Using a Squatty Potty is straightforward: place your feet flat on the stool, let your knees rise above your hips, and lean slightly forward. That simple shift changes the angle of your rectum from a kinked position to a straighter one, making bowel movements faster and easier. But a few details about foot placement, breathing, and stool height can make the difference between “this feels weird” and genuinely better bathroom trips.
Why the Position Works
When you sit on a standard toilet, your hips are at roughly a 90-degree angle. In that position, a sling-shaped muscle wraps around your rectum and keeps it bent at about 80 to 90 degrees. That bend acts like a kink in a garden hose. It’s useful for continence throughout the day, but it means you have to push harder to move stool past the curve.
Raising your knees above your hips mimics a squatting posture. The muscle around your rectum relaxes, and the angle opens to roughly 100 to 126 degrees depending on how deep the squat is. The greater the hip flexion, the straighter the path. A straighter path means less straining and faster results. In a clinical study of 52 healthy adults, 90% reported reduced straining when using a toilet stool, 85% felt more complete emptying, and 71% had shorter bowel movements. Average time dropped from about 5 minutes and 36 seconds without a stool to 4 minutes and 14 seconds with one.
Step-by-Step Positioning
Sit down on the toilet normally. Don’t hover. Place both feet flat on the Squatty Potty so that your entire sole makes contact with the surface. Your knees should now be noticeably higher than your hips. If they’re not, your stool may be too short for your toilet height.
Once your feet are set, lean your upper body forward. You’re aiming for a posture somewhere between sitting upright and resting your elbows on your thighs. Think of the position you’d naturally take if you were leaning forward to tie your shoes. This forward lean increases hip flexion further and helps straighten the rectal canal. You don’t need to fold yourself in half. A moderate lean, with your torso tilted roughly 30 to 45 degrees from vertical, is enough for most people.
Keep your weight evenly distributed across both feet. Let your shoulders drop and your belly relax. Tension in your abs works against what you’re trying to do.
Breathing Makes a Bigger Difference Than You’d Think
Most people instinctively hold their breath and bear down when they’re on the toilet. This actually works against your pelvic floor. When you hold your breath and strain against a closed throat, the pressure in your abdomen rises sharply, but the muscles at the base of your pelvis don’t contract to support it. They get pushed downward, which can contribute to pelvic floor problems over time.
Instead, take a slow, deep breath in through your nose to relax. Then exhale gently through your mouth as you allow the bowel movement to happen. A deep inhale naturally relaxes the deep abdominal muscles and the pelvic floor, opening things up. The key word is “allow” rather than “force.” If you’re in the right position, gravity and the straightened rectal angle do most of the work. You shouldn’t need to push hard. If nothing happens after a minute or two of relaxed breathing, get up and try again later rather than sitting and straining.
Choosing the Right Stool Height
Squatty Potty stools come in two main heights: 7 inches and 9 inches. The right one depends on your toilet, your height, and your flexibility.
- 7-inch stool: The standard choice for most people. It works well with conventionally sized toilets (14 to 16 inches from floor to bowl rim) and suits taller users or anyone new to squatting posture.
- 9-inch stool: Better for shorter people, those who are already flexible, or anyone with a “comfort height” toilet. If your toilet bowl measures above 16.5 inches from the floor to the top of the bowl, a 9-inch stool helps compensate for the extra seat height.
To figure out which you need, lift the toilet seat and measure from the top of the porcelain bowl straight down to the floor. Comfort height toilets, which are increasingly common in newer homes, sit around 17 to 19 inches high. On these, a 7-inch stool may not raise your knees enough to make a real difference. If you’re unsure, adjustable models let you switch between two heights until you find what’s comfortable.
Adjustments for Knee or Hip Problems
A Squatty Potty asks much less of your joints than a full deep squat since you’re sitting on the toilet and simply elevating your feet. Still, people with significant knee or hip osteoarthritis, recent joint replacement, or limited ankle mobility may find the position uncomfortable. The deep bend at the knee can load the joint, and some research flags prolonged deep squatting as a risk factor for knee cartilage wear.
If you have joint issues, start with the lower 7-inch stool and see how it feels. You can also place the stool a few inches further from the toilet base so your knees don’t bend quite as sharply. Even a partial increase in hip flexion, where your knees are just slightly above your hips rather than dramatically higher, opens the rectal angle somewhat. A small improvement in angle still beats a standard 90-degree sit. If knee or hip pain makes even a low stool uncomfortable, leaning forward from your regular seated position achieves some of the same straightening effect without requiring any knee flexion beyond what you’d normally use.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The most frequent mistake is sitting too upright. Placing your feet on the stool but keeping your torso straight reduces the benefit. The forward lean matters because it increases the hip angle beyond what the foot elevation alone achieves.
Another issue is gripping or hovering. Some people unconsciously lift their weight off the seat, engaging their thighs and core. This creates tension through the pelvic floor, the opposite of what you want. Sit fully, let the toilet support your weight, and let the stool support your feet.
Spending too long on the toilet is also counterproductive regardless of position. Extended sitting increases pressure on the veins around the rectum. If the squatting posture is working as intended, you should be finishing faster, not camping out with your phone. Aim to be done within five minutes.