Image credit: Dehwang
If you would only do one strength training exercise, it would be the Squat. No exercise works your body as one piece the way Squats do. Key to StrongLifts 5×5 program is the Squat exercise which is done 3x/week.
However the Squat is probably the trickiest exercise to learn to do with proper technique. This article will teach you how to squat with proper technique.
What’s a Squat? Bend through your knees with the bar on your back until your hips come lower than parallel. That is until your hip joint comes lower than your knee joint when looking from the side. Come back up. That’s a Squat.
Some of the most popular variations of the Squat include:
- Olympic Squat. High bar position, close stance & deep.
- Front Squat. Barbell rests on your front shoulders.
- Overhead Squat. Squats while holding the bar overhead.
This article deals with the low bar Squat described in Starting Strength. Here’s a video by Boris Bachman of the Squat this post is about. Don’t worry about the weight Boris lifts in the Squat video, you’ll start light.
Benefits of The Squat. Every muscle works when you Squat: legs move the weight, abs & lower back stabilize, upper-back stays tight, arms squeeze the bar, etc. The Squat is a full body exercise.
- Builds Muscle. You can use heavy weight when doing the Squat. Heavy weight means more stress. This stress causes a hormonal response: increased testosterone levels. Meaning more muscle.
- Leg Strength. Squats strengthen your legs by working them through a full range of motion. This helps all sports but also daily activities. No more bending over to pick up an object, you can just Squat.
- Hip Flexibility. While you need hip flexibility for Squats, once you have this flexibility, doing Squats maintains it.
- Knee Stability. Squats done with proper technique, with the bar coming below parallel, strengthen your knees.
Squats & Knees. “Squatting deep is bad for your knees”. That’s a myth you’ll hear a lot. Some will advise you to do Partial Squats, staying above parallel, to avoid knee injury. This is wrong info. Wrong.
Your knee joint is strongest in a fully flexed or full extended position, not the positions in-between. Partial Squats only strengthen your knees & quads, but not your glutes & hamstrings. This causes muscle imbalances & thus injuries.
Millions of competitive weightlifters Squat deeper than described in this article. If you have knee pain from Squats, you’re not using proper technique or you lack ankle/hip mobility. Squatting deep is never the cause.
Squat & Safety. Squat in a Power Rack. Set the safety pins at the height the bar gets in the bottom Squat position. Check the video above for an example. Start light, build up the weight gradually. Safety depends on technique.
Squat Stretch: chest up, knees out, weight on heels. Image credit: Wesley.
Before You Start. Lack of hip flexibility makes it impossible to Squat with proper technique. Do the Squat stretch – picture above – 4 sets of 30 seconds. Chest forward, knees out & curled toes. The Squat stretch increases hip flexibility.
Unracking The Bar. Set the bar in the Power Rack at about mid-chest level. Position your feet directly under the bar. Squat under the bar & put it on your back. Tighten everything & Squat up to unrack the bar.
One step back with one leg, one step back with the other leg. Squat. Check the video above for an example of how to unrack the bar properly on the Squat.
Low bar position on the Squat. Tight upper-back, elbows back & wrists straight.
Squat Setup. You’ll have to think about a lot of things at first. Study the tips below, start with an empty barbell, focus on your technique.
- Chest Up. Keeping your chest up makes lower back rounding impossible & tightening of your upper-back easier.
- Forward Look. Look down & your back will bend. Look at the ceiling & your neck will hurt. Look forward.
- Bar Position. Put the bar low, on the muscles of your back shoulders. Below the bone at the top of your shoulder-blades.
- Grip Width. Narrow grip makes it easier to tighten your upper-back. Do lots of shoulder dislocations if this position feels uncomfortable.
- Thumbless Grip. Put your thumbs on top of the bar, next to your fingers. You’ll be able to keep your wrists inline with your forearms.
- Straight Wrists. Your back supports the weight, not your hands. Keep your wrists inline with your forearm, never bend them.
- Tight Upper-back. Bring your shoulder-blades together. Tightening the upper-back gives the bar a solid base to rest on.
