Fixing Your Squat

In this article I am going to help you fix your squat. I know a lot of you have trouble executing the squat and this is holding you back from putting weight on the bar because it just doesn’t feel right.

It’s hard to make progress when you aren’t doing it right so hopefully I can get you on your way to making some squat gains.

I am going to address three squat problems that I often see with individuals that I work with.

Falling forward at the bottom of the squat

Butt wink / posterior pelvic tilt

Low back pain

You’ll notice that I will not be addressing these problems separately because in one way or another they all tie into each other; fix one and you’ll fix another and so on.

Falling Forward

Falling forward, losing balance forward, going onto your toes, leaning forward; whatever you want to call it; is a problem that is severely affecting your ability to make progress in the squat.

I don’t care who you are, what style of squat you choose, what body type you are, or how much weight you’re squatting; you HAVE TO MOVE THE BARBELL IN A STRAIGHT LINE VERTICALLY OVER MID-FOOT.

 

If you are falling forward you are NOT keeping the barbell over mid foot. The squat is a balancing act; the second you let the bar drift away from its ideal vertical straight bar path over mid foot, you’ve lost balance.

Now you are exerting unnecessary effort to bring the barbell back over mid foot.

Squatting with the barbell over the middle of your foot not only ensures you are balanced but it also allows you to apply pressure into the ground with your entire foot.

The weight should be evenly dispersed throughout your entire foot; not just the ball of your foot.

(and not just through your heels either.

Stop saying “keep the weight over your heels” and start keeping the weight over the middle of your foot).

If your feet had 4 corners, keep all four corners glued into the ground.

This is one reason why I suggest purchasing some squat shoes. The hard flat wide surface allows for greater surface area contact between your foot and the ground than your old beat up banana shaped cross trainers or even your narrow arched feet.

Why you can’t keep the barbell over mid foot

There are a few reasons why you are having trouble keeping the barbell over the middle of your foot and here are a couple of them:

Your stance is too narrow

Your toes are pointed too straight forward

You are not breathing and bracing correctly

You are pushing the barbell forward into your neck

Stance

Having your feet too close together with your knees pointing straight ahead will shove your knees forward out in front of your toes. I’m not saying that letting your knees travel in front of your toes is a bad thing, because it’s not. But it does demand a lot of ankle mobility.

If you lack ankle mobility and try to keep your feet flat on the ground while you squat you are going to fall backwards.

A lot of people counter this by leaning forward onto their toes.

When you squat with a narrow stance you are trying to compact yourself into a small space.

You need to open up a bit and allow yourself room to squat.

 

Start playing with your squat stance and your feet position. Your feet have to point out if your knees are pointing out. Your knees should be tracking with your feet throughout the entire movement. Figure out what stance width allows you to execute the following key points:

• Barbell over mid foot
• Vertical Straight bar path
• Crease of the hips goes below the top of the knee cap.

Breathing

Before you squat down, take a big gulp of air into your belly and brace down as if someone was going to punch you in the stomach.

Keep that intra-abdominal pressure throughout the entire squat. This pressure and support in your abdomen is your lower back support.

Lose tension in your core and you lose support for your lower back.

Don’t confuse this with simply sticking your belly out. This causes your lower back to hyper extend.

Instead, keep your lumbar spine neutral, breathing though your mouth down into your belly and brace down. You should feel pressure all the way around your torso.

I focus so hard on breathing and bracing that my oblique’s are sore the day after a high volume squat session.

Correctly breathing and bracing can also prevent your lumbar spine from going into flexion i.e. butt wink. Intra-abdominal pressure will keep your lumbar spine supported and neutral.

This belly can be used to increase your power out of the hole. You can push your braced stomach against your thighs, propelling the barbell upward.

If you are not bracing your belly and you hit the hole with a deflated relaxed stomach your thighs will push your stomach in, forcing posterior pelvic tilt.

Allowing flexion in your lumbar spine under a load is going to cause lower back pain and injury if it hasn’t already.

 

Next, you might not be thinking about the squat as a full body movement. If your butt shoots up out of the bottom and the barbell drifts forward you could be failing to drive your upper back into the barbell as you stand back up.

Check out the video I have made about this important cue by clicking here.

Lastly, I’ve noticed that some men and women who tend to dive bomb their squats always find themselves off balanced and leaning forward. Don’t do this.

Maintain balance throughout the entire eccentric movement, once it’s time to explode through the concentric part, do so but do not lose tension on the way down hoping to spring yourself back up. This might be why you keep driving though your toes on the way up.

These people tell me “Alan, I keep falling forward at the bottom; I think it’s because I have tight ankles”

Then I’ll tell them to squat down and pause for 3 seconds…

“Barbell is over mid foot, you’re balanced, your squat looks great to me.” This tells me you are losing tension and letting the weight of the barbell slam you forward at the bottom and now you’re stuck trying to rebound back while you stand up.

Take your time and ensure you are balanced; overtime you can increase speed once you feel you’ve greased the groove.

So that’s it everyone. Make sure you are keeping the barbell over the center of your foot throughout the entire squat by giving yourself room to squat with a solid stance, breathing into your belly, correctly bracing, controlling the weight on the way down, and driving your upper back into the barbell as you stand up.

TRAIN UNTAMED!