How To Squat

Whether y0u are a beginner, amateur, or professional, squats are one exercise that always belongs in your routine. To quote Mark Rippetoe, pg. 19, Starting Strength

There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of central nervous system activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning as the correctly performed full squat.

Anyway, on to the basic instructions:

1) Walk under the bar and make sure your chest is high and out and your upper and lower back is tight

2) Ensure you are positioned under the center of the bar and grip the bar so that both hands are equally distant from you so the bar is balanced. You want your hands as close to you as reasonably possible so that your upper back will be tight. You also want to be using a thumbless grip, as you are not supposed to be supporting the bar with your arms, but holding it down against your body.

3) Make sure the bar is NOT resting on your neck, as this will be incredibly painful and hazardous to your health. The bar should be resting on a "shelf" between the lower traps and rear delts.

4) Inhale deeply and make sure your entire core is tight. Stand up with the bar in its position, maintaining your tightness. DO NOT lean forward to try to get the bar off the rack. You will lose tightness and expose yourself to injury.

5) Step back with one foot, follow with the other, and then move that foot to the side for the proper stance you are using. There is no need to fidget around to find your stance because this will needlessly tire you out.

6) Your heels should be at about shoulder width. Toes should be pointing out at about 30 degrees. Chest should be out and up. Core should be tight.

7) Begin to sit back while your chest and shoulders remain upright while your upper body leans forward slightly to keep the bar above the midfoot. Stick your butt out, stay on your heels, and try to keep your knees as far back as possible. Try to squat down as far as you can while keeping your leg muscles tight throughout the descent.

8) When you reach the bottom of your squat, begin to push your butt and shoulders upwards while extending your knees. Consciously maintain the tightness of your torso and do not exhale until you reach the top of your squat (breathing out will cause you to lose the tightness of your torso).

There, you have completed one rep of squats!

Here are some more tips:

• Always maintain tightness throughout the movement. Losing it can lead to injury and lifting less weight.
• Always warm up with stretching and lighter weights when you squat. Always stretch afterwards too.
• Try to go as low as you can (ATG squats - ass-to-grass)
• NEVER squat above parallel. Not only is this bad for your knees, but you will also see drastically less results

I will try get an instructional video up as soon as possible and I am going to write about different types of squats in the coming days.