- Elbows Back. Don’t let them come forward during the Squat. Pushing your elbows back prevents elbows injuries.
- Foot Stance. A narrow stance doesn’t work for the low bar Squat. Heels should be shoulder-width apart.
- Toes Out. Point your toes out at about 30 degrees. Your toes must always follow your knees.
- Weight on The Heels. Curl your toes up if needed. Never get on your toes. Push from the heels.
Squatting Down. You have unracked the bar correctly. All muscles are tight & ready to Squat. Key to the low bar Squats are the hips.
- Hips Back. Think sitting on your toilet. Hips go back first, way back. If you can’t, you probably have tight hamstrings. Do the Squat Stretch.
- Knees Over Toes. Don’t let your knees travel forward in the bottom Squat position. Knees over the toes, not further.
- Knees Out. Never allow your knees to buckle in. It can cause knee injury. Push your knees out.
- Hit Parallel. Your hip joint must come lower than your knee joint. Ask someone to judge your depth or tape yourself. No Partial Squats.
Squatting Up. Your hip muscles are stretched when you hit parallel. Use that stretch to bounce from the bottom. DO NOT relax your hip muscles & DO NOT bounce off your knees. Keep your hip muscles tensed.
- Hips Up. If your hips come forward, your knees will also come forward. Drive your hips up straight out of the bottom.
- Squeeze Your Glutes. Power comes from the glutes. Squeeze your glutes as hard as you can while driving your hips up.
- Push From The Heels. Curl your toes up if needed. Don’t let your heels come off the floor. Push from the heels.
- Knees Out. Same as for the way down: don’t let your knees buckle in. Push your knees out.
Common Squat Problems. If you have someone to help you improve your Squat technique, great. Otherwise tape yourself and use the following tips or Starting Strength to improve your Squat technique.
- Lower Back Rounds. Keep your chest up & do the Squat Stretch. Read why your lower back rounds during Squats & how to fix it.
- Leaning Forward. Happens when your hips go up faster than your shoulders. Read how to avoid leaning forward on Squats.
- Bent Wrists. Will cause wrist pain once the bar gets heavy. Support the weight with your back muscles, not with your wrists.
- Knees In. You have weak and/or tight hip muscles. Do the Squat Stretch & actively push your knees out on every rep.
- Knees Forward. Move from the hips: hips back when Squatting down, hips up – not forward – when Squatting up.
- Heels Off The Floor. Puts stress on your knees & impairs stability. Curl your toes up and push from the heels.
Hi, i’m currently doing program in Starting Strength but I have problems doing back squat. it seems that when i try pushing my elbows back and out, my lower back will round. Sometimes i don’t notice this even though i try my best to keep my lower back straight.
In addition, I’m always so tired after squatting that my form suffers for the remaining upper body exercises(bench press/military press/chinups deadlifts). Since the squat is supposed to activate CNS and act as catalyst for upper body growth, theoretically would doing 2 sets only achieve same purposes if I’m more interested in upper body strength and muscularity? What would the difference of 1 set make?
thanks for your help
If you keep your chest forward & up, while pushing elbows back, your lower back shouldn’t be able to round. Try it while standing: make a big chest, tilt it up then try to round your lower back: you can’t. Best solution for lower back round is to keep chest up. If that doesn’t solve it, then you lack flexibility. Check the post on why your lower back rounds & how to fix it.
The difference between 2 sets & 3 sets is that 2 sets is less volume. A lot of program avocate 5 sets (bill starr, tsatsouline’s, madcow, stronglifts 5×5, etc). Rippetoe uses 3 sets of 5. Using 2 sets of 5 would mean “not enough stress”. I’d say stick to the program as it’s laid out. If you have problems with the exercises that follow, lower the weight on the Squat, work on your technique first then think about upping the weight again.
ok, thank you for your advice. I’ll stick to 70 kg again for the third time and see if it helps
When doing squat stretches, should I focus on keeping my back as straight and up tight as possible or getting as deep as possible? Because I’m kind of confused what this exercise is for; preventing from rounding at deep squats or just getting deep(ATG)..
