Welcome to the your complete guide on improving one of the most fundamental and effective exercises in your workout routine โ the squat!
I will be updating this blog weekly with adding a tip each week to help improve your squat.
Now, whether you're a seasoned gym-goer or a beginner just starting on your fitness journey, mastering the squat is a fantastic exercise for building lower body strength, building lower body muscle, and enhancing performance for life.
As the squat is known as one of the powerhouse movements for the lower body, it's not uncommon to encounter a few stumbling blocks along the way. Fear not, Iโm here to address and correct the most common mistakes to help you pinpoint the pitfalls that may be hindering your progress.
Iโll provide you with step-by-step guidance so you can continue to achieve some incredible muscle and strength gainzzz.
Common Mistake #1: Knees Collapsing Inward:
During your squat, one of the most common mistakes is having your knees collapsing inward.
When the knees cave in towards each other, it puts unnecessary stress on the knee joint and can lead to discomfort or injury. It also will reduce the amount of power and strength you can produce during the movement.
Instead, the goal is to keep your knees aligned with your middle to the fourth toe throughout the movement.
Here are 4 Tips to help:
1. Foot Placement and Alignment:
Position your feet about hip-width (or slightly wider) with toes slightly pointing out. This setup allows for better engagement of the glutes making the movement feel smoother and help prevent the knees from collapsing inward.
2. Screw Your Feet into the Ground:
During the squat, with your feet remaining flat and grounded, imagine you're corkscrewing your feet into the floor. This will push your knees out to the sides as you descend. This cue encourages proper knee tracking and helps prevent them from caving in. Additionally, consciously engaging the hip external rotators can reinforce this movement pattern.
3. Try Box Squats:
Incorporate box squats into your routine. By squatting onto a box or a bench, you break up the squatting motion. This can teach you to control your form and help you stay mindful of what your knees are doing. Make sure to pause briefly on the box before ascending to reinforce good knee alignment.
Just a heads up, these are challenge as hell (but still very awesome)!
4. Use Mini Resistance Band Exercises:
Utilizing these mini resistance bands helps provide you with feedback. Wrap the band right above or below your knee so it pulls your knees inward. As you squat, push back against the band to engage and feel your hip abductors and external rotators. Using these mini resistance bands will help create awareness of the specific target of these muscles and reinforce proper knee positioning.
While one of the common mistakes in the squat is allowing the knees to collapse inward, you can correct this issue by using the tips above so you can maintain proper knee alignment for a safer and more effective squatting technique.
Common Mistake #2: Poor Depth
Squatting to depth, which refers to performing a full-range of motion squat where your hips descend below the level of your knee can offer several benefits!
Obviously, If you have any existing injuries or have limitations, then things may differ and this may not be appropriate for you, but if you are squatting more shallow than you are able to, you are going to miss out on quite a bit of benefit.
Things like:
- Increased Muscle Activation
- Full-depth squats engage the quads, hamstrings, glutes, lower back, core, and calves, promoting comprehensive muscle development and strength.
- Improved Flexibility and Mobility
- Hitting full range of motion on your squats will enhance ankle, knee, and hip flexibility, making daily activities and exercises easier.
- Enhanced Functional Strength
- Mimicking real-life movements, like getting on and off a toilet, squats boost overall functional strength.
- Greater Quadriceps and Glute Activation
- Getting more depth in your squad will emphasize quads and glutes for strong, better-built muscles.
- Improved Stability and Balance
- Deeper squats will improve stability, balance, and overall strength.
- Better Hormonal Response
- Quality squatting triggers increased testosterone and growth hormone release, aiding muscle growth and recovery.
- Joint Health
- With proper form, deep squats promote joint health by distributing adequate mobility and loads evenly across knees and hips, reducing injury risk.
- Core Strength and Posture
- Deep squats engage the core muscles throughout the movement to stabilize the spine and maintain an upright posture. This is essential for spinal health and can aid in preventing lower back pain.
Letโs get into tips to help you improve your squat depth!
1. Add in Mobility Drills:
Limited ankle and hip mobility can hinder your ability to reach proper squat depth.
Work on improving hip and ankle mobility to increase your squat depth. Incorporating exercises like ankle mobilizations, dorsiflexion stretches, hip flexor stretches, pigeon pose, and deep squat holds can enhance your range of motion and therefore improve your squat depth.
Ensure during your warm-up you appropriately get prepped up before squatting to prepare your muscles and joints for the movement. These static and dynamic stretches can help create more flexibility and mobility, and increase blood flow to your joints and muscles to improve your range of motion.
2. Drop the weight:
Time to put your ego aside and drop the weight.
