, such as simple vandalism.
Did you know that centuries ago the first Arab travelers in Europe reported back to the Middle East that Northern Europeans were tattooed savages who didn't bathe? You’re probably aware that the Romans regarded Northern Europeans as savages. Maybe those perspectives will help you see that you shouldn't generalize and make assumptions at the expense of others and should instead take a broader historical perspective and consider circumstances, for often it's only when prejudice is aimed at us and people like us that we recognize it for what it is. Plus, if toilet paper defines what's not primitive, then does that mean that you regard the entire human race before its invention to have been "primitive"?
First of all this is all a big fuss over nothing. Secondly, while in the far past, North African countries like Egypt might be referred to as the Near East, this is no longer the case. Generally speaking, the Middle East as a term refers to those regions with a common Arab-Muslim heritage. Turkey is reasonably considered middle-eastern as is Morocco or Libya - further south in Africa counts really as West Africa despite some Muslim populations in those areas as the Arab contingent is negligible there. Persia is the extreme east of the Middle East sphere.
Secondly, breaking into a house is not itself an unusual behaviour trait so your American analogy is quite wrong, it`s the wiping of faeces on the curtain that is particularly backward. Since it wasn`t the only time this behaviour happened and the police had already due to evidence cited North African immigrants in the area as being responsible for the 2-3 occasions, it`s quite valid to make such a comment(simply put it wasn`t the sort of behaviour practised by local thieves). Plus, my own family had had some decades of varied experience in the Middle-East and were therefore unsurprised as to what happened.
Re primitiveness:- The very fact that they wiped their arses on the curtains rather than using the toilet paper available implies that they were not familiar with more modern methods of wiping arses. Even if they were simply practising vandalism, that would merely demonstrate a similiar level of primitivism. After all, more civilised people would break windows or just smash furniture.
Lastly, I don`t wish to embrace absolutely all palaeo principles. Eating with a knife and fork when in front of other people sounds fine to me, plus one could argue that since rpd diets have been with us for much longer than any other diet, that all other diets are merely new faddish diets and that rpd diet is just the natural diet. And I certainly want to be able to use toilet paper, I do think we need to adopt some standards of modern times and not praise primitive tribes for wiping their arses with leaves or whatever nonsense. Civilisation has brought us many benefits and we need to retain the key ones, though getting rid of others such as cooked foods.
And I might add that the Romans had rather good cause to label Northern Europeans as unsanitary savages. The Romans had a very clean culture in which their citizens were expected to bathe extremely often, attend public baths etc. Makes me wish the Roman Empire had never fallen.
-
All that said, I should perhaps have referred to Middle-Eastern immigrants/criminals rather than Middle-Easterners in general, if only for exactness.
-
All that said, I should perhaps have referred to Middle-Eastern immigrants/criminals rather than Middle-Easterners in general, if only for exactness.
...and so as not to unintentionally slander the peoples of the entire Middle East and North Africa as primitive criminals, including some friends of mine, yes, thank you.
-
...and so as not to unintentionally slander the peoples of the entire Middle East and North Africa as primitive criminals, including some friends of mine, yes, thank you.
I never once suggested that Middle-Easterners were all criminals, so that`s just obvious paranoia, I merely referred to certain unsanitary practices not generally found in the West, even among the criminal element.
-
I never once suggested that Middle-Easterners were all criminals, so that`s just obvious paranoia, I merely referred to certain unsanitary practices not generally found in the West, even among the criminal element.
Middle Easterners can be quite primitive. I remember when some north african immigrants broke into our villa in Italy and used the curtains for wiping their arses instead of the toilet-paper.
Whites & Blacks can be quite challenged. Experience dealing with them tells me not to trust them or be friends with them, never have, never will. I can always trust my primitive North African & Middle Eastern brothers and sisters though ;D
-
All that said, I should perhaps have referred to Middle-Eastern immigrants/criminals rather than Middle-Easterners in general, if only for exactness.
