The Third-World Squat
by Craig Weller
The sun wouldn't be up for another twenty minutes or so. But already
the class was gathered under the feeble glow of a single streetlight,
on a concrete slab that at one time had been the foundation of a
building. It was now our gym. Piled in the red, volcanic soil
off to the side was a rusty stack of weights and three Olympic bars.
This was our equipment. We wouldn't need them today. Today was sandbag
day. Each student, at the beginning of training, had been given a
sandbag to fill with gravel. One smart-ass brought his back stuffed
with a pillow. There's always a smart-ass.
You know who you are. "Listo?
Abajo! Uno... Dos... Tres..." I called out the commands as my fellow
instructors and I walked the rows, checking form. They were knocking
out rock-bottom overhead squats with excellent technique. "Buen forma,
senor." This was the second week of training, and the first
time the majority of these men had done any kind of legitimate weight
training in their lives. By the third week, many of them were loading
the bar with weight in excess of their own bodyweight for front squats.
If you were to grab a group of typical American gym-goers, how
many of them do you think would be able to perform a strict rock-bottom
squat? How many do you think would even be able to make it to parallel
in an overhead squat without falling on their face?

Special Warfare Training As
a member of the SWCC community, a component of Naval Special Warfare,
I've spent more time in the last few years overseas than I have in the
states. I've had the opportunity to design and implement the strength
and conditioning programs of small forces on three different
continents. In this subculture, one's livelihood and possibly one's
life — not to mention that of your friends — is heavily dependent on
one's body. Open-ocean small boat operations take a
tremendous toll. Operators on 11-Meter RIBs endure impacts that can
shatter vertebrae. All while wearing body armor, small arms, and
night-vision goggles mounted on ballistic helmets. A weak body will
eventually break.
The 11-Meter Spine-Breaker 5000. Our
training, and that of similar forces in other countries, is
necessitated by this. The techniques that I've tried, tested,
discarded, and eventually adopted have led to the methods that I
currently use for myself and many of the men that I work with. Back
home, I also oversee the training for civilian friends and their family
members. This has given me a perspective on two worlds that are in some
ways quite different.

Where You're From Matters When
it comes to training someone who's new to the world of squats,
deadlifts, and the fine art of picking up heavy stuff, I've found a
substantial disparity in the learning curve between North Americans and
those from third-world countries. In most cases, the guy who
only wears shoes when somebody makes him is going to be pulling
deadlifts from the floor and squatting like a pro. While the college
kid from San Diego is still working his way down on rack pulls and
making a monumental effort to even hit parallel in the squat. There
are a variety of possible reasons for this, but there's one dominant
variable that's a great predictor of a trainee's immediate potential
before they even step foot in the gym: The third-world squat.
The third-world squat. You'll
notice that in third-world countries, there will be a lot of situations
where people are hanging out or working, and rather than sitting or
kneeling down, they squat. They can sit like this comfortably for
hours. It seems like a simple thing and can be easily overlooked, but
try it some time. The average North American adult can't even get into
this position, let alone stay there for any length of time. I
first noticed the impact that this posture could have on weight room
performance as a side effect. In order to effectively communicate with
the host-nation men that I was training, I wanted to be able to emulate
their posture. If you're having a discussion with a group of men who
are squatting in a circle around a map or a meal, it's a little awkward
to be the only guy who has to run around trying to find something to
sit on before you can participate. That, and I dare you to
try sitting down in the grass anywhere in East Africa. They have ants
down there with bites so tenacious you can use them to suture wounds.
It's generally best that your feet and some good, thick boots are the
only thing you have touching the ground. The
guys I work with started doing the same thing, and over time, everyone
became increasingly comfortable in this squatting position. After
my guys started developing their third-world squat technique, they
started to notice something: Their performance in the weight room was
improving. Deadlifting off the floor with a neutral spine and squatting
deep suddenly felt like second nature. Lower back pain diminished. The
guys started feeling soreness in their glutes and hamstrings after
workouts that previously would've only really affected their quads.

