The Overlooked Downside of Sitting #2 – Why Squatting Starts to Feel Hard
For many people, the first sign that something is changing in their body isn’t pain — it’s movement.
Squatting feels awkward.
Getting low feels unstable.
Standing back up feels stiff or rushed.
Most of us assume this is just part of getting older.
In reality, it’s often the quiet result of how — and where — we sit.
How Chair Sitting Changes the Hips
When you sit in a chair, your hips remain fixed in the same flexed position for long periods of time.
Hour after hour, day after day, this removes two things your hips need to stay capable:
Depth
Rotation
Over time, this leads to:
- Shortened hip flexors
- Reduced internal and external rotation
- Less control near the end ranges of motion
This isn’t just about flexibility — it’s about losing movement options.
Why Squatting Is Often the First Thing to Go
A comfortable squat requires:
- Hip flexion (depth)
- Hip rotation
- Stability and control
When the hips no longer experience these ranges in daily life, the body adapts by avoiding them.
Not because squatting is dangerous — but because it feels unfamiliar.
That’s why squatting often fades quietly, long before pain ever appears.
What This Has to Do With Leg Alignment (O-legs, X-legs, and “Uneven” Legs)
Many people notice changes in how their legs look or feel over time and describe it as bowed legs, knock knees, or uneven alignment.
It’s important to be precise here: Chair sitting does not directly create structural leg deformities.
But it can contribute to functional asymmetry — the way the legs are being used.
Here’s how:
- Reduced hip rotation limits how the femur moves inside the hip socket
- The body compensates by borrowing movement from the knees
- Over time, this can change knee tracking during standing, walking, or squatting
That’s why many alignment problems don’t start at the knee —
they start at the hip.
Why Floor Sitting Makes Squatting Feel Easier
Floor sitting does something chairs don’t: it exposes your hips to movement variety.
On the floor, your hips naturally move through:
- Bending
- Rotating
- Shifting weight
- Changing sides
Floor sitting regularly exposes your hips to the same depth and rotation that squatting demands. So when you need to squat, the movement doesn’t feel foreign — it feels familiar.
This Isn’t Loss — It’s Disuse
If squatting feels hard, it doesn’t mean your body is broken.
It means it hasn’t been given the chance to move this way in a long time.
Movement capacity responds to exposure.
You don’t need extreme stretching or intense workouts to start restoring it.
Sometimes, changing where you sit is enough to give your body its options back.
The Bigger Picture
Squatting isn’t just an exercise — it’s a reflection of movement health.
When chairs remove depth and rotation from daily life, the body adapts by giving them up. When the floor brings them back, the body remembers.
If you can sit on the floor, your body remembers how to squat.
