How to do the back squat

The back squat is the lift most training programs are built around, and the one people most often log badly. It loads the quads and glutes through a long range of motion while the trunk holds a braced position under the bar, which is why it carries over to almost everything else you do in the gym.

Type: Lift
Level: Intermediate
Equipment: Barbell and Squat rack
Works: Quadriceps and Glutes
Also worked: Hamstrings, Adductors, Spinal erectors, and Abdominals
Also called: Barbell Squat, High Bar Squat, and Low Bar Squat

Set up

Set the rack pins just below shoulder height so you unrack by standing up, not by rising onto your toes.
Get under the bar and pull your elbows down and back until your upper back is tight enough that the bar sits on muscle, not on bone.
Take two steps back — no more. Every extra step is energy spent before the first rep.
Stand with feet a little wider than your hips, toes turned out somewhere between 15 and 30 degrees.

The rep

Take a big breath into your belly and brace as if you were about to be punched. Hold it.
Break at the hips and knees together and sit down between your feet rather than folding forward.
Descend until the crease of your hip passes below the top of your knee, or as deep as you can go without your pelvis tucking under.
Drive back up by pushing the floor away, keeping the bar stacked over the middle of your foot the whole way.
Breathe out at the top, re-brace, and start the next rep.

Cues that help

Spread the floor: think about screwing your feet outward into the ground to keep your knees tracking over your toes.
Chest and hips rise together. If your hips shoot up first, the bar is drifting forward and it becomes a good morning.
Look at a fixed point on the floor about three metres ahead — not at the ceiling, not at your feet.

Common mistakes

Cutting depth as the weight climbs

A half squat with more plates on it is not progress, it is a different exercise. Pick a depth you can hit consistently and add weight to that.

Letting the knees cave in

Knees collapsing inward on the way up usually means the weight is too heavy or your stance is too narrow. Back off and widen your feet before you add load again.

Bouncing out of the bottom

Using the rebound out of a deep, relaxed bottom position hides how much you can actually lift and puts the load on connective tissue instead of muscle.

How to progress it

Most people progress the back squat fastest on small, boring increments — 2.5 kg (5 lb) a session while it keeps working, then weekly, then a longer cycle of building back from a lighter weight. What matters far more than the scheme is that you write down every set so you can tell the difference between a bad day and a stall.

How to track it

Log it as a lift with sets, reps and the working weight. If you did 5×5 at the same weight, one entry covers it; if you ramped up, log the top set — that is the number your next session is judged against.

Log your back squat

Opens the lift form with Squat already filled in. Free account, no card.

Log a back squat See what gets tracked

Back Squat questions

How deep should I squat?

Deep enough that your hip crease drops below the top of your knee, provided you can get there without your lower back rounding. If you can't, that is a mobility problem to work on, not a reason to add weight to a shallow squat.

High bar or low bar?

High bar sits on the traps and stays more upright, which biases the quads. Low bar sits across the rear delts and involves more hip drive, which usually lets you lift more. Pick one and stay with it long enough to get good at it.

Should I use a belt?

A belt gives your brace something to push against and is worth using on heavy sets once you already know how to brace without one. It is not a substitute for learning to brace.