Is it a female thing or is it me?

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #1 06-29-2005, 08:02 PM

Hubby and I were both crouching barefoot to pet the cat. Cat stayed away from me and stayed close to Hubby. That's when I noticed he wasn't teetering the way I was, which was making the cat nervous. And that's when I noticed that when he crouches, his heels are on the ground; when I crouch, I'm on the balls of my feet. I tried to crouch with my heels on the ground and found that I couldn't.

Is this one of those things that men can do and women can't for some reason? (And no, I don't wear high heels every day so I don't think it's that abnormally-shortened-tendon problem)

**lynnzop**[$] · #2 06-29-2005, 10:21 PM

I just tested myself and the Bear. Both of us raise up our heels.

**taurusmoon** · #3 06-29-2005, 10:25 PM

I just crouched and paid attention to what I was doing. Turns out that I raised my heels about 3/4 of the way into the crouch.

I tried lowering my heels back to the ground once I took note of them raising and while I could physically do it, it was exceptionally uncomfortable.

I'll have to remember to ask the guys to try it later.

phoenixx · #4 06-29-2005, 10:28 PM

If I think about it beforehand, I crouch with heels to ground, and honey does not. Usually, without forethought, it is opposite. We both wobble, though.

phoenixx · #5 06-29-2005, 10:29 PM

Is anyone else getting an amusing mental image of a bunch of EA-ers trying this at home? Should we come with warning labels?

**theworm**[$] · #6 06-29-2005, 10:36 PM

No - I haven't tried this...yet, but it's something I've noticed in the past. It's much more stable to crouch with your heels down, but its an entirely different position. You can't crouch and then put your heels down. You have to concentrate on keeping your heels down as you crouch. And I normally do lift my heels. You can't do a "lady like" crouch with your heels down.

**lynnzop**[$] · #7 06-29-2005, 10:41 PM

Quote:

phoenixx said

Is anyone else getting an amusing mental image of a bunch of EA-ers trying this at home? Should we come with warning labels?

I know. I told Jeremy "hey come here and do this" and I crouched down but so that he couldn't see my heels. He did and said "Why?" I just laughed and said "never mind"....replay that in about 20 households tonite.

cristina1 · #8 06-29-2005, 10:49 PM

We did it, too. Both of us raise our heels.

**taurusmoon** · #9 06-29-2005, 10:54 PM

My son just got home. I asked him to crouch without offering explanation. He raised his heels.

When I explained why, he did find it interesting and said that, yes, he could keep his heels flat but it's uncomfortable. He compared it to a catcher's squat in baseball.

MJ, hubby isn't a former catcher, is he?

eris esoteric · #10 06-30-2005, 07:13 AM

I know for a fact that I can't crouch with my heels down. Never worn high-heels, but I do tend to walk on my toes when I'm barefoot and not thinking about it. (I have no idea why, it's entirely possible that I'm overcompensating for only being 5'3")

jenninca · #11 06-30-2005, 07:52 AM

I will usually crouch with my heels up, but I can do it easily enough either way (gotta love the effects of all the stretching I do for dance). I'll ask hubby to try when he gets up.

Cindy

**pippadaisy**[$] · #12 06-30-2005, 08:55 AM

Flat here. Then again, I can still "W" sit. Call it untreated hypotonia as a child.

Of course, if I'm in a skirt, they would be would be raised... you keep your legs together more that way.

*emeleel* · #13 06-30-2005, 09:24 AM

"W" sit?

**pippadaisy**[$] · #14 06-30-2005, 09:37 AM

*emeleel* · #15 06-30-2005, 09:41 AM

OH! Erin does that all the time. Makes me hurt to look at her.

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #16 06-30-2005, 11:14 AM

Quote:

taurusmoon said

MJ, hubby isn't a former catcher, is he?

He's certainly a catch

but not a catcher. He doesn't think about it or concentrate on doing it, it's just his natural crouch.

Pippa - I can *almost* do that - is it the knees or the hips or both that allow for that?

Meanwhile, no matter how hard I try, I can't crouch with my heels down, even if I try to keep them down as I go into the crouch, even with shoes with a 1" square heel, even with knees wide apart. If I croch and then try to put my heels down, I fall backward.

**theworm**[$] · #17 06-30-2005, 11:40 AM

I w-sit!

I can crouch with my heels down, but as I said - its a whole different thing. You have to spread you legs and you butt hangs over. I don't because its not the "natural" way, but I just tried and it feels like your out camping (No - I never camp!) and you're trying to use the facilities.

**pippadaisy**[$] · #18 06-30-2005, 11:54 AM

Quote:

mjfrombuffalo said

Pippa - I can *almost* do that - is it the knees or the hips or both that allow for that?

Well, according to G, it's a combination of the two. My stupid human trick is that I have hip displasia... in Body Flow class (a combination of Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates), they'd be doing these "hip openers" and G would be sweating and groaning trying to get into position and I'd have my pelvis flat on the floor saying "Um, what is this opening?" I can dislocate both hips, and actually shrink myself an inch or two if I'm standing with my hip jutted out. He finds it disturbing.

jenninca · #19 06-30-2005, 06:30 PM

Hubby crouches with his heels up, FWIW.

And I w-sit all the time! I must be extra flexible or something, though, because I can stretch farther than the teenagers in my dance classes and was the only one in my ballet class (where I was the only adult) who could do the splits at all.

Cindy

**theworm**[$] · #20 06-30-2005, 06:53 PM

I could never do splits. Even when I was young and limber.

**drmomentum**[$] · #21 06-30-2005, 06:59 PM

Heels up. I have tight hamstrings.

However, if I shift, I can crouch differently with my heels down.

I don't wobble in either position. Well, not much anyhow.