Why Can't Everyone Do the 'Asian Squat'?

The slightly less PC name of "third-world squat" was how the position had always been known to me.

Which, while probably also being technically incorrect, does make the slightly more correct observation that it isn't something to do with "asian" countries and cultures specifically, but there seems to be some correlation between finding the position difficult/impossible, and living in western Europe/the anglosphere...

I'm 43 years, Indian and have never had a problem squatting. Was surprised this is such a tough thing to do for some. I work sitting on a chair for 8-10 hours everyday, but ensure I take a squat break every 1 hour or so. To make it a habit, I take every opportunity to squat, when I have my green tea, play with my son, watch TV. It does feel great after squatting for 3-4 minutes. I also workout in the gym and perform 4-5 sets of squats with 30Kgs.

I read this yesterday - “Every joint in our body has synovial fluid in it. This is the oil in our body that provides nutrition to the cartilage. Two things are required to produce that fluid: movement and compression. So if a joint doesn’t go through its full range—if the hips and knees never go past 90 degrees—the body says ‘I’m not being used’ and starts to degenerate and stops the production of synovial fluid.”

https://quartzy.qz.com/1121077/to-solve-problems-caused-by-s...

I believe Boris explains the hows and whys quite well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-8gsWZqDBM

In complete seriousness, anyone can do this. Honest. It is something anyone can learn with even a bare minimum of practice. And despite the joking nature of the video I linked, it is quite accurate in that once you know how, it is quite a comfortable position to hold for whatever length of time you feel like.

I didn't care about getting into a deep squat until about 4 years ago, when I started lifting. I would say it's taken me 2 or 3 years to be able to do it comfortably.

It's a very natural and stable position to be in. Yesterday, I saw my almost one year old, who cannot walk, just falling into the squat position.

It's probably just an issue with athleticism. Balance and flexibility also increase greatly with strength training. I have been strength training 3x/week for 8 years now.

Before that I don't think I could have done this, heck I don't think I could have squatted 95lbs. These days I can hold a squat like that nearly permanently, plus lots of other things you wouldn't expect from strength training like it's much easier for me to fall and than prevent myself from hitting the ground by re-balancing myself if I skip on ice or something like that.

Build might mess up the physics a bit, but I'd guess 99.99% of humans in good physical condition can do this.