How to Do Squats

Squats are a very good exercise for the leg muscles. Whether you’re just getting used to the squat or are looking for a more accurate way to do the squat, doing it right will make your leg workout more effective.

Table of Contents

Basic squat practice

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Stand with your feet flat on the ground. Open your feet slightly more than shoulder width apart. Keep your back straight. The toes are pointed outward at 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock, not straight ahead. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Bend knees. Imagine you are sitting on a chair. Keep your heels on the ground. Squeeze the abdominal muscles in. Keep your back straight in a neutral position throughout the exercise.

Lower yourself in a controlled manner. While lowering, you push your hips back. Do it as slowly as you can while keeping your shins upright, heels flat on the floor. ^{[2] X Source of Study} From a low position, push yourself up with your weight on your heels, balancing by leaning forward if needed.

If possible, you should lower yourself until your hips are lower than your knees. If you’re new to the exercise, you probably don’t have enough flexibility to lower like that. Keep practicing to reach this level.
Inhale as you lower yourself down. Exhale as you push up.
Look forward when doing squats to maintain correct posture.
Straighten your arms forward for balance. This pose also helps you keep your shins upright. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Repeat. If you’re new to the practice, you should try to do 10 reps. When you are strong enough, you can do 15-30 reps at a time. Practice 1-3 times. Remember to rest between sets.

Practice squats with barbells

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Stand with your feet flat on the ground, toes open slightly to the sides. Feet should be shoulder width apart. Position your body under the barbell, knees slightly bent. Adjust the barbell height to your height. It’s important to focus your weight on your heels, but keep your feet flat. Avoid distributing weight on the toes or the top of the foot as this is not good for the knees.

Feet that are pointed too straight forward often cause the knees to be forced inward, so you should rotate them in the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock directions (people with curled toes or feet with protruding toes should try keep a steady posture and don’t use heavy weights). But you must not open your feet wider than that angle.
Don’t stand with your feet wider than shoulder width (too wide-leg stance). This position causes the adductor muscle (inner thigh) to engage in movement, thereby putting pressure on the ligaments between the knee joints (MCL ligaments), placing abnormal pressure on the knee cartilage and causing the kneecap to dislocate. . Similarly, do not stand with your feet lying too close together as this position can cause your weight to be distributed in your toes, adversely affecting your feet and knees.

Position the barbell behind your head, with the weight resting on your upper back. Place your shoulders below the bar so it’s across the trapezius. The trapezius muscle is a muscle located along the upper back and between the shoulders. You should position the bar on the trapezius muscle, not on the neck. Grasp the bar in a position you are comfortable with, usually about 15cm from each shoulder. If this is your first time doing a squat with weights, don’t forget to attach the barbell to the bar to learn how to do the move first.

Lift the dumbbell off the rack. Then take a step forward or backward, or the rack will hinder your movement.
Always have a follower when you do squats! This is especially important when you’re lifting weights off the rack or back.

Bend your knees and lower your hips as if you were “sitting” on an invisible chair. Look straight ahead, keeping your back straight and chin up throughout the movement. Keeping your spine straight, bend your knees as if you were sitting in a chair. Keep your heels on the ground.

Don’t let your knees slide forward.
Do not arch or bend your back forward or backward.
Tilt your head up and tighten your shoulders.
Only lower yourself as deep as you feel comfortable. You should be able to lower yourself to nearly seat level as you get stronger.

Perfecting the pose

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Never arch your back — keep your chest up throughout the exercise. Keep your spine straight with a slight natural curve, as if you were standing upright. Pushing your hips back and reaching your chest up will prevent your spine from arching. Most people get lazy when they’re tired, when their backs start to arch. This is both dangerous and inefficient. No matter how tired you are, focus on keeping your spine straight.

A curved spine can lead to very serious injuries.
If you can’t do it with the right posture, don’t do it — doing it with the wrong posture is far worse than not doing it at all.

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Focus your weight on your heels, not your toes. If you practice the right posture, you can still lift and wiggle your toes if you want. When you put weight on your toes, the knee will take the pressure, while the heel is a much stronger position.

Keep your knees still. Don’t let your knees get pushed out or “indented” during the exercise. This is bad for the knee. Actively push the knee into the correct position throughout the squat to make sure it doesn’t stay out of place. You need to keep your knees almost still, flexed, but keep them roughly in place throughout the exercise. If you feel like you need to use your glutes more, you’re doing it right.

Focus on keeping your knees out, placing your weight on your heels instead of your toes.
Never let the knee slide over the toe as this increases the risk of damage to the tendon and patellar ligament in the knee.
The knees can move forward a little when you sit down, but that’s okay — just keep them on your feet and behind your toes.

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Don’t place the barbell on the nape of your neck. You should place the barbell on the upper back muscles. If the bar is on your neck, you will feel it pressing against your collarbone, because there will be a cervical vertebra touching the bar. Lower the bar slightly and distribute/balance the weight across the upper body.

A slightly wider fist can help.

Inhale as you lower yourself and exhale as you stand up. This is the most efficient use of your body’s natural breathing, allowing you to access the most air and a smoother squat.

In general, inhale as you “start” the exercise, like doing a stretch. Then exhale as you exert yourself a lot.

Warm up to avoid injury. As with any athletic activity, warm-up and stretching is essential to avoid muscle strain or injury. Start with a warm-up by increasing your heart rate and then follow the instructions below to perform a warm-up squat with very light weights.

