Ido Portal's 30/30 Squat Challenge - Does it really work? What are the benefits for mobility and health?

We saw in the complete file on the Deep Squat , the importance of this natural position of the human being ,

how to restore the body's ability to enter and exit a deep squat without pain or restriction, the benefits on joint mobility, developing leg strength, improving athletic performance, preventing injuries, and even the impact on bowel health.

We have also seen that modernity and sedentary life, sitting permanently on chairs, is the biggest poison for the good health of our hips, knees, and ankles.

“The enemy is the chair” , to quote the famous phrase of Ido Portal

In this article, we will look in detail at one of the solutions proposed by Ido Portal, a movement coach, to combat the harmful effects of the chair and allow everyone to reestablish their Deep Squat.

We're going to talk about the 30/30 Squat Challenge.

What exactly is it? How do you do it correctly? What are the possible benefits? What are the dangers? Is it really effective? Is it accessible to everyone?

I will try to give a clear and comprehensive overview of this challenge, through my personal experience as a student of Ido Portal's Movement Culture , some case studies, and even, why I do not recommend this challenge for a particular case at the end of the article.

Happy reading my move.

Posture problems related to sitting in a chair all the time

A quick reminder to set the context. The human body is one of the most sophisticated machines , incredibly complex and capable of impressive technical and expressive feats.

Despite all this, we cannot escape the power of habits .

We all experience it, from school benches to office work, not forgetting transport by car, bus, metro... sitting on a chair every day for several decades is enough to reduce this marvel of technology that is the human body, to:

a vehicle full of pain, stiffness and limitations, prone to back injuries, weak lower limbs, fragile ankles, knees and hips...

This is all it takes to understand that the human body was certainly not designed to sit in a chair position, locked in an office or classroom for 8 to 10 hours a day, then to come home in the evening and sit on the couch watching television for another 4 hours.

This is certainly not the most optimal way to treat or utilize our physical potential, and the epidemic of back pain, poor posture, weak ankles, unstable knees, and stiff hips that we (as a species) are all afflicted with is proof of this.

Having access to the Deep Squat means expressing one's human potential in the sense that it allows:

• Better control and development of the body.
  The deep squat requires a full range of motion, from dorsiflexion of the ankles to opening of the chest and shoulders. It mobilizes the entire body, muscles and joints together.
• Better protection against the risk of injury.
  It was once thought that deep squats led to knee instability, hence the misconception. Research since then has shown the opposite: deep squats actually lead to stronger ligaments and better knee stability, and reduced shear forces on the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments (ACL and PCL).
• Better explosiveness (jumping high).
  The deeper you can descend, the more you engage your glutes and hips. This is the most effective exercise used to develop vertical jumping for professional athletes.

Now that the context is in place and we understand the importance of reconnecting with this natural function of our body, it's time for the 30/30 Squat Challenge by master Ido Portal to try to fix all that.

Good luck ^^

What exactly is Ido Portal's 30/30 Squat Challenge?

The challenge is simple: sit in a deep squat position for a total of 30 minutes every day for a period of 30 days .

The idea is obviously to use these 30 days as a springboard to improve the mobility of your joints, unlock the deep squat, be able to feel freer in this position, remove stiffness, tension, pain as much as possible... In short, to move your body more freely.

According to Ido Portal, the challenge can be done by anyone (we will come back to this point later in the article ^^) and to join the official 30 Squat Challenge by Ido Portal, you must go to the Facebook group dedicated to it and ask to join it.

Once accepted, you can then discuss progress and any other similar issues within the group.

The rules of the challenge

1. No rest days during the 30 days.
2. The spine should be relaxed – no need to try to force a neutral spine. This is a resting position.
3. Width between feet roughly shoulder width but should be individualized and experienced, aiming for maximum depth and relaxation.
4. How should the feet be turned? Outward or forward? Don't let anyone sell you the idea of ​​a perfect position; it must be individualized and experienced. Just like before, aim for maximum depth and relaxation.
5. Knee pain? Hip pain? Get up and move. Get back into squats and work in short bursts throughout the day.
6. Shoes? It's best to do it barefoot, but if you're not comfortable, wear small shoes.
7. Keep your heels on the floor if possible. If this is not possible, try a little heel support until you have gained the mobility to squat flat on the floor.
8. A sign of a good deep squat? When you're tired of standing, squat down, not the other way around.
9. How deep should you squat? There's only one answer – as deep as possible

My little recommendations for applying these “rules” correctly

(1) No rest days during the 30 days.

That's 30 minutes of squats a day for 30 days, hence the name 30/30 Squat Challenge. You can work in increments of 30 seconds, 1 minute, or a little longer, spaced throughout the day.

The idea is to accumulate a total time of 30 minutes before going to bed at night.

(2) Spine should be relaxed – no need to try to force a neutral spine. This is a resting position.

