The Back Squat: The One Lift That Rewrites Your Body From the Ground Up

The lift begins before you unrack. J-hooks should sit so the bar is roughly at mid-sternum height when you're standing tall. Too high and you tiptoe out. Too low and you burn a quarter-squat of energy just clearing the rack.

Bar position - high bar vs low bar

• High bar: bar on top of the traps, torso more upright, more quad-dominant, easier to learn
• Low bar: bar across the rear delts, more forward lean, more hip-dominant, moves the most weight
• Beginners: start high bar for 6-12 months. Migrate to low bar only if the sport demands it

• Feet roughly shoulder-width to 1.5x shoulder-width for most lifters
• Toes turned out 15-30° - pick the angle where your hip lets you sink to depth without the knee caving
• Weight distributed across the whole foot: heel, ball, pinky toe - the 'tripod'
• Big toe glued to the floor at all times - it drives external rotation of the hip

The most common cue in the gym - 'sit back' - is only half right. Sit back too much and you turn a squat into a good morning. Sit straight down and your knees track over your toes but you fold at the hips.

The correct feeling: sit BETWEEN your hips. Break at the hips and knees at the same time. Push the knees out over the pinky toes as you descend. Your torso will lean forward - that's fine and correct. Keep the bar directly over the midfoot the entire way down.

Depth - what actually counts

• Powerlifting standard: hip crease breaks parallel to the top of the knee
• Bodybuilding standard: as deep as your hips let you go without the pelvis tucking (butt wink)
• If the pelvis tucks under - stop there, that is your true depth. Force depth beyond it and the lumbar spine takes load it shouldn't

Out of the hole, the mistake is letting the hips shoot up first. Your torso pitches forward, the squat becomes a good morning, and your lower back becomes the primary mover of a heavy weight. Fix it with a single cue: 'chest up as you drive'. The hips and shoulders should rise at exactly the same rate.

• Drive the whole foot into the floor - never rock forward onto the toes
• Push the knees out through the ascent too, not just the descent
• Keep the bar over the midfoot the whole way up
• Finish tall, glutes squeezed, brace still held - THEN exhale

• Knees caving in (valgus) - fix with 'spread the floor' cue and glute med work
• Heels lifting - ankle mobility issue, use lifting shoes or squat wedges until it improves
• Butt wink at depth - stop at the depth your pelvis stays neutral, and mobilise the hips outside of training
• Hips shoot up out of the hole - the weight is too heavy OR the brace collapsed. Both call for a lighter working weight and better bracing

• Squat 2x per week for most lifters - one heavier day (3-5 reps @ RPE 7-8) and one lighter/volume day (5-8 reps for 3-4 sets)
• Rotate a squat variation every 6-8 weeks - pause squats, front squats, tempo squats - to keep hips and knees healthy
• Never redline squats for more than 3 weeks in a row without a deload
• Pair every squat day with dedicated hip and ankle mobility - 10 minutes before, 5 minutes after
• Warm-up sets: empty bar x 8, then 40% x 5, 60% x 3, 75% x 2, 85% x 1 before working sets