How to Squat: Full Technique Guide
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, brace your core, and lower by bending at the hips and knees together, keeping your chest up and weight through your mid-foot. Aim for at least parallel depth if mobility allows, and drive back up through your heels. The most common mistake is letting the knees cave inward.
Step-by-Step Technique
- Setup: Feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly (10–20°).
- Brace: Take a breath and tighten your core, as if bracing for a light punch to the stomach.
- Descend: Bend at the hips and knees together, keeping your chest up and weight balanced through your mid-foot, not your toes.
- Depth: Go to at least parallel (hip crease level with or below the knee) if your mobility allows, without your lower back rounding.
- Drive up: Push through your feet, keeping your knees tracking in line with your toes, and stand back to the start position.
Common Mistakes
- Knees caving inward — often a hip or ankle stability issue; slow down and consciously push knees out over toes.
- Rounding the lower back at the bottom — usually means the depth is beyond current mobility; reduce depth slightly and work on hip and ankle mobility.
- Rising onto the toes — indicates weight has shifted too far forward; refocus on keeping weight through the mid-foot.
- Rushing the descent — a controlled 2-second lowering phase builds better control than dropping quickly.
Mobility Fixes for a Better Squat
Limited ankle mobility is one of the most common reasons people struggle with squat depth. Calf stretches and ankle mobility drills before squatting can help. A small heel lift — a weightlifting shoe or a flat wedge under the heels — is a practical workaround while mobility improves.
How to Progress
Start with bodyweight squats until the pattern feels automatic and pain-free. Move to a goblet squat (holding a dumbbell at chest height) next, then to a barbell back squat once you're comfortable with the loaded pattern. Increase weight in small increments (2–2.5 kg) once you can complete all sets at your target reps with good form.
Frequently Asked Questions
References
- Schoenfeld BJ. Squatting kinematics and kinetics and their application to exercise performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2010;24(12):3497–3506.
- Hartmann H et al. Analysis of the load on the knee joint and vertebral column with changes in squatting depth and weight load. Sports Med. 2013;43(10):993–1008.