If you can't get your body into the Deep Squat position yet, you absolutely mustn't force it. It's counterproductive! Joint mobility is the work of the nervous system, and you definitely don't want it to enter the red zone, otherwise you risk stiffening up even more to protect yourself. Patience and gentleness 🙂

You can find on my blog different variations to allow you to approach this challenge without forcing too much and taking the risk of creating new tensions or aggravating existing restrictions.

(3) Width between feet approximately shoulder width but should be individualized and experienced, aiming for maximum depth and relaxation.

I recommend that you do different tests , don't hesitate to play around even by a few centimeters, until you find the gap that corresponds to your morphology, your level of mobility, your history of injuries or surgeries... in short, to your body.

Slight discomfort is acceptable, but pain is definitely not.

(4) How should the feet be turned? Outward or forward? Don't let anyone sell you the idea of ​​a perfect position, it must be individualized and experienced. Same as before to aim for maximum depth and relaxation.

The Complete Answer on the Dangers of Deep Squats for Knees and Back.

(5) Knee pain? Hip pain? Get up and move. Get back to squatting and work in short bursts throughout the day.

A very important point. The idea here is to gradually build up the endurance needed to reach the 30-minute duration. If on day 1 of the challenge you are unable to do this, first of all, welcome to the club of 99.999% of humans on the planet hahaha.

Then, be smart and listen to the signals your body is sending you and take breaks!

(6) Shoes? It is best to do it barefoot, but if you are not comfortable, wear small shoes.

For many, this will be a problem on a parquet or hard floor, at the very beginning. I agree with Ido, take it step by step, but it is essential to rehabilitate the contact of bare feet with the ground to strengthen the toes and ankles, but also to regain the ability to stability oneself, which shoes take away from us.

Could the second enemy after the chair be the shoe? A good line of thought 🙂

(7) Keep your heels on the floor if possible. If this is not possible, try a little heel support until you have gained the mobility to squat flat on the floor.

Simple but very effective as a first progression. I recommend it even to those whose ego will get in the way. You have nothing to prove, my solids, this is a health challenge , not a world championship performance...

(8) Sign of a good Deep squat? When you get tired of standing, squat down, not the other way around.

A very poetic way of saying it. You can find my little technical recommendations on the criteria for an optimal Deep Squat (the best possible because there is no right or wrong way)

(9) How deep should you squat? There is only one answer – as deep as possible.

Amen!

The prerequisites for successfully completing this challenge

Since 2017, I have taught thousands of students how to reestablish their Deep Squat through online training, workshops, and one-on-one coaching.

Among these, I have had the chance to help the very young as well as those over 60, accident victims as well as people without injuries, professional athletes as well as recreational sports enthusiasts, doctors, truck drivers, students, engineers, and even sports coaches, physiotherapists, osteopaths and other health professionals .

Thanks to this wide range of cases to study, I was able to see that between reading the 9 rules mentioned above and their application in reality, there can be a quantum multiverse that separates them... I'm exaggerating with this comparison, but the gap can be immense.

30 minutes of Deep Squat every day for 30 days is not something everyone can do , even if you only do short 30-second sessions every hour. It's also not something that's easy to do on command, whenever you want, wherever you want.

The goal of the challenge is to practice long squats , not to unlock the Deep Squat position.

I obviously recommend that you first fully unlock the Deep Squat position BEFORE attempting this challenge.

You can do this using a very precise protocol if you have problems with stiffness, significant pain, strength, or if you are coming back from injuries, as with my online training RE-ESTABLISH THE DEEP SQUAT ...

Otherwise, here are some tips to help you complete this challenge as best as possible if you are not yet a master of the Deep Squat but can bend your knees, ankles and hips without too much difficulty.

• Tip #1

Squat down while keeping your back as straight as possible (slight thoracic extension). Just before you arch your back and fall backward onto your buttocks, grab a door or ledge to balance yourself in this position.

This is your current deep squat level. By using the ledge to help you, you'll be able to keep your spine in a neutral position and put less stress on your vertebrae.

You may not be at the stage of fully pressing the backs of your thighs into your calves yet, but that's okay. There's a simple way to maintain a "pseudo" deep squat position that won't injure you or put stress on your lower back.

And that is priceless.

• Tip #2

Depending on the help you need to avoid losing your balance, you can use: either a disc if you are at the gym, or a small book (fairly thick all the same) if you are at home, or even a lifting block that you can slide under your heel to avoid falling backward.

The bigger the object you place under your heel, the more help it will give you.

You can use this object as a measuring tool and track your progress over the weeks. If you start with 3 Harry Potter books under your belt but finish, after 30 days, with only your son's coloring book, you're not doing too badly at all.

These are two simple little tips that will be an excellent start to help a good number of people reintroduce a daily squat practice .

So if you haven't perfected your Deep squat position yet, without any outside help, I strongly recommend that you use the two little tips that I gave you just above before starting the challenge.

I recommend taking responsibility, applying these little tips while understanding that they do not represent a training protocol specific to your body and its needs and that they do not guarantee the restoration of natural functions and good health of the body.

Progress will come fairly quickly as long as you respect your body and your abilities.

