Ground Movement Mobility Routine (Deep Squat Get Up Variations)

Throughout most of our existence on this planet, we spent a lot more time on ground level. The average indigenous person today living in similar conditions to their ancestors gets up and down from the ground well over a hundred times per day, and more frequently in elders than adults or youths. This is evidence that all humans have spent the majority of our time on the earth frequently getting up and down from the ground on a daily basis, especially in our more primal era. In our modern society, we have constructed our world to put everything right in front of us, and our innovations create comfortable seating arrangements that don’t require us to get down so often. But our bodies need to engage in their natural movement patterns on a daily basis to maintain function, balance and wellness in life.

Most natural movements such as jumping, climbing, throwing, running, swimming and crawling, for example, are special actions that have always only been necessitated by specific environmental and situational demands. Movements such as walking, getting up and down from the ground, and carrying heavy loads were activities that we have always needed to do much more frequently than the former list of movement patterns.

Katy Bowman is a biomechanist, prolific author, and the founder of Nutritious Movement. In her work, she relates natural movement patterns to dietary nutrients. She calls them movement nutrients. Like dietary nutrients, there are macronutrients, which are required in large amounts (fat, protein, carbohydrates); and there are micronutrients, which are like vitamins and minerals which are required in proportionately very small quantities compared to the macros. Movement macronutrients are the skills of walking, getting up and down, and carrying things. Movement micronutrients are the special action movements like jumping, lifting, climbing, etc…

Though we need only small quantities of micronutrients, if we don’t get enough of them, the balance of the body and its functionality will suffer. The result is the possibility of developing postural misalignments, restricted ranges of motion, and chronic pain and tension in the body. Conversely, if we overdose on a micronutrient, certain patterns become overdeveloped, certain structures become disproportionately tense, and injury as well as wear and tear in the joints can more easily occur.