I hope it’s understandable for you, my English is not that great ;).
Focus on keeping your lower back tight so it doesn’t tucks in Armando, while trying to lower yourself. Hips lower than knees = ok on the Squat stretch. But lower back must stay straight (not tuckin in).
Hey Mehdi, what’s the best way to do squats (for maximum benefit) with dumbbells? Due to the size of my home gym, I don’t have access to a bar.
Second on the dumbbell question by James. I will definetly get a bar, but I don’t want to put it off anymore. In fact, any workout routines with just dumbbells would be awesome to have.
I’d say to do dumbbell lunges. But it’s nowhere the same as using a barbell. There will be an article soon on a strength training routine using dumbbells, but don’t expect the same results as with barbells.
I have a barbell and 35×2 lbs weights, which is a total weight of 70 lbs. Currently I am doing 20repsx3sets. Is that good enough? Is that going to help me tone my legs up or help me at all?
And what weight should I use to build some muscle mass.
Thanks.
@Andrew
70lbs is good to start with, to practice technique. But you need to add weight if you want to get stronger, thus building muscle. Toning = building muscle + lowering body fat. You want tone, you need to get stronger to build muscle. Eat clean to lower body fat & show muscles. Check out StrongLifts 5×5 routine.
Thanks for the advice, I will get a gym membership in march and I will start training with more heavier/challenging weights.
But for now, i still have one more question. If i am to do high-reps with my 70-80 lbs weight on barbell will that help me get stronger or gain at least SOME muscle. What I am thinking of doing is 35 reps of 3 sets, 2-3 times a week and I am just wondering if that is beneficial.
Thanks.
@Andrew
It’s better than nothing. Do it for now, while focussing on technique. Problem with high reps if they don’t the strength low reps build. You could sets of 10 reps or 20 reps (I wouldn’t go higher). You can also try front squats, or overhead squats. They’re more challenging. Use the remaining 6 weeks more as a preparation (technique-wise) for what’s to come, that’s the most beneficial thing you can do.
Hi Mehdi,
I started the 5×5 program 3 weeks ago now, and with the right diet, have moved up from empty to 40kg on Bench Press, 40kg on Squats, 35kgs on Overhead Press 40kgs on deadlift 40kgs on barbell row. I have also managed to learn chin ups after not being able to do even 1 before. I can only manage 3 but it’s better than 0! I am also trying to lose weight fast, so am fitting in 30-40mins moderate resistance elliptical trainer on the days im not doing 5×5. I have no motivation issue but is that good? I enjoy going to the gym every day so that’s not a problem.
The plan is to carry on at my pace and be up to 80kgs in 5weeks time.
@H
I prefer to do everything in one workout, this gives you 4 days to do other stuff: work, social life, hobbies, relationships, etc. If you’ve got no problem with it, continue. Good luck with the progress.
Hi Mehdi, great article.
First off, I love squatting and I think my form is not too bad. My max 1 rep probably is about 95kg, haven’t tested it lately. Stats: 76kg at 1,80 (170lbs at 5.90).
The problem I have: Doing 5×5 sets burns me out, even with a proper cool down I feel very tired the next day. I could deal with some DOMs but the fatigue is very annoying, you know there’s some more one has to do than just train… Would you recommend to lower the weight until it’s not so taxing anymore, or should I change the repscheme to 3×5?
Thanks
@Lou
Lower the weight to 40-50kg, do 5×5 3x/week & add 2.5kg per workout. One month later you’ll be doing 70-80kg for 5×5 easily. Make sure you eat & sleep well. You’ll get used to it by doing it more. I Front Squat 3x/week, doing 5×5, with weights above 100kg at 72kg bw & rarely feel soreness the rest day.
I’ll try that, thanks buddy!
Mehdi, is there any chance of you uploading a video of you performing a back squat? I find that when I’m working out the little problems in my technique on certain excercises, it’s always your videos that help me out. Especially the barbell and dead lift videos.
I think my technique is pretty good so far, but as I’m getting up to 67.5kg, I’d really like to perfect it.
