Modern life, and the advent of chairs, have made us increasingly inflexible. Sitting on chairs is bound to stiffen the hip and thigh muscles, affecting the spine too.

We have forgotten the most common sitting position – the deep squat. This used to be the default position for most day-to-day activities. Spending time in a deep squat does wonders for your spine, hip, knee and ankle flexibility.

Spend 5 minutes daily practicing the primal squat. Ensure your foot is flat on the floor when doing this. If you cannot manage the position with ease, support yourself by holding on to a piece of furniture in front of you.

Tricks

The intent is to break up long sitting and standing times with a primal squat hold. Divide the 5 minutes into multiples of 30 – 60 second holds, throughout the whole day.