Is putting "immigrant" and "criminal" into the same slash-punctuated identity more exact than just saying "Middle-Easterners in general"? is this to say that all immigrants are criminal? or that all Middle Eastern immigrants are criminal? or that all criminals are immigrants?
seems like a pretty dangerous assumption to me.
sort of on the original topic, i've also heard that wiping with your hand and water and then washing your hand is much more healthy than wiping with toilet paper, and would certainly be much more paleo and much less wasteful for the environment. i don't remember the argument for this, but i suppose it was along the lines of less friction, less chafing, less unnaturally chemically bleached substances in contact with your sensitive nether regions.
and while breaking windows and furniture might be a more "civilised" way to vandalise someone's property, i think that smearing feces on your curtains probably has a stronger effect. kudos for efficacy? sends a pretty strong message, no?
as for squatting versus sitting on the porcelain throne, probably the turkish workers, mexican immigrants and other toilet squatters find it unbelievably unhygienic that the people in all these Western, "developed" nations would find it somehow acceptable to place their naked, urinating and defecating rear ends on the same surface as the naked, urinating and defecating rear ends of innumerable strangers carrying who knows what kinds of germs and diseases. i guess air tends to be cleaner than most surfaces, and shoes were meant to protect your feet from dirt or crap or urine or what have you.
not that i particularly enjoy encountering a toilet seat littered with dirt-encrusted shoe prints, but try looking at things from other people's points of view once in a while.
-
Is putting "immigrant" and "criminal" into the same slash-punctuated identity more exact than just saying "Middle-Easterners in general"? is this to say that all immigrants are criminal? or that all Middle Eastern immigrants are criminal? or that all criminals are immigrants?
seems like a pretty dangerous assumption to me.
It seems that people are continuing to wrongly "reinterpret" what I actually originally said, in ever more ridiculous and absurd ways.
-
You did call middle easterners primitive. If you wanted to flame' this post would of been a pretty good start.
-
as for squatting versus sitting on the porcelain throne, probably the turkish workers, mexican immigrants and other toilet squatters find it unbelievably unhygienic that the people in all these Western, "developed" nations would find it somehow acceptable to place their naked, urinating and defecating rear ends on the same surface as the naked, urinating and defecating rear ends of innumerable strangers carrying who knows what kinds of germs and diseases. i guess air tends to be cleaner than most surfaces, and shoes were meant to protect your feet from dirt or crap or urine or what have you.
not that i particularly enjoy encountering a toilet seat littered with dirt-encrusted shoe prints, but try looking at things from other people's points of view once in a while.
Actually I don't have any problem with them squatting on the toilet. I do have a problem with people who are too lazy to lift the toilet seat (am I asking too much??) and generally just don't give a damn about the habits and culture of the people who happen to to be native to the country they chose to live in.
-
You did call middle easterners primitive. If you wanted to flame' this post would of been a pretty good start.
I merely pointed out that not even the local criminal element in that area would even consider wiping their arses on curtains(the place, sadly, got robbed endless times by various different types of gangs because it's a holiday home with no one there outside the summer). Also note that I said "can be quite primitive", I did not suggest that this custom applied to all Middle-Easterners, merely a fraction thereof. And the context/topic at the time was the different toilet-habits of different regions of the world, so it was relevant to the discussion. I have seen poor toilet-habits in other parts of the world(eg:- France) but this was somewhat extreme by any standards.
I note no one got at me for previously describing unpleasant French or Norwegian toilet-habits, but anyway..
-
In Malaysia and Indonesia, it seems squat toilets are common.
Our provincial folk in the Philippines squat on top of the crapper toilets.
hahaha man you just remind a weirdd expirience I had when I was in 9 grade LOLLLLLL
Me and coupe of my friends we were looking like we are 17-18 so we
asked to work in a hotel as runners(give towels to the ladies)
We also had an asian guy workin there he was very weird like little chimp in his behavior
so one day I go to the toilet at work I go to the man room of course.
