Hip Hold Slow Squat Sway
Quick Intro
Hip Hold Slow Squat Sway takes the bodyweight squat, a lower body exercise performed by bending the knees and hips to lower the body and standing back up. Partners face each other close, one partner’s hands resting at the other’s hips, and move through a slow, shallow squat sequence while that hand hold stays in place for the entire sequence, never breaking between reps.
The squat’s own full technique is covered at Bodyweight Squat.
What You’ll Need
No equipment.
How to Do It Together
- Get into position. Face each other close, one partner resting both hands at the other’s hips.
- Squat together, shallow. Both partners bend into a shallow squat together, the hip hold maintained throughout.
- Rise and sway. Rise back to standing, pausing briefly to sway gently before the next descent.
- Keep the hold continuous. Repeat the sequence, the hip hold staying in place through the entire flow rather than releasing and resetting between reps.
Slow, natural breathing throughout, with no rush between reps.
Why a Continuous Hold Changes What a Squat Set Feels Like
Slow Dance Squat Flow holds a full embrace through the squat sequence, with each squat a small dip inside it. This exercise uses a lighter, more specific point of contact instead, both hands resting at the hips and kept in place the whole time. Many paired squat exercises treat each rep as its own event, hands finding each other again, settling, then releasing before the next rep resets the whole thing. Keeping the hip hold continuous removes that reset, turning a series of separate reps into a single unbroken flow.
That continuity changes what the exercise actually asks of you. Without a reset between reps, there’s no natural pause where attention can drift away and come back. The hold is simply there the whole time, present through the descent, the rise and the sway, which tends to make the whole sequence feel more like one sustained moment than a counted set.
The shallow depth matters here too, and it isn’t incidental. A continuous hip hold through a deep squat would ask a lot of both partners’ balance at once, especially during the transition from descent to rise. Keeping the depth shallow is what makes holding the contact point continuously through every single phase of the movement actually realistic, rather than something that quietly breaks down the moment either partner’s weight shifts.
If You’re at Different Fitness Levels
This one is already built with a low physical demand in mind. The shallow depth works at any fitness level without adjustment, and the slow pace means a gap in strength or endurance between you barely changes how the exercise actually plays out.
Safety and Consent
Keep the knees tracking over the toes even at this shallow depth. Settle on hands resting at the hips before you begin, and move them if either of you would rather not.
Every connection moment in these exercises is something either partner can skip or scale back at any point, including this one, no explanation needed. A regular squat set with no sustained hip hold drops the continuous contact and keeps the squat.
FAQ
Do we trade who holds the hips? Yes. Swap after a set so each of you has both jobs, the squatting and the steady hands.
Where does this sit next to the full-embrace squat flow? Slow Dance Squat Flow holds a full embrace through the sequence. This exercise uses a lighter hip hold instead, kept in place from the first rep to the last.
Why does keeping the hold continuous matter? It removes the natural pause between reps where attention could drift, making the sequence feel like one sustained moment rather than a series of separate counted reps.
Why does the squat stay shallow instead of going deeper? A deeper squat would ask more of both partners’ balance during the transition, and keeping the depth shallow is what makes holding the hip contact continuously through every phase actually realistic.
Does this need to involve any swaying at the top, or is the squat enough on its own? The brief sway at the top is part of the sequence, a deliberate, built-in pause before the next descent.
Is there a version of this with more depth for a couple that wants more challenge? Not within this exercise specifically. Squat-to-Kiss or Hand-Hold Squats work at a standard depth with a different connection point.
Why might a couple prefer this over the full-embrace squat flow? Some couples simply find a lighter, more specific point of contact easier to sustain through a longer flow than a full embrace, especially if a full embrace during movement feels like more than they want that day.
Can we just squat without any sustained hold at all? Yes. Bodyweight Squat on its own works fine with no hip hold attached.
Built on Bodyweight Squat. Slow Dance Squat Flow wraps the same squat sequence in a full embrace in place of a hip hold.