By doing this you can start to get a better sense of the appropriate range of motion you should be hitting. From there, gradually work on improving your squat depth. Over time, start to work your way back up in weight, but remain the same depth.
This is also going to be very important to help avoid injuries and aid in strength and muscle growth.
3. Incorporate Pause Squats:
Pause squats can help improve squat range of motion by helping you slow down to get a better feel of your appropriate squat depth and what muscles you should feeling.
You are doing to go get to the bottom of your squat and pause. This will promote flexibility, mobility, and strength in the hips, knees, and ankles while allowing for better technique and form. That controlled nature of the pause at the bottom ensures a safer and improved squat pattern.
By the way, your legs may get a bit toasty here!
4. Try Box Squats:
I'm back with the Box Squat, so I'll be quick with this one!
This can teach you to control your form and help you hit depth with your squat by having a target to tap your butt to.
5. Strengthen Core:
A strong core will provide stability during the squat.
You often wonโt hit depth because your core isnโt engaged enough or you don't have the core stability to control that bigger range of motion.
Try this: As you are about to squat, brace your abs like someone will punch you in the stomach. You should feel a lot of tension in your core; maintain that tension throughout the movement!
If you are still unable to hit depth, again, you can try lowering the weight and include exercises like planks, goblet squats, and dead bugs to help enhance these muscle groups.
6. Slow down:
Speeding through the movement can make you feel like you are all over the place. When performing squats too quickly, you can compromise your form and increase the risk of injury.
Control the movement throughout the entire range of motion. Start to take 3-5 seconds on the downward motion of the squat (also known as the eccentric) until you hit the appropriate depth, and then come back up.
Common Mistake #3: Heels Raising
Another common squat mistake during the squat is lifting your heels off the ground, especially at the bottom position. This can cause you to lose balance, strength, and power and put excessive stress on your knees and ankles. I'll help you fix that ballerina-looking squat into a solid, strong-looking squat!
1. Think Hips Back:
When you start squatting, you think about bending your knees as you descend. Instead, start your squat by slightly pushing your hips back and bending your knees right after. This movement pattern allows you to keep your weight centered (with a slight push back toward your heels) and prevents your heels from coming off the ground.
2. Fix Foot Position:
Sometimes, you just need to adjust your foot position. When you set up, having your feet too narrow can make it easier for your heels to raise during the squat. When setting up, get your feet about hip-width apart or slightly wider. Then, angle your feet to turn out roughly 30 degrees. To find what works for you, you can make some slight adjustments to experiment with different foot positions, like feet a spec wider or pointing your toes a bit more outward or even inward.
You can play around with your foot position to find the appropriate stance to provide more stability and reduce the tendency for your heels to lift.
3. Take Your Shoes Off:
Taking your shoes off will give you a better feel of where your weight is shifting and what your feet are doing. As you descend in the squat, you will have a better sensation of what is going on with your feet. If you feel the weight shifting more towards your toes and your heels come off the ground, make the appropriate adjustments to move your weight more towards your heels to get them flat.
Pay attention to where your weight is distributed, and adjust as needed to keep your heels flattened.
4. Improve Ankle Mobility:
Limited ankle mobility can cause your heels to come off the ground. Once you run out of range of motion in your ankles, that is where your heel will come up for you to keep getting depth in your squat.
Perform some ankle mobility exercises, such as using foam rolling on your calves, performing calf stretches, and ankle mobilizations.
5. Elevate Heels:
NOW, If ankle mobility is a major concern and you truly are having a hard time improving it, or you need more time to continue improving it, you can try squatting with your heels slightly elevated. You can use weightlifting shoes with an elevated heel or place small weight plates (5 lbs should do) under your heels. This can help you maintain better form and feel much smoother moving forward or until you improve your ankle mobility.
Common Mistake #4: Rounded or Hyperextending Spine
A common and potentially harmful mistake encountered during squats is the improper alignment of the spine, often showing as either rounding or hyperextension.
Whether it's the tendency to hunch the back into a rounded position or to overarch it into hyperextension, these deviations from the spinal alignment can lead to discomfort, reduced performance gains, and even injuries over time.
You want to learn how to keep and maintain a flat back (neutral spine) during your squat.
Understanding these correct squat spinal alignment mechanics will be key for you to master this movement safely and effectively.
How to Fix a Rounded Back:
1. Hip, Ankle, and Thoracic Spine Mobility:
Limited mobility in the hips, ankles, and thoracic spine can lead to compensations, including rounding of the back during squats. Incorporating exercises that specifically target these areas can help.
Drills for the hip mobility:
- Hip Flexor stretches
- Pigeon Stretch
- Frog Stretch
Drills for the hip ankle mobility:
- Ankle Mobilizations (Ankle Glides)
- Calf Stretch
- Soft Tissue on Calfs (Foam Roll) and ankle circles can improve your ability to maintain an upright torso.