Hi Mehdi,
Great site! You’ve organized the information really well so it’s easy to plan and start a strength training program. I have to start with the dumbbell 5X5 because my gym doesn’t offer barbells, but they are set up great with dumbbells. I’m worried about proper technique with the dumbells as you don’t go into very much detail with the dumbbell program. Can you go into more detail about the dumbbell front squat and dumbbell overhead press? Thanks alot and keep up the good work!
@Taz
Ask me in the forum what you want exactly. I’ll see what I can do.
@Clifford
There’s not much to be said about the dumbbell versions, technique is completely the same. Get an account on the forum & let me know what you need exactly.
My gym doesn’t have a squat rack like the kind in the video. In my gym the bar is held within the machine but moves up and down on rails. By rotating the bar you can engage locks that will prevent the bar from coming down. Sometimes I see guys pull a flat bench underneath it and do bench presses. Mahdi, do you recommend I use this machines for squats or should I just do dumbbell front squats. My gym doesn’t have barbells either.
@Mike
Check out this post.
Sorry about the misspelling of your name Mehdi.
I guess its dumbbells in the mean time. I really didn’t know that much about the Smith machine’s negative drawbacks. Thanks for the site and the info.
@Mike
You’re welcome. Good luck Mike.
Hi there,
i have a little trouble with a lower back round on the squat.
bringing my chest up helps.
however, i see your remedy is a static stretch to be done before the squats?
ive read repeatedly that this type of stretching before this type of workout is a bad idea….what are your thoughts?
thanks
Why did you use Bachman’s squat as an example of Rippetoe’s squat? I noticed that Bachman had a very wide stance and was squatting to powerlifter competition depth. Rippetoe, I believe, advocates shoulder width stance low-bar squats to the lowest depth possible. The only similarities is that they are both using a low-bar position, IMO.
Would it be possible to post more (or a different) video/s of back squats? With all due respect to Mr. Bachman and the massive weight he’s lifting, he seems to be leaning quite far forward, and he’s not squatting all that deep (is he even clearing? I’m not so sure). Is this really supposed to be the picture of perfect form? I think I might already be squatting with better form than that (albeit with much less weight). Do you have any videos of ATG squats with good form? I haven’t found any on youtube (although lots with major back rounding).
-Drew
Does the squat work the hamstrings? Lunges seem to do that better, so is it a good idea to substitute one squat session a week with lunges? I am asking this as I am learning horse-riding, and strong (and supple) hamstrings are a must for this sport. Thanks!
Hi I’ve always wondered when you talk about weight used. Are you talking about both sides combined and also the 20kg for the bar?
Many thanks
Brendan
Hi Medhi,
Thanks a lot for the tips and also the 5X5 routine. I’ve been using it for about 2 weeks now, and I am enjoying it. I however did notice some flaws in my technique as I increased the weight, especially on my back squat. I notice that when I squat up, I tend to transfer weight from my heels to the balls of my feet. I try to keep it on my heels, but somehow it throws me off, and I tend to start losing control. Is there anything I can do to make sure I stay on my heels?
Thanks,
Parth
I have back problems and am worried about squatting. (I was in a motorcycle accident a couple years ago and wound up with a bulging disc (L5/S1 sciatica). As a result, I’ve had several rounds of epidural steroid injections.) I’ve tried squats on a Smith machine at my gym, but with pretty light weights b/c I’m not confident I have the form correct. I also do seated leg presses (machine) with heavy weights. Are squats safe for my back? Can/should I do leg presses as an alternative? I don’t want to risk aggravating or putting too much pressure on the disc, since the pain wipes me out if I do. Any info would be appreciated!
