the back squat is the king of lower body exercises
it's a hip extension working the glutes along with the leg extension working quads
but that combination of movements means it has to be done right
get one element wrong and you're not only wasting effort you can also cause long-term injuries
so here are our top five fixes to get your squat working effectively and safely
the golden rule for squatting is to keep the bar directly over the middle of the feet
up and down come forward or bend over too much and you're in trouble later we'll show you some
fixes for why this can happen but first the basics correct form for the perfect squat
with the bar just under shoulder height in the rack come under resting the bar on the traps
pull the shoulder blades together this will help you support the bar correctly
hand position close to the shoulders chest up curving the spine
feet directly under the bar take the weight by pushing the hips forward
step back set the feet a little bit wider than the shoulders pointing slightly outwards
head up eyes front deep breath in hold your breath we'll explain why later bend the knees and hips at
the same time knees go out over the toes bring the bar down in a straight line directly over the foot
hips come down just below the knees
come up by moving knees and hips at the same time that coordination of movements is all designed
to keep the bar moving in a straight line up and down weight directly above the feet the whole time
chest and hips moving in sync anything that changes that line is going to be a problem
so avoid bringing the hips up faster than the chest that'll bring you forward not good
another no-no is rounding the back there's all kinds of problems with this
the fix comes from the chest and shoulders chest is up shoulder blades together
looking for that nice concave curve in the spine
a good way to check your form is to film yourself to make
sure the bar is going straight up straight down
if you find you've still got problems here's another fix a lot of people miss at the feet
a squat is all about driving the weight evenly through the feet
pushing too much through the heels and
ouch come forward on your toes by raising the heels and well you'll feel it the next day and
not in a good way if you feel your heels raising up it's okay to stop and settle on the whole foot
spreading the weight evenly the long term fix depends on what's causing the heel to come up
it could be about ankle mobility stretching your calves can help with this
or it could be that you're curling the butt under pushing the knees forward which brings us on to
the next fix a common mistake in the squat is to curl the butt under at the bottom of the movement
bad for the knees and lower back the fix here depends on what's causing that pelvis
to tuck under it could be that your hamstrings aren't lengthening enough for you to complete
the movement pulling the pelvis under a good hamstring stretch could help this
or we could go back to that spinal curve we showed you earlier where chest and shoulders
help create the correct curve you may find you get a better curve by moving to a low bar squat
with the bar set lower down your back
this will help you keep the chest out which in turn maintains that curve all
this may take time and practice to get right so if you're still tucking under
too much avoid going too low in your squat until you've corrected underlying issues
normally when you're training you breathe in on the way up
out on the way down but squats are different
for squats you're using your breath to fill out and lock your torso
so it creates a strong frame around your core adding stability and strength to the movement
you can also use a belt for this when you breathe in push your stomach out against the belt
so the belt becomes part of the frame supporting your core so before you move fill up with air
engage your core this is called the brace position breathe and brace use that solid core
to strengthen your lift breathe out when you come back to the top
we've all seen guys squatting incredible weights
but these are experts who've been doing it for years
for the regular gym goer the golden rule is to build up gradually mastering the technique before
piling on the weight using pins in the rack is a good way to build up confidence adjusting
the height to help you go lower gradually feeling your way into a weight that's comfortable for you
we hope this video has shown you why the squat is such a revered exercise but also why it needs
to be carried out correctly stage by stage fit media channel has more form fixes for different
exercises to help you train safely and effectively just check out the playlist in the link