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Comment by KozmoNau7 | Hacker News Reader

In a proper deep squat, your thighs and calves are touching and your feet are flat on the floor, so there's not a lot of stress on the tendons. It's a surprisingly relaxing position, but a lot of people can't do it, because they haven't really squatted since they were toddlers. It takes time to get that flexibility back, not least because a lot of people seem to think that squatting below 90 degrees is bad for your knees.

I've been doing weightlifting for many years, and I can do a full squat with my feet and knees together, which I certainly could not do when I started. Keeping flexible only gets more important as you age.

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Is there a way to adapt this for the overweight?

It's not for flexibility that I can't get into a deep squat. It's because my belly and thighs don't let me compress far enough to be in a balanced position when I do. I end up being back-heavy and toppling over!

I'm working on the weight factor generally (down 30lbs this year!), but is there an adaptive way I can add this into my day to be slightly more active and receive the health benefits? Or do I just have to wait a bit?

If I squatted with my feet on a slight incline, that would tilt me forward enough not to fall backward, but would it start straining all the wrong places?

>would it start straining all the wrong places?

Weight lifters often wear shoes with a definite incline while squatting, so do not worry about that (though my guess is it will not solve the basic problem you described).

I think a good progression for people that cannot do it properly right away is to have something steady in front of you that you can hold with both (or one) arms and allows you to keep the position for longer periods, until your joints, muscles and tendons start adapting.

This is the way I’ve seen different people with different limitations continually make progress until they can do it properly.

It helps to widen your stance. This brings your knees and thighs outwards to make room for your stomach.

As for being back heavy, squat shoes are commonly used in weightlifting and they have an incline built into them. If you don't want to buy squat shoes you can always put a block of wood or something that's about an inch or so under the back of your foot to give you an incline. This helps you get deeper.

Like the other comment mentioned, you can widen your stance, so your belly goes between your thighs. An Indian-style squat with the thighs touching the calves already is a wide(ish) stance and puts the torso sort of between the thighs, so you adjust a bit based on that, depending on how much room you need.

Look at how a toddler squats, that's basically it.

And kudos on your weight loss already! Squats are for everyone, really. It's one of those ways our bodies can naturally be more flexible than we might think. Now, if you have issues getting back up from a full squat, you may need a helper or a handhold like the edge of a table, at least in the beginning, and that's fine. I can't do one-legged squats (pistols) without stabilization, I just can't.

May be you can start with this. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhasana

This is the most basic position people use in India during sitting and eating food.

Follow up this one with the lotus pose, as it automatically stretches your back and leg muscles.

By that time, it may make it easier for you to squat.

Feet flat on the ground? How? I can do it indefinitely on my toes, with heels supporting my glutes though.

I can't do it either. The image in the article shows a man doing it though. His arms are extended in the forward direction, perhaps for counterbalance. Maybe holding some weights could provide more counterbalance. A different way might be to hold someone else's arms who is doing the same exercise in front of you.

It's a question of ankle mobility, a lot of people have very tight Achilles tendons and can't do it without a lot of stretching, flexibility exercises and practice.

Depending on how close you are to being able to squat with flat feet, you can put books or something under your heels.

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