Setting up

Stand with your back flat against a wall. Walk your feet forward about a foot and a half, hip-width apart, toes pointing straight ahead.

Press your whole back into the wall — shoulders, mid-back, low back. Let your ribs settle down over your hips.

Going down

Slide down the wall just a little. Knees barely bent — think a few inches, not a chair position.

Your hips stay higher than your knees. That's the marker.

Holding

Twenty seconds. Breathe the whole time — inhale wide into your ribs and back against the wall, slow exhale.

Then push through your heels, slide back up, and rest. Three rounds.

What tells you you've gone too low

  • Your low back lifts away from the wall
  • You stop breathing without meaning to
  • Your thighs burn so hard you can't think about anything else
  • Your belly rises into a ridge up the middle

Any of those — slide up higher. The shallow version is the exercise, not a lesser version of it.

If 20 seconds is too long, do 10. Three rounds of ten beats one round of twenty.

If your knees hurt, walk your feet further forward so they're not travelling past your toes.

One practical note — do it against a flat wall, not a door. Doors flex, and you lose the feedback that makes this work.