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This idea that it requires lots of flexibility to squat is actually a pernicious myth. It is really about the angle of your feet and the width of your stance,

• scottishfiction 9y ago
  Regardless of stance width or foot angle, it seems that ankle mobility is still a limiting factor for most people. Simply raising the heel on a 1" block seems to allow most people to achieve a full squat. However, there's still a huge difference between getting your hip crease below your knee for a moment, and being able to sit in the bottom of a squat for a prolonged period in comfort.
• bhrgunatha 9y ago
  However some people (me!) definitely have some bio-mechanical impediment. I can clearly remember at school, 10 -12 years old, during winter after heavy snow, my friends all sliding downhill, feet absolutely flat on the floor, sat hunched as low as possible. Absolutely impossible for me - I couldn't get my backside within 30-40 cm off the ground no matter what I tried.
• vidarh 9y ago
  This depends what you consider "lots of flexibility" and what you consider "squat". No, you don't need to be a gymnast but there are still plenty of people for whom the angle of feet and width of stance is totally insufficient to do a squat below parallel because they lack the necessary hip flexibility. If you can touch your toes with straight legs, you can probably squat below parallel for at least a short while - it's not like it takes a huge amount of flexibility. But that too still requires weeks of training for a surprising number of people. It's not hard to get there, but to write it off as a myth is not helpful.