The Back Squat – Master the Correct Technique !!

The squat or back squat has been about for generations and is recognised all over the world. Yet in today’s modern society many of us have difficulty in performing this simple but effective movement. From a young age we have the natural ability to perform the perfect squat. This ability comes from great flexibility which unfortunately we tend to lose as we grow and develop, unless we work to keep that flexibility. This is where most of the problems stem from - poor FLEXIBILITY!!

Why Perform the Back Squat -The back squat has many benefits; it is referred to as the king of lower body exercises and if performed correctly, will help to strengthen the back (upper and lower), glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, knees, ankles and core. So as you can see there are a multitude of muscle groups coming in to play when performing the back squat.

Tips to Performing the Perfect Squat.

• Bar Position - when holding the bar across the shoulders the shoulder blades must retract giving the bar a “shelf” to sit on. To achieve this a narrow hand position just on the outside of the shoulders will help in retracting the shoulder blades. This contraction works the upper part of the back through isometric tension.
• Foot Position – the foot position is the next part of the set up, this can be a bit of trial and error depending on your hips everyone is slightly different, but as a general rule the feet are slightly wider than hip width apart and the toes are also flared out by ½. This will allow the knees to track out to the side in line with the toes opening the hips as you squat allowing the pelvis to sit down between the thighs.
• Hamstrings – if there is one area that will hold you back from getting down low into a deep squat will be the hamstrings. If the flexibility in this area is not adequate you will find it difficult to drop down low and if you force it you will end with a sore lower back as the hamstring will pull on the pelvis, which in turn pull on the lower back. I hear “back squats hurt my back” so often in the gym but, it is not the squat itself but the lack of flexibility that is likely the cause of this.
• Ankle Flexion : another area that can hold you back is poor ankle flexibility especially at the back of the ankle, the Achilles tendon. If the ankle is tight this will stop the lower part of the leg moving forward as you squat down causing an excess leaning motion to happen in the upper body placing additional pressure onto the lower back.

As you can see there is a lot more to performing the perfect squat than originally thought and, as you have read the above tips, one thing should stand out above all the rest - “Flexibility”.

Females are lucky, as genetically (with a little help from the female hormone estrogen, which helps to keep the joints and muscles supple), have great flexibility without having to work at it as much.  For guys this is not the case and is often a problem that needs to be addressed if they want to squat with good form and to proper depth.

The image to the right demonstrates how the body should fold down into a squat position.

As i have highlighted the importance of flexibilty I thought it best to include a few videos on flexibilty drills. Below are two excellent drills that you should perform prior to squatting and in between sets of squats.

I hope you have found this post useful.

Thanks

Andrew