Performing a squat initially appears to be a very simple movement. You lower your body through the use of your legs and glutes until you can’t go any deeper, and you raise your body back up again. However, there’s actually a lot more to this movement and it’s important you learn how to perform it effectively in order to reduce your risk of injury, especially when handling a heavy load of weight.
If you were to place a couple of plates either side and let yourself drop right down, the likelihood is that you wouldn’t have enough control over the weight to push yourself back to an upright standing position, which could be extremely dangerous.
1) Setting up
✓ Start off inside a squat rack and place the safety bars up to a point just lower than the depth you believe you’ll be squatting to. The bar should be in front of you, placed on the racking; you’ll need to place your hands at a comfortable distance apart on the bar, usually similar to where you’d hold the bar when performing bench press.
✓ Once you’ve got a nice tight grip, you’ll need to step underneath the bar and align it on top of your traps; if this is too uncomfortable due to the lack of muscle on this area of your back, you can lower the bar slightly or use a pad or towel to wrap around the bar and make it more comfortable.
✓ Once you’ve got hold of the bar on your traps, de-rack the bar and take a step backwards. Holding your head upright and looking forward, pick an object in front of you and use this to look at throughout your lift so that your head does not tilt forwards during the lift, as this will cause your form to slip and knock you off balance.
✓ Create a slight arch in your lower back by bringing your shoulders forwards and pushing your chest out (a lifting belt can help with this in order to make your midsection feel more stable and reduce the risk of injury). Your feet should be shoulder-width apart, however if this feels too narrow you can widen this accordingly; you should now also turn your feet slightly outwards (toes outwards by approximately 45 degrees).
Performing a squat initially appears to be a very simple movement. You lower your body through the use of your legs and glutes until you can’t go any deeper, and you raise your body back up again. However, there’s actually a lot more to this movement and it’s important you learn how to perform it effectively in order to reduce your risk of injury, especially when handling a heavy load of weight.
If you were to place a couple of plates either side and let yourself drop right down, the likelihood is that you wouldn’t have enough control over the weight to push yourself back to an upright standing position, which could be extremely dangerous.
1) Setting up
✓ Start off inside a squat rack and place the safety bars up to a point just lower than the depth you believe you’ll be squatting to. The bar should be in front of you, placed on the racking; you’ll need to place your hands at a comfortable distance apart on the bar, usually similar to where you’d hold the bar when performing bench press.
✓ Once you’ve got a nice tight grip, you’ll need to step underneath the bar and align it on top of your traps; if this is too uncomfortable due to the lack of muscle on this area of your back, you can lower the bar slightly or use a pad or towel to wrap around the bar and make it more comfortable.
✓ Once you’ve got hold of the bar on your traps, de-rack the bar and take a step backwards. Holding your head upright and looking forward, pick an object in front of you and use this to look at throughout your lift so that your head does not tilt forwards during the lift, as this will cause your form to slip and knock you off balance.
✓ Create a slight arch in your lower back by bringing your shoulders forwards and pushing your chest out (a lifting belt can help with this in order to make your midsection feel more stable and reduce the risk of injury). Your feet should be shoulder-width apart, however if this feels too narrow you can widen this accordingly; you should now also turn your feet slightly outwards (toes outwards by approximately 45 degrees).
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