Picking Apart Your Posture Let's compare the differences between the two postures. The
classic North American squatting down to grab something from a low
shelf or play with his VCR is going to balance on his toes and shoot
his knees forward. He's going to try and make the movement feel as much
as possible like his natural environment, which is sitting in an office
chair.
Home to many butts. The
hips and ankles are immobilized and because the force is being
relegated mainly to the quads, the effect of the posterior chain is
minimized. The musculature of the lower back will be overactive in
order to support the weight of the upper body without much assistance
from the glutes. The thoracic spine will generally be flexed forward
into a kyphotic posture. Our Swahili-speaking friend is going
to keep his weight on his heels. His feet approximately shoulder width
apart and pointed straight forward, with maybe a small amount of
external rotation. His feet are in line with his knees, and he'll squat
down placing his kneecaps neatly into his armpits. This isn't a skill
that he acquired at some point, but simply one that he never lost due
to a lifetime of immobility and office work.
An advanced trainee. In
this posture, the thoracic spine is neutral and can be easily extended
depending on where the individual's attention is directed. The hips and
ankles are able to move freely and remain mobile. The posterior chain
is carrying the weight of the body, rather than the quads. When he
stands, the power to do so will be generated through the glutes and
hamstrings. The lumbar spine remains stable and is used primarily to
transfer, rather than generate, force.

You're What You Repeatedly Do The
law of repetitive motion, popularized by Mike Robertson and Eric
Cressey, comes into play here. There are countless opportunities
throughout the day in which you can practice the squat and groove
proper posture. How an individual begins to go about this
will depend on how immobile he or she is. This means that you'll have
to assess yourself. Stop reading this right now. Get out of your chair
and get as far into a third-world squat as you can. Since you're
probably reading this at the office on company time and don't want to
draw too many curious looks from your co-workers, just pretend to be
picking up a pencil or rearranging your computer cables.
How'd that work out for ya'? If
you couldn't keep your weight off of your toes and barely got your
thighs to parallel before you started tipping over backwards, you have
a fairly severe degree of immobility. If you're at this level
it'll be challenging, if not impossible, to squat down with your heels
on the ground. Your goal here is simply to attain this. In
order to prevent falling backwards, grab onto something sturdy in front
of you, like a doorframe or a handrail. While maintaining a neutral
spine (sternum high and brace those abs!) grab onto whatever's in front
of you and lean back on it, pushing your butt out behind you. Keep your
feet pointed fairly straight forward, and don't allow your knees to
track in or out. Your weight should be on your heels. Try wiggling your
toes to confirm this. Now drop your hips progressively lower. Once
you can't drop any further, hang out for a while, slowly rocking side
to side and up and down. This should free up a little bit more range of
motion. Try to maintain this position for about one minute. Repeat this
at a minimum of once daily. Either as a part of some pre-workout
mobility work, or after sitting or standing for an extended period of
time.

Ditching the Training Wheels As
you progress, you'll find yourself dropping lower into the position and
becoming increasingly comfortable. At some point you'll be able to drop
into a shallow third-world squat without the assistance of an object to
hold onto. Congrats, this is your first benchmark. At this point,
you'll most likely still need to lean far forward and stick your arms
out in order to balance and not tip over backwards. This will be the
next set of training wheels to get rid of. From
this point, continue working on the squat at least once daily. This
frequency will help ensure steady progress. One minute of holding the
position will begin to feel easier, and you can either lengthen the
time, or begin adding more sets. Focus on dropping deeper into the
squat each day, and bringing your spine more and more vertical.
Physically placing your kneecaps into your armpits will help. Eventually
you'll improve to the point that you can sit deeply in the third-world
squat without holding onto anything with your arms and without any
difficulty in balancing. Your spine will be nearly vertical, in a
neutral position, and you'll be able to move freely. Getting into and
out of this position will feel no less natural than walking up a flight
of stairs or getting into your car. Your body will reap the rewards of
this new level of mobility. From here, all you have to do is
maintain what you've got by utilizing the squat on a regular basis. I
occasionally set my laptop on my bed and check my email while in the
squat position, or drop into the squat for a few minutes while watching
TV.

The Time Is Now Don't make
excuses or think about maybe getting around to it sometime; you can
start this today. Next time you have to bend down to try and decipher
the mess of wires behind your television, check the air pressure in
your tires, or pick up your kid, pay attention to your body. Run
through a few quick checkpoints in your head. Are your heels on the
ground? Every day you have a chance to either improve your
posture and movement patterns, or put another check in the negative
column. The effects of consciously focusing on your posture in this
position will eventually add up to some serious improvements in the way
your body looks, feels, and performs.

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