A deep squat, sometimes called a resting squat, involves lowering your hips below your knees while keeping your feet flat on the ground. It sounds simple, but most adults in Western countries can’t hold this position comfortably without practice. The limiting factor is almost always ankle flexibility, not leg strength. Here’s how to set up the position correctly and work toward holding it with ease.
Basic Foot and Knee Position
Start by standing with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart. Turn your toes outward somewhere between 15 and 40 degrees. This toe flare isn’t optional or a sign of poor form. It aligns your foot, shin, and thigh into a straight line, which lets your hips open fully as you descend. Trying to squat with your feet pointed straight forward demands significantly more rotational mobility in your shins and often forces the knees to cave inward under your own body weight.
A narrower stance needs less toe flare. A wider stance needs more. The right amount depends on your hip anatomy, which varies from person to person based on the shape and angle of your hip socket. Experiment until you find the width and flare where you can sink deepest without your heels lifting or your knees collapsing inward. Your knees should track outward over your toes throughout the movement.
How to Lower Into the Squat
From your starting stance, push your hips back and down while bending your knees. Let your torso lean forward slightly to stay balanced. As you descend past parallel, your hips will naturally tuck under and your lower back will round. In an unloaded resting squat (no barbell on your back), this rounding is normal and expected. The goal is to sit as low as you can while keeping both heels firmly on the ground.
At the bottom, your thighs should press against or near your calves. This thigh-to-calf contact actually reduces compressive force on the knee joint by roughly 30%, acting like a cushion that offloads pressure. Your arms can hang between your knees or rest on top of them. Let your weight settle through your whole foot, not just your toes. You should feel stable enough to hold the position without muscular effort, almost like sitting in an invisible chair.
Why Your Heels Keep Lifting
The single biggest predictor of whether someone can sit in a deep squat is ankle dorsiflexion, the ability to bring your shin forward over your toes. A full-depth squat requires about 38 degrees of ankle dorsiflexion. Most adults have far less. One study of over 100 people found that men averaged only about 16 degrees with a bent knee, while women averaged around 21 degrees.
The muscle most responsible for this limitation is the soleus, a deep calf muscle that runs beneath the more visible gastrocnemius. Because the gastrocnemius relaxes when your knee is bent (as it is in a squat), the soleus bears the full responsibility for allowing your ankle to flex. Research using ultrasound imaging has confirmed that people who can’t deep squat have a stiffer, less elastic soleus compared to those who can. If your heels pop up every time you try to squat, tight soleus muscles are the most likely reason.
Modifications While You Build Flexibility
If you can’t hold a flat-footed squat yet, a few modifications let you practice the position safely while your mobility improves.
- Heel wedge: Place a folded towel, a thin book, or a purpose-built wedge under your heels. This artificially gives you the ankle dorsiflexion you’re missing, letting you experience the full squat position while your calves adapt.
- Doorframe hold: Grip both sides of a doorframe and lower yourself into a squat. The counterbalance from your arms keeps you from falling backward and lets you stay more upright. Over time, lighten your grip until you can let go at the bottom.
- Pole or post squat: Hold a sturdy vertical object like a pole, railing, or even a heavy table leg. Same principle as the doorframe: the forward anchor compensates for limited ankle range.
These aren’t cheats. They’re the squat equivalent of training wheels, and they let you spend time in the position your body needs to adapt to.
How to Improve Your Squat Depth Over Time
Connective tissue and muscle length change slowly. An international panel of stretching researchers recommends holding static stretches for 30 to 120 seconds per set, doing 2 to 3 sets daily, to build lasting flexibility. For reducing muscle stiffness specifically, the recommendation is at least 4 minutes of static stretching per muscle, 5 days a week, for a minimum of 3 weeks. For more significant changes in muscle length, expect to commit at least 6 weeks of daily work.
The most direct way to improve squat depth is simply spending time in the squat itself. Start with 30-second holds using one of the modifications above, and gradually increase your time. Supplement with targeted calf stretches: stand on a step with your heel hanging off the edge, keep your knee bent (to target the soleus rather than the gastrocnemius), and hold for 60 seconds or more per side.
Hip flexion mobility matters too. Women in the study above averaged about 120 degrees of hip flexion compared to 114 for men, which partly explains why many women find the deep squat easier. Wall-facing hip stretches, pigeon pose variations, and simply pulling your knee toward your chest while lying on your back can all help open up range at the hip.
What Happens in Your Body During a Deep Squat
The deep squat does more than stretch your legs. It changes the geometry inside your pelvis. In a squatting position, the angle of the rectum straightens to about 126 degrees, compared to 100 degrees when sitting on a standard chair. This straighter pathway means less straining during bowel movements, which is why many cultures that squat regularly have lower rates of constipation and hemorrhoids.
Your spine naturally rounds in a resting squat. The lumbar region flexes roughly 33 to 42 degrees depending on the individual. For an unloaded position, this is not harmful. It’s a full expression of your spine’s designed range of motion. Problems arise only when heavy external loads are added to a rounded spine, which isn’t a concern when you’re simply sitting in the position.
How Long to Hold the Squat
There’s no single rule, but building up to several minutes is a reasonable goal. Many people start with 30 to 60 seconds and work toward 5 to 10 minutes over the course of weeks. You can break this into multiple short sessions throughout the day rather than one long hold.
One thing to be aware of: squatting compresses the major arteries at your hip and behind your knee, which significantly reduces blood flow to your lower legs for the duration of the hold. This is why your feet may tingle or go numb after a few minutes. For healthy people, this is temporary and reverses within seconds of standing. If you have peripheral artery disease or other circulatory issues in your legs, prolonged squatting can worsen symptoms and cause pain much sooner.
When you stand up from a long squat, rise slowly. The sudden return of blood flow combined with the positional change can cause lightheadedness. Pause halfway up if you need to, and give your legs a moment to wake up before walking.