Is there really a correct way to do a squat?

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  • juliagulia624
    juliagulia624 Posts: 38
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    He's right. Squatting may be one of the hardest exercises for beginners to get their form right. And doing it wrong could lead to problems. It will feel weird, and it takes practice.
  • thecrossfitter
    thecrossfitter Posts: 424 Member
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    Well, I guess you can say a squat is a squat if you lived long before civilizations and chairs ... or a non "modern day" culture without chairs. It's part of our nature - we are born knowing how to do it, but then we sit in chairs all day long and forget. Then we have to relearn what we already knew how to do. (Okay - this may not be 110% true of how it all happened, but you get the idea... just trying to get a point across :flowerforyou: )

    Learn from the youngins
    baby_squat.jpg
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,887 Member
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    Well, I guess you can say a squat is a squat if you lived long before civilizations and chairs ... or a non "modern day" culture without chairs. It's part of our nature - we are born knowing how to do it, but then we sit in chairs all day long and forget. Then we have to relearn what we already