Holy Squat! Even after 3 years of doing compound movements, there’s one that still makes me nervous — Squats. Something about it just never felt right. My knees would buckle, my lower back would arch, my neck felt strained and most times I felt like I was going to fall forward over my toes. Yet, it’s such an effective exercise so I kept returning to it. Anyone willing to give me tips on how to improve, I’d happily take it.
Recently I started getting requests for tips on how to do squats and I thought to myself I’m the last person who should be giving any advice 🙂 I still feel like I have so much to learn when it comes to the right technique. I recommend following Squat University for the best tips you’ll get anywhere. But since you asked, here are some lessons I picked up on the way. You can read the tips below or jump straight to the video below.
Setup:
- Feet shoulder width apart, toes slightly pointing out. Although I have to say it depends. Everyone has their unique set of mobility restrictions and anatomical differences. My right foot seems to tilt slightly more outwards than my left foot. Just try to place your feet in a position that helps you get into a full depth squat comfortably.
- Establish 3 points of contact with your feet on the floor, like a tripod stance.
- Grip the floor with your toes. I have a habit of doing this motion where I think of screwing my feet to the floor…
- Hold bar close, enough room for pencil in your armpits
- Imagine you are trying to break the bar apart, it helps tighten and open up the chest
The Descent:
- Lower yourself and drive your hips back.
- Keep your chest up and facing forward.
- Make sure your glutes and hamstrings are fully engaged.
- Don’t let your knees move forward over the toes. Try to keep the shins vertical.
At the bottom:
- Try to get to 90 degree angle; if you can go lower with good form, go for it
The Ascent:
- Squeeze your glutes, keep the core fully engaged, push your knees out and drive your hips up.
- Push through your heels, as if you are pushing the floor into the ground with your heels.
- Keep back neutral.
- Keep your core tight and engaged throughout.d
Ankle Mobility
One thing that helped me significantly was improving my ankle mobility. I had a dorsiflexion mobility restriction and a few drills helped me a lot. Here is a video that shows some of the exercises that helped me.
Below is the video. I’m including the timing if you want to quickly jump to relevant portion in the video.
00:00 Bodyweight Squats (ignore the band around my knees)
00:50 Weighted Squats
02:23 Ankle Mobility Drills
Hope this is helpful. If you’d like to see similar content, follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leenas_diaries/
Originally published at https://getstrongertogether.com on October 11, 2021.