Static and dynamic stretches: Static stretches are stretches when you hold a position for a certain amount of time (usually 15-30 seconds). Dynamic stretching requires performing controlled movements over different ranges of motion. Dynamic stretching is sometimes recommended because a warm-up by moving the muscles can reduce the risk of injury. Shoulder lifts, light kicks, sumo squats, leg swings, and knee bends are all good examples of dynamic stretches .
If you’re new to squats and dumbbells, it’s a good idea to start with no weights – or use a barbell without a barbell.
If you’re more experienced or find the bar without the barbell too light, you can install weights that suit your strength. If you can adjust the height of the stand, bring it to below shoulder height, armpit level. Don’t use heavy weights because you could get injured.

Do squat variations

Do squats with dumbbells to build muscle if you can’t do squats with barbells yet. Stand in front of a sturdy chair with no armrests or a heavy mechanical toolbox. This is a great exercise for beginners. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, straighten your arms at your sides. If you are new to squats, choose a 2.5kg dumbbell. As your health improves, you can gradually increase the weight.

Extend your feet shoulder-width apart, toes open slightly.
Bend knees. Shift your hips back and slowly lower yourself down until your butt is almost touching the chair, then stand up again.
Don’t stiffen your knees. Always keep your knees loose and don’t let them slide over your toes. You’ll feel more fatigue in your thighs instead of your knees.

Incorporate a shrug pose. Holding a dumbbell or dumbbell, use both hands to hold one end of the dumbbell so that it hangs vertically toward the floor. Contract your abs throughout the squat; Using your abs will help you maintain balance.

How to place your feet. The feet should be slightly wider than shoulder width, and the ball should be knee/feet wide so that the feet rotate to a 45° angle. This move is based on a ballet pose called “kneeling”.
Lift your heels off the floor. Balance on the soles of your feet and bend your knees.
Slowly lower your body down. Keep your back straight and your hips below your shoulders.
Keep your knees behind your toes. Don’t let the knee slip past this position!
Slowly push the person up. Lower your heels as you stand up.

Do squats with dumbbells in front of you to develop new muscle groups and grip strength. This is a variation on the basic squat, holding the barbell in front of you instead of behind your head. Place the bar under your neck and cross it across your chest, parallel to your collarbone. Grasp the bar from below , in a position you are comfortable with, usually about 15cm from each shoulder.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, flat on the ground. Position your body under the barbell and slightly bend your knees. You must distribute the weight evenly on both legs throughout the exercise. The toes of the feet are slightly open, not pointing straight ahead .
Look straight ahead, keeping your back straight and knees bent, keeping heels flat on the floor. Make sure the quads are parallel to the ground for the full range of motion.
Lower yourself in a controlled manner so that your thighs are almost parallel to the floor. Do not lower the person deep past the parallel level . Distribute the weight on the upper thighs, heels, and tops of the feet, without letting the toes or knees take the load.
Push the person to stand up with the support of the heel. Always keep your upper body tight.

Do squats with overhead weights to develop more muscle. If you want a bigger challenge then this exercise will fulfill your aspirations. If you’re not ready to lift heavy weights, use only unloaded barbells or very light weights. To get the most out of the exercise, remember to keep your body as upright as possible — not leaning forward or leaning back.

Using a wide fist, lift the bar overhead with your elbows locked.
Push the shoulder blades together and contract the core.
Look straight ahead, keep your back straight and bend your knees, keeping your heels flat on the floor.
Squeeze in and keep your lower back in a near-neutral position (slight back arches may be inevitable).
Lower yourself in a controlled manner so that your thighs are almost parallel to the floor. Push your shoulders back and always focus your weight on your heels.
Push the person to stand up with the support of the heel. Always keep your upper body tight.

Advice

Squat ups and downs should be done slowly and with control (unless you’ve been instructed by a trainer or are training for a specific purpose and know what you’re doing). When lowering, don’t just “drop” and let gravity do all the work. Similarly, the push up movement is like standing up, never jump up.
Keep your back in an upright position when doing squats. When your body comes to a parallel position, squeeze your buttocks and thighs to stand up.
Focus your weight on your heels, push your butt back, and look forward.
To perform the movement correctly, you do the squat without weights facing the wall, with the top of the foot a few centimeters from the base of the wall. Here’s how to correct your posture if you tend to lean forward.
If possible, install a bar under the rack to catch the weight in case you are unable to return the weight to the rack. Instead of falling somersaults with the weights, you will simply sit on the floor and the dumbbells will be picked up by the bar.
Knee braces are a bad idea. They put pressure on the fluid inside the knee where the meniscus disc is located, which can put too much pressure on the cruciate ligament.
Rumor has it that doing squats makes your butt bigger. However, the size and shape of the buttocks are determined by genetics. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Warning

Squats can be a very dangerous exercise if done wrong. Never bend your back abnormally or let your knees fall forward.
Never arch your back. If you keep your back straight, the weight will be on your legs. But if you keep your back arched, all the weight will go to your upper body and lower neck, which are unable to support the weight.
Don’t “pop” out of the squat. This happens when people try to take advantage of the inertia of the descent to aid in the initial push up. This move puts a lot of pressure on the knee joint and can cause long-term injury. If you bounce too hard, the knee joint can be dislocated. To be precise, the squat is a sit-back movement, not a sit-down.

Things you need

Free weights (optional)
Dumbbells or dumbbells (optional)
Weight rack (optional)
Followers

Steps