Sitting down all day is bad for you – no question, but a study published in 2024 found that breaking up a day at your desk every 45 minutes to an hour with either 10 squats or 3 minutes walking really improved blood sugar control, compared to a control group. Going for a single half hour walk was only half as beneficial. Those 10 squats might only take a minute, depending on how fast you do them.
Turning your squat into a don-yu has additional benefits. Compared to a squat, the emphasis on sitting slowly means that the big muscles at the front of the thigh (the “quads” or quadriceps) are stretched under tension, an action known as eccentric contraction. This is especially beneficial for building both the strength and the mass of these muscles. As the hips open and the back becomes more upright, the donyu starts to work the whole spine.