It is a very common position in those houses where there are children. Knees and hips bent beyond 90º, heels supported and buttocks almost touching the ground. Is a position that the little ones often adopt at home or in the park to play, pick up objects from the ground, eat or simply relax. However, for adults it doesn’t seem like such a comfortable position…

Although there are cultures, including many African and Eastern ones, in which this deep squat that denotes great flexibility and mobility It is a very common posture, which both children and adults use to perform many of their daily tasks. It is even known that in the Stone Age it was one of the most physiologically natural postures, which would also be seen in the Egyptian people.

The African squat, a viral exercise

It is not surprising that this posture, which for many people is natural, has inspired a new type of squat that has become a viral fitness exercise that even Harvard recommends: the african squat –asian squat, on social networks–. It is a fairly complete exercise in which, in addition to working strength and toning the lower body – glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves –, it works the core and back.

Of course, it is a type of high intensity squat which can barely be done for 5 minutes, since it tends to put a lot of stress on the legs. And it also allows you to work on stability and flexibility. It is very complete!

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How to do the African squat

A deep squat like this can be a great challenge for those who are not used to performing this type of powerful lower body exercise. Although it is ideal for those who want to add intensity to their routine and experience a push up effect on the buttocks.

This is how you can do it, step by step:

1. Place the feet shoulder width apart or a little more and direct the fingers pointing slightly outwards.
2. Place the arms in frontif you want, with your hands clasped to counterbalance.
3. Descend until knees are at 90º and hold the position. In this squat you do not have to return to the starting position.
4. Maintaining that «sitting» posture you must descend until you reach the squat and return to 90º.
5. You can do it in two ways: staticmaintaining the squat position for about 10 seconds; dynamicperforming rebounds from 90º to the deepest position.
6. Rest a minute and repeat the exercise two or three more times, taking the necessary rest.

Avoid taking your heels off the groundleaning the torso too far forward or having the knees extend beyond the tips of the fingers to achieve good posture. Only then will you perform the exercise correctly.

adapt them to your level

Whether you want to increase the intensity or need additional support to work the squat, here are some options:

• Add intensity: If you are looking for a more complete exercise, try working the African squat with a stepraising and lowering both feet with a small jump from the 90º position or raising one foot and the other alternately. You can even combine both movements by creating a small choreography to work these deep squats in a more dynamic way. You can also add some dumbbells to the equation to increase intensity.
• With support: If you do not yet have an adequate level of physical fitness or prefer to secure the position to work correctly, we recommend that you use a support. Could be the back of a chair that allows you to support both hands before descending to 90º without losing balance. From there, you can descend to the squats and do the rebounds to work your glutes and legs effectively. Of course, remember that it is only a support to maintain stability, since all the weight must fall on the legs for it to be effective.

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