Drills for thoracic spine mobility:
- Soft Tissue on Upper Back (Foam Roll)
- T-Spine Rotations
- Cat Cows
- Downward Dog Oam
Implement some of these mobility drills so you can aid in achieving a more neutral back position during the squat!
2. Engage Your Core:
Engaging your care during the squat is super important. This will provide stability to your spine and help you maintain a neutral back during squats.
Here is how you engage your core.
Imagine someone is about to kick you in the stomach. You are going to brace for the impact of that kick. So, during the squat, do the same thing, brace your abber-dabbers (core) just like that, and perform that squat.
If that one didn't connect the dots for you, imagine you have been backed up from taking a poop for days now. You go on the toilet and really try to push one out! The brace you make to try and push out a dookie is the same feeling we want to create during the squat, but in this case, don't actually poop when you squat.
3. Focus on Technique:
Pay close attention to your squat technique and to what your posture is doing. Imagine a straight line from your head to your tailbone and that you are trying to stay tall with your spine. Then, start the squat by pushing your hips back before bending your knees. This helps maintain proper spinal alignment and prevents your back from rounding.
4. Choose the Right Weight (aka, leave your ego at the door)
Using weights that are too heavy during the squat can start to mess with your form and lead to you rounding your back because your body has a hard time stabilizing it.
Start with a weight that allows you to maintain proper form. Then, you can gradually increase the weight as you improve your technique and increase your strength.
Building a solid foundation with lighter weights to dial in your mechanics will set the stage for a safe and effective squat.
How to Fix a Hyperextended Back:
1. Engage Your Core:
Like above, engaging your core will help lock everything to help you prevent overarching your back.
So here is the reminder on how you can engage your core.
Imagine someone is about to kick you in the stomach. You are going to brace for the impact of that kick. So, during the squat, do the same thing, brace your abber-dabbers (core) just like that, and perform that squat.
If that one didn't connect the dots for you, imagine you have been backed up from taking a poop for days now. You go on the toilet and really try to push one out! The brace you make to try and push out a dookie is the same feeling we want to create during the squat, but in this case, don't actually poop...
2. Keep Pelvis Stack Under Rib Cage:
Again, you will also want to pay close attention to your technique and what your hips and torso are doing during the squat.
Remember how I told you to imagine a straight line from your head to your tailbone? Keep doing that, and then when you do start the squat by pushing your hips, think about still keeping your core locked in. Keeping the core engaged helps stabilize the pelvis underneath your rib cage.
So instead of pushing your butt back to the point where it's more like you are sticking your butt out, you want to keep your pelvis stacked under your ribs and maintain the positioning as you descend.
Another thing to add is to avoid pushing your chest out too far forward, as this can lead to a Hyperextended back position.
In this case, to stack your ribs over your pelvis, think about pulling your ribs slightly down to create more of a neutral spine vs. over arching your back!
3. Head Position:
Keeping your head in the correct position during a squat helps maintain the alignment of your entire spine and can help you from overextending your spine.
When you squat, think about keeping your eyes forward vs. looking all the way up to the ceiling. Gazing forward helps you maintain a solid body position. When you look up to the sky, you end up putting yourself in a position to over-arching your back and put some extra cranking on your neck.
When you squat, have your eyes choose a point that is roughly eye level. This will help you maintain a consistent head position and that neutral spine.
Common Mistake 5: Your Ego
Leave your ego at the door!
When improving your squat technique, it might be time to take a step back to start taking improved steps forward.
In this world of strength training, it's easy to get caught up in the desire to lift heavier weights and showcase your skills. However, prioritizing ego over proper form during squats can lead to a lack of building muscle, decreased mobility and flexibility, and possible risk of injury.
I know there may be a gym crush you are trying to impress, but by setting aside the need to impress and instead focusing on the quality of your movements, you create a space where improvement can thrive.
When you leave your ego behind, you open the door to an invaluable learning experience and fitness improvements. Concentrating on the fundamentals and working methodically to improve your form builds a solid foundation to support your long-term progress.
Over time, as you gradually increase the weight while maintaining impeccable form, your strength gains will be built upon a sustainable platform. Remember, the journey of improvement is continuous, and focusing on the long process rather than short-term accolades will yield far more rewarding results in your squat and overall fitness!
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Apply these drills and tips to help really get the most out of your squat!
If you have questions or if this is something you need some more help with, email me at KPD@kpd.fit!
Or, if you are looking for some extra accountability and guidance during your training, you can head HERE. Fill out this coaching application, and we can chat more!
Talk soon!
- Kevin
As I Am
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