Similarly, many people suffer from knee pain that prevents them from fully bending their leg without an unpleasant sensation, pinching, cracking, a limited flexion angle, etc. In short, this challenge is therefore impossible in this case.

To restore complete knee health, I also recommend my NEVER HURT KNEES training to develop mobile, strong, and injury-resistant knees.

In a few weeks of small, regular efforts, and depending on your ability to put your body in the Deep Squat position, you will realize that you are much more comfortable maintaining the position, that you may no longer even need a tool to balance yourself, that your joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments are stronger.

At this point, it would be more interesting to start the 30/30 Squat Challenge to develop endurance and resistance in Deep Squat.

What can we expect to achieve from this challenge?

Personally, I wouldn't say this challenge is a physical workout or exercise.

For me, it's just about practicing your physicality.

In fact, your body is capable of compressing and extending its legs. It has had access to this ability to “bend” its legs since the moment you were born.

This function, as we no longer use it in our modern lifestyle, we lose it.

This challenge is a fun way to reclaim this fundamental right but also to change the paradigm regarding our relationship with our body and what it is supposed to do.

I do not recommend it for people who are unable to maintain a “clean” Deep Squat and I emphasize that Ido Portal’s 30/30 Squat Challenge is in no way a training protocol to reestablish the Deep Squat.

You understand that 9 rules of a game do not constitute a training protocol based on an assessment of your range of motion, taking into account your medical history, physical activities, your age, your profession, your lifestyle, your stress level, your current level of mobility...

Is this challenge useful for you?

My answer is yes if you meet the following criteria:

1. You already have access to Deep Squat
2. You want to gain strength, mobility, and ease of movement from this position
3. You understand the importance of body longevity and are not afraid of challenges.

This is what we can expect from this challenge.

How to go further after this challenge?

Once you're comfortable holding your body in the Deep Squat position, it's time to have fun and explore what your body is capable of.

You'll find that you no longer need to maintain the 30 minutes of Deep Squat every day, but can easily get away with small mobility routines of 10 to 15 minutes per day to maintain the position and continue to feel more flexible, fluid, and comfortable.

But then, what if I want to learn movements like acrobatics, floor transitions, flows... or simply be able to transfer this new skill to my sport (bodybuilding, capoeira, calisthenics, climbing...) and improve my performance?

This is the big limitation of this challenge , in my opinion, is that it does not allow you to move from the position. It is simply static endurance work.

The problem is that it doesn't allow you to gain balance, power, explosiveness, be able to jump, bounce, roll, manipulate your body on one leg, cushion, propel yourself... and all those movements that allow us to have legs we can really rely on.

For this, I can only recommend testing new things yourself . Like an alchemist who has a new ingredient in his bag, you can try using your new Deep Squat in different scenarios:

• Deep Squats with weights (Overhead, Snatch, Kettlebell Swings, etc.)
• See the effects on other forms of Squat (Pistol, Cossack, Shrimp, etc.)
• High jumps and long jumps (Ninja Jumps, Hurdles, etc.)
• Incorporate new mobility exercises (an example of my advanced routine from the Deep Squat)

In short, exploring movements from this position, varying the number of points of contact with the ground, working on proprioception (balance), plyometrics (jumping), strength (loads)... will allow you to gain skills and strengthen your body in a wide range of possibilities.

Warning about the concept of online challenges

Basically, I'm not a fan of the idea of ​​challenges because it's an overused concept in the modern fitness industry and can sometimes be dangerous , especially for weight loss, flexibility, meditation goals, etc.

and that I don't think that this way of doing things helps people to really take responsibility and develop discipline and rigor in the long term.

Indeed, when we start this kind of challenge (15 days to lose 10 kilos, 21 days to have a split, 30 days to learn handstands...), we tend to start a countdown in our minds .

So we often do things in a hurry, in a rush, without really paying attention to our feelings, to how we feel in our bodies, simply to be able to mentally tick off the fact that we have one less day to go.

It's the idea of ​​moving against the current, with a deadline, with the idea of ​​an end. So we try to do a lot, intensely because we know that "it will soon end" and we will be free.

That's not how I see reconnecting to one's body and physicality.

I prefer not to give a time frame in my training or my courses and I invite people to do some introspection work to discover the deep reasons which push them to want to transform their body, their movements and their health.

This will serve as a foundation for establishing new, more positive habits in their lives that will last for years.

Of course, I also understand that challenges are great because we move forward with a group of people who are just as motivated as we are, we feel like we belong to a community and that motivates us not to give up.

So, I say yes to 30 days of squats AND I say yes to developing new sustainable habits as a result of those 30 days haha.

Let's simply add awareness to our physical practice.

Remember that the idea of ​​movement training is to develop a body capable of adapting to a greater degree of possibilities and without injury.

So, get involved and explore my movement.

For research avenues, you can look at our movement training courses in which we dive in detail into several sub-domains of movement such as Animal Locomotion, Floorwork, or Mobility Flow.

In the next article, I will analyze another Challenger created by Ido Portal: The Hanging Month .

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See you soon, my friend.

Nomad Slim
Founder of MOUVERS