The Most Common Squatting Mistakes and How to Fix Them
We love squats, but this is another one of those exercises that is more technical and error prone than meets the eye. Even if you squat properly with your own weight, everything changes when you gain any noticeable weight. You start doing things that your hips, ankles, knees, or lower back don’t like.
Years of sitting in a chair and really tight hips , ankles, calves, and upper back have increased the likelihood that we will be doing one or more of the following when doing back squats:
- Heels come off the floor: Make sure you push off from the heels, which is where most of the force of the squat comes from. Instead, when you dig your toes, your weight shifts too far forward, which is a good way to relieve knee pain when squatting.
- Your knees flex inward: Your knees usually flex slightly. For some, this is normal, but for others, it can cause problems with the lower back, hips and knees. Imagine your knees are arguing, so keep them far apart when squatting.
- You don’t have a “tight” upper body: squeeze your shoulder blades together and squeeze your abs hard to create tension and stability in your upper back, traps, and more. It also helps keep the elbows pointing down and toward the buttocks, which allows for a secure barbell squat.
- You fall too fast: speed is integral to the backward movement from the bottom position, but you should still have some control as you descend. Consider dropping steadily and quickly nudging your heels to get up again.
- Your chest sags: In most cases, this is because the weight is too heavy, your upper back is not strong enough, or you go too deep (or all of the above!). Sometimes it helps to adjust the position of your head by looking at something in front of you, but also imagine that you are pushing your weight through your heels, holding your chest up and inserting traps into the bar.
If you’re having trouble, don’t worry, squats are not easy. It can even help you learn back movement and know where to look when you squat . To find out more, check out our tutorial on How to Do Back Squats .