What Deep-Squatting Daily For 30 Days Does To Your Body

What happens when a professional physiotherapist does a 30 days deep squat challenge?

30 days, many benefits (but not a panacea)!

First, the protocol he used and how to reproduce it:

• Simple 5-minute hold: sit into the deepest comfortable squat each day for a total of five minutes, broken into smaller chunks if needed.
• Stiff Days? Try this modification: place your heels on a folded towel to reduce ankle strain if needed (try to do it without if you can, though).
• Gentle side-to-side shifting: move your weight from side to side to mobilize your ankles and hips. It’s about mobility, after all!
• Knee opening is beneficial: use your elbows to gently press your knees apart, to build in a little extra stretch while you’re down there.
• Brief resets are fine: stand up for a few seconds when sore, then sit back down to complete the 5-minute total.

What it did (and didn’t!) do for him:

• Hip relief: daily deep-squat holds reduced his right hip pain significantly, with soreness easing after a few days and near-full relief by day 30.
• Mid-back improvement: holding a squat while lifting the chest and extending the thoracic spine reduced mid-back stiffness from desk work.
• Mobility gains: deep-squat practice unlocked noticeably better mobility for gym lifts—especially squats and leg presses.
• Strength boost: better mobility translated into more strength during lower-body training too!
• No ankle change, though: a long-standing stiff left ankle didn’t improve despite consistent practice.

Some tips if necessary to get you started:

• Chair-supported squats: hold a chair as you squat, so that you can control depth and build confidence without loading your legs fully.
• Light-touch squats: place folded towels on a low stool or similar, and squat until your hips lightly touch, then stand—gradually remove towels to increase depth.
• Slow build-up: work towards longer holds over the weeks, progressing carefully until you can sit in a deep squat for five minutes per day.

For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like:

The Secret To Better Squats: Foot, Knee, & Ankle Mobility

Take care!