Hey Mehdi, i was wondering if you could tell me why my lowerback killed when i tried doing just 1 empty bar overhead squat? did i hyper extend my back? i pushed my chest out, my feet were in the perfect position and i kept my abs tight.
hey mehdi. i started lifting heavy just a couple of weeks ago on my squats. i do 3×8 (175 lbs). (i am 140 lbs). i think i can go higher, but i dont know if thats going to either help of hurt me. just to let you know, i am looking to gain size. i think my form is good and i dont have trouble with my back.
if im looking to build size , how many reps/sets should i do? and what weight should i use?
thanks
hey,
dont mean to be rude but i read the page and it’s not exactly right….
firstly - hamstrings (semi membranosis, semi tendonosis and biceps femoris) do not work to any great extent during a squat (refer to Tesch, 1999 for evidence) this is because the right joint action is not occuring for the hamstrings to be active - when the hip is extending during the concentric part of the squat, the knees are extending, how if the hamstrings contract to flex the knee, would they be extending?? if the hamstrings would be active the joint wouldnt move!!!
and while we are on, the rectus femoris is not active to a great extent either - sub 15 % as it also has the wrong action at one of the joints it crosses (when the knee is extending, so is the hip , RF wants to flex the hip!!)
secondly the knee is not strongest at full flexion or extension, not at all!!!
the knee joint is strongest for quadriceps movement at 60 degrees of flexion, if you’ve ever seen the torque - joint angle curve for the knee you may understand this.
so people if you wish to work your hamstrings do not perform a squat for this purpose - a straight leg deadlift or leg curl will work the hamstrings.
leg extensions will work the RF
squats are amazing for the vasti muscles of the leg, but not for the RF or any of the hamstrings. go get educated properly and you might understand this
and before you refer to lombards paradox or tell me to squat lower
go read the research that indicates what i am saying.
if you’ve ever felt any soreness in the back of your leg after squatting, this will be your adductor muscles which are activated to a mediocre extend during the squat, these muscles can also be felt on the posterior aspect of the thigh as well as the inner thigh, indicating why many people think that their hamstrings are at work
so stop telling people the wrong thing and we might understand exercise science a little better, yer?
Is it possible that some people are just not made to squat?
I find I cannot do squats without leaning forward. I think I have a bit of lordosis and problems with my psoas. I have tight calves, hamstrings, and hips. I have started doing some excersizes for this as well as some glute activation and squat stretching. Would you suggest a stay away from squats for a while? Or is it natural that i have to lean forward and is that okay as long as i am pushing with my legs and not my back?
Oh by the way, I do not squat with high weights. I have lifted varied amounts from nothing to empty barbell to 95lbs and I always feel a strain in my back doing squats. What should I do?
I have an arthritic-type condition in my left ankle which restricts ankle flexibility and means I can’t deep-squat naturally. If I rest my heals on a pair of 1.25kg weights I get enough of an angle to be able to squat to below parallel and it feels OK. As a result of training like this I’m starting to be able to manage somewhat heavier weights (I’m 80kg and I can now squat 100kg), is what I am doing safe?
Hi Mehdi,
I’m into 5×5 for about 3 months now and it’s been doing wonders for me. Although, currently I’ve been stalling on my squats and OH press. Still doing them though until I manage to do it 5×5. My question is this, if my lower back doesn’t hurt doing squats, does that mean I’m doing it correctly (i mean straight back)? Does no pain in any exercise mean that you are doing them correctly.
Thanks for the effort you put into this. People in the gym stare at me for doing them, and I think it’s cool…
Ive been doing the 5×5 for a few months now and have gotten up to my body weight. Great program and im doing good. The problem i seem to be having is that with the increased weight i am having a lot of pressure on the outside edge of my shoulder blades, mostly coming up from the squat - most times leading to bruising. I can not seem to nail down what it is i am doing wrong with my form. It is getting painful to the point where it is harder to endure than the exercise its self.
Any pointers?
hi i was going to post this on the begginer 5×5 page but it wasnt working…
ive been working out consistantly for about a month and ive noticed that ive bumped up weights and size pretty fast
i dont have a problem with my eating and i take about 1 iso pure protein drink (62g) a day
i used to do
bench 3×12
incline bench 3×12
dumbell flys3×12
tricep extensions 3×12
tricep dumbell extensions 3×12
if i change to the 5×5 program now will i lose muscle mass and strength because it is less upperbody workout(at least i think so tell me if im wrong) then wat i was doing before or will i only get stronger
[...] How to Squat with Proper Technique & Fix Common Problems [...]
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