The Back Squat - Learn to Lift Well

Greetings Fitters,
 Crazy Holidays! Lots of family, lots of food, lots of fun. And now, back to it. I hope you were able to work on your fitness throughout the craziness, I know I did!

Today I have to talk about some key points on the back squat. A lot of people avoid the back squat for a lot of reasons:

1) They saw the big guy get red faced, screaming as he tries to stand up with 500 lbs, and figured it is too much work or too intimidating.

2) It takes a lot of technique, and isn't worth the time.

3) They haven't had any instruction to do it well.

4) They have been injured from the movement before.

These are legitimate excuses to have caution when dealing with the back squat, but no reason at all to avoid it completely! The back squat can be very technical, but recall that so is running, but we spend a lot less of a proportion of technique training to actual running. Injury can occur from back squatting easily, but so can getting out of bed incorrectly, or bending over to pick up a grandchild. Moving well and learning proper technique can save you in any movement, including this one. And I'll admit the guy screaming over a quarter ton on his back is slightly intimidating, but there's no reason whatsoever for you to try that, so why worry?

Here is a short list of reasons why back squatting will assist you in the every day routine:

1) Learn how to move up and down with a load on your back (i.e. moving safely while carrying a child)

2) Create strength synergistically in your leg muscles, through full range of motion, that can transfer to almost all other movements (running, jumping, lunging, etc.)

3) Back squats allows the biggest capacity to move the most weight while dealing with any restrictions in mobility (i.e. you can move a large load in a back squat that may be impossible in an overhead squat. NOTE: this does not mean do not work to create mobility for the front squat or overhead squat. I simply mean you can continue to gain strength through the back squat WHILE working on mobility for these other squats)

So now that we have a basic idea for the reasoning behind back squatting, let's learn a little bit about how to back squat well. Here are some major points of performance.

These first three are more for back squats specifically, in that they deal with having a barbell on your back.

1) Keep the upper back tight - Start by externally rotating the shoulders by "breaking"  the bar apart with your hands. Also pinch the shoulder blades together, and keep this tightness in the shoulders as you move through the squat.

2) Find a good position on the shoulders - This is a mixture of comfort and shoulder mobility. Find a place where you can keep the bar on you shoulders, can keep your shoulders externally rotated, and pinched back. (for me, this is about a thumb's length wider than my shoulders.

3) Unrack and step back with as good of technique as the actual squat - This is often neglected, but many injuries in weight lifting occur in transitional periods (i.e. racking the barbell, lifting a dumbbell off the rack, trying to sit up with weight in the hands). Get your heels directly under the barbell, and with an upright torso, stand the bar up. Then step back very diliberately with each foot. Use the same sequence each time (starting with left or right, then following with the opposite). you may try the step out process with an empty bar, just to ingrain the neuromuscular pattern in your head so it becomes second nature. Try not to spend too much time fidgeting, as this can be tiring under heavy loads.

These next steps are the same for every type of squat, including air squats, front squats, and overhead squats.

4) Keep the midline braced - See my post "Core, Do Core, Use the Core.....What is Core Again?"
 With the squat, this means keeping a slight lumbar arch (lower back arch), as the first fault seen in the spine is a rounding of the whole back.

5) Initiate the squat with hips/hamstrings - This means don't start squatting by letting your knees fall forward, but by sending your hips (or hamstrings) back. Think sitting back in a chair. It may help to think about keeping your weight in your heels, although it is important to keep the whole foot down.

6) Squat below parallel - This means your hip crease is below your knees (femur is below parallel to ground). Don't go crazy, but strive for depth. Why? GREAT question! Because life doesn't stop at a parallel squat, why should we? Train for life.

7) PUSH YOUR KNEES OUT! - See pictures below. Your knees need to at the least be tracking in line with your toes (which should be pointing straight). If they are a little wider, no biggie. It is much better for them to be a little wide then valgus, or caving in (a slew of knee problems arise from this).  Make sure you are actively pushing out both coming down and going up.

How can you focus on this? A couple of cues seem to help a lot of people:

• Screw your feet in the ground - this creates external rotation in the upper leg, allowing the knees to move outward
• Split the ground - this assists with the torque created in the legs, and furthers the "pushing knees out" process
• Knees out! - have someone press against the outside of your knee (unloaded) and actively push against their hand. You can also wrap a band around your knees (again, with an unloaded squat) and push against the tension.

One of my heroes, Kelly Starrett, demonstrating valgus "knees in" squat, vs. knees out.

So keep these tips in mind. Get out there and start practicing these points of performance. NOTE: If you are having trouble performing the tips I gave for all types of squats (#4-7), work on these FIRST, and then add the weight later. Then, when you have found some problems/restrictions/issues with your squat, I want to hear about them! Tell me what is going on in the comments section, and I will be more than happy to help you start perfecting your squat. I can PROMISE you there are thousands of people with the same issues, you just may be the first with the courage to admit it, and do something about it! Be willing to work on yourself. It can only help you do one thing.

Stay Fit.