I open up the toilet and I see this little asian dude with his feet squating on the toilet (the big toilet you suppose to sit on not stand and squat) the dude was all smiling I was like "wwwwha t fuck"
then we both crackedd laughing like crazyyy thereee man.
but it was very funny to us both we didnt share the same language or culture but he understood that it was very weird for me to see him like that so we bothh laughed like crazyy
-
Dude, it's not crazy, that's what I and at least one other forum member do and what the majority of the world's population do, including most Asians, which means it's not unusual at all that an Asian man would use the squat method. Throne toilets are the unusual novelty, historically speaking. They weren't commonly used anywhere until Thomas Crapper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Crapper) popularized them by improving and marketing them in the late 19th century. From Crapper we got the words crapper, crapping, crap.
And squat-pooping is growing in popularity within the primal/Paleo movement. Mark Sisson, successful primal/Paleo diet author might say that "you don't know squat" about pooping ;) :
"Up until the 19th century, though, sitting toilets were a luxury reserved for the affluent. And even then, the sitting toilet was only widely adopted in the West. Everyone else squatted – and most continue to do so today. I go to Thailand fairly often. I can vouch for the prevalence of squat toilets. We’re the weird ones for sitting down to poop, if you want to go by sheer numbers. Worldwide, sitting is actually just the number two method." ("You Don't Know Squat," http://www.marksdailyapple.com/squat-poop/)
I've met Cambodian people who had never seen a throne toilet until they came here to the USA, and they didn't know what it was for. To them, the throne toilet was the strange thing, not squatting.
-
Dude, it's not crazy, that's what I and at least one other forum member do and what the majority of the world's population do
yeah, I personally can't imagine crapping regularly without squatting. I mean I do it on occasion sometimes even mid move if there is any uh difficulty. hah. but usually its like 1-2-3 done. Particularly on a RAF type diet, it seems like you want to have gravity working for you and all the muscles aligned and opened up, as opposed to all squished and upside down. The actual squatting on the seat thing makes little sense to me though as squat toilets are not like that other than those hole and the ground ones...anyway, i just sort of sit like there is an invisible seat 2 inches off the bowl. I guess it requires some leg strength? A decent alternative is sitting with legs on a trash can or something. I do that in 1 person rest-rooms sometimes. stall you can use the door..sorta, but I worry less about any potential mess in one of those anyway. The seat is always up in my male abode. :)
-
Yes but some people just cannot squat without falling on their back including me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLZCoOwn0Jo
This is the best methood I've seen its duplicates the squat position while sitting on a nice toilet bowel, just by
placing a small object next to you and putting the legs on it.
start from 5:00 the guy shows how to do it :)
EDIT:
I would like to know if its possible to train the legs so I can relax in a deep squat position without any effort
I know alot of people that can do so but I Find it very hard to squat deep, I have long legs.
Someone told me I need to stretch my calves alot and do ankle mobilization exercises, anybody heard of that?
-
Yes but some people just cannot squat without falling on their back including me.
....
This is the best methood I've seen its duplicates the squat position while sitting on a nice toilet bowel, just by
placing a small object next to you and putting the legs on it.
Yeah, but what did humans do before throne toilets and outhouses? Surely the entire human race had to have squatted to go before this, as with all primates, yes? I figure a few generations of Westerners squatting would enable the vast majority of Westerners to squat once again, just as most Westerners did just several generations ago. Perhaps some people's body structure makes it completely impossible, I don't know, but either their ancestors found a way to do it despite that body structure or the body structure is a very recent mutation. Seems like the former would be more likely.
-
How I got to be comfortable in a low squat short term and moderately comfortable longer term:
a) doing the squatting motion (up and down) going as deep as I could when I went down.
b) box squats: squatting motion down on a box or whatever that you can sit on, then get up again (there are videos for this on youtube)
c) going into deep squat position with the legs very wide, then pressing the knees apart with my elbows and moving the hip from one leg to the other, stretching.
Putting the legs further apart and pointing the toes outside further makes it easier.
-
Thanks for the tips, Hans. Mark Sisson has posted a video on how to gradually improve your squatting: http://www.rawpaleoforum.com/exercisebodybuilding/squat-motivation-thread/msg47479/#msg47479
People with extra long legs may have to squat a bit differently and take longer to adapt than those with shorter legs. For example, when in the deepest squat, such as for sitting, you may have to put your arms around your legs instead of over them, or keep your heels up, or put one knee down, etc.