{"id":51108,"date":"2016-07-25T07:15:56","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T11:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=51108"},"modified":"2021-05-17T05:55:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T09:55:14","slug":"squat-form-tips-how-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/squat-form-tips-how-low\/","title":{"rendered":"How Low Should You Squat? And What Is The Right Technique?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"How
Photo: Ryan Kelly \/ Daily Burn<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s a tried-and-true move for a reason: It hits the spot when you\u2019re looking for a workout to quite literally kick your butt. We\u2019re talking about the functional, no-frills squat<\/a>. The multi-joint move works your glutes and quads and can strengthen your hamstrings, too.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s just one problem \u2014 most people are doing it wrong.<\/p>\n

For starters, squatting down far enough (aka scoring good squat depth) is key. \u201cIf you don\u2019t get a lot of hip flexion during the squat, you won\u2019t use your glutes<\/a>. Depth of squat matters a great deal in terms of improving your glutes and hamstrings,\u201d says Mike Boyle<\/a>, co-founder of Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning and author of New Functional Training for Sports<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>The 7 Best Strength Moves You’re Not Doing<\/a><\/p>\n

Squat Science: The Right Technique<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n

To fire up your muscles in all the right places, here is Boyle\u2019s breakdown of the squat, from the ground up. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Your lower body: <\/strong>Standing with your feet slightly wider than your hips and with your toes turned out, squat down to a point where your femur (thigh bone) is parallel to the floor. Your kneecap should be almost directly over your big toe at the bottom of the squat. And, as you squat, your knees<\/a> should get progressively further apart. That\u2019s a sign that the right muscles are doing their job as you descend, he says. (So as you stand at the top of the squat, your knees might be 12 inches apart, but at the bottom of the squat they might expand to 18 inches apart.) Your weight should be distributed across your mid-foot to your heel. If you\u2019re on your toes? Sit further back<\/a> into your squat to shift your weight to your heels.<\/p>\n

Your upper body: <\/strong>\u201cSome people squat like a melting candle \u2014 everything sort of falls,\u201d he says. It should go without saying that that\u2019s not the right form. While it\u2019s impossible to squat straight up, your body should lean forward about 45 degrees, Boyle says. If you\u2019re dropping forward more than that, you might not have the mobility to do a full-depth squat in the first place. Do not pass go, do revisit some of the mobility work<\/a> below.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Is Your Mobility Holding You Back? 5 Tests to Find Out<\/a><\/p>\n

Fine-Tuning Your Squat<\/strong><\/h3>\n

To squat<\/a> well \u2014 and safely \u2014 follow these guidelines from Boyle.<\/p>\n

Practice mobility. <\/strong>Sitting in a squat position is Boyle\u2019s number one recommendation to improve your mobility<\/a>. Hold onto a door jam or rack in the gym and sit in a deep squat. While descending, try to really<\/em> arch your back. \u201cYou won\u2019t be able to, but attempting to arch will help you maintain a more neutral spinal position,\u201d says Boyle. When you\u2019re in the squat, gently rock back and forth and side to side. \u201cFor true mobility, you have to rock that joint in multiple directions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Count breaths, not reps. <\/strong>When you\u2019re doing the mobility exercise above, you\u2019re going to think about breathing. This will encourage you to relax more during the exercise, says Boyle. Inhale through your nose for three counts, then exhale for five. Repeat 3-4 times for 20-30 seconds total.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>7 Ways to Improve Your Squat<\/a><\/p>\n

Then, add weight. <\/strong>As physical therapist Gray Cook puts it, there\u2019s no sense in \u201cadding strength to dysfunction.\u201d However, once you\u2019ve successfully mastered squat mechanics it\u2019s time to add resistance<\/a>. Why? \u201cIf you want your muscles to make adaptations and get stronger, you have to force them to do that,\u201d says Boyle. That is, he adds, unless you\u2019re happy with where you\u2019re at now and don\u2019t want to improve. (Anyone?) A good starting point is doing goblet squats<\/a> with a dumbbell or kettlebell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or, take it up a notch. <\/strong>Once you can comfortably squat your bodyweight 20 times, Boyle suggests moving on to single-leg variations. \u201cLife is a game played on one foot. We go up the stairs one foot at a time, and everything we do in sports is one foot at a time,\u201d he says. Start off with split squats (a \u201cstationary\u201d lunge<\/a> where one foot is in front of the other and you drop down to a lunge position and press back up).<\/p>\n

Want more ways to drop it low? Check out these six squat variations<\/a> to build size and strength. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Does your squat need a tune-up? Get expert tips from Mike Boyle on the ideal squat depth and how to make the most of this fundamental strength move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,6,14],"tags":[32,206,83,281,341,353,154,99],"class_list":["post-51108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exercise","category-fitness","category-strength-training","tag-bodyweight","tag-mobility","tag-resistance-training","tag-strength-training","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2weight-training","tag-weight-training","tag-weightlifting"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}