4 postures kids can do that adults CANNOT

Kid Mobility Beats Adult Mobility

DISCLAIMER: None of these tests should be forced as you may injury yourself. The W-sit in particular is not being advocated as a good long-term resting position for children or adults. It's merely a way for mindful adults to explore their mobility.

So what are the positions that kids can do but many adults cannot?

Feet Straight, Rock-Bottom Squat

If you watch a little kid, they squat straight down, feet narrow - no problem.

This is because they have the requisite ankle and hip mobility to do that and they squat multiple times a day. Adults, on the other hand, are victims of the "if you don't use it you lose it" principle.
Why?

Well, ever since we started sitting...

...in school
...and while driving
... and in high school
...and college
...and sitting for work

...our hips basically start to get frozen in a shortened position!

If you want to reclaim the ability to squat again, start practicing and see if you can sit a couple of minutes a day in the squat position. This alone can get you closer to the goal of a comfortable, rock-bottom squat.

Legs Crossed Sitting (Fire-log pose)

The other positions that kids can do that adults can not is sitting with their legs across one-another on the ground. This is called "fire-log pose" or "double-pigeon" in yoga. It's considered a more advanced yoga pose (which is ironic because its effortless for most kids.) Personally, I had to spend years to regain my ability to get into this position.

I worked on my glutes, I stretched, did pigeon pose, worked on my IT band, my hamstring attachment points, etc and incrementally it started getting better. Eventually it got to where I was when I was a kid.

Sitting Seiza

Kids can sit "seiza" which is having their feet together, heels together, sitting back on their plantarflexed feet on the ground.

The crazy thing? They don't experience that has anything difficult!

Adults usually feel a lot of stress on the front of the ankle because their tibialis anterior has gotten so tight that it's a problem. Another adult difficulty is they don't have that kind of knee flexion to be able to sit in this position.

To regain this ability just get in the position and start by leaning forward a little bit to ease the pressure. Slowly over time you'll be able to sit back on your heels more and more. You also can do a couple ankle mobility exercises to soften up your tibialis anterior. The Deep Squats program has good exercises for ankles.

It's worth re-gaining this range because full ankle range of motion is very helpful in life for squatting, cutting during sports and for protecting your knees and back.

If you have more ankle range of motion, it's "mo' betta'."

The "W" Sit

DISCLAIMER: We do not advocate sitting in this position for adults or children as a regular practice. This is merely a fun way for mindful adults to explore their joint range of motion and movement capacity.

The last position is probably the one you see the least in adults. It is the "W" sit.

This is where your feet are outside your hips and your knees are narrower than the ankles. This requires a tremendous amount of plantar flection of the ankles and it requires a tremendous amount of internal rotation at the hip.

The internal rotation is something that a lot of people are just completely missing. It was something I was missing entirely in my right hip especially I have femoral acetabular impingement (FAI) in that hip. Fortunately I was able to work through that and can now sit in the "W" position.

Basically, this position says something about your hip health, knee health and ankle health.

Can You Do All 4?

I want to challenge you to try all those four positions see how far away you are. The goal is to restore those ranges of motion slowly over time.

If you need support, we got ya' covered: