Squat

Squatting is much like sit to stand just much more continuous motion. Once you have your sit to stand movement down, then try squatting. Many people avoid squatting because of their knees or their back, but it is a necessary and functional movement.

If you can’t squat, then picking up things off the floor can be very difficult, getting stuff off a low shelf nearly impossible. Hypermobile people are fantastic at finding new ways to move, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should and doesn’t mean you are not adding to your pain.

To squat, start standing in front of a chair. This gives you some extra reassurance and improves your control. Bend from your hips, which means stick your butt out and bend forward. Look down toward the floor and watch that you can see your toes the entire time. If you cannot, shift your weight back until you can see them. If you can’t see your toes, then you are putting increased stress on your knees. If you feel like you will fall, remember you can always sit down in the chair.

Make sure as you squat down; you are using your quadriceps muscles, the ones on the front of your thighs.

Start with a small range of motion and gradually increase as you get more comfortable with the movement pattern.

Remember, keep your knees apart. Don’t let them touch or come together. To keep them apart, you must use your hip muscles, do not roll out onto the outside of your foot.

Practice this with functional movements such as picking things up off the floor or getting something off a low shelf. It doesn’t help if you can do it when you practice and then revert back to your old way for the 20 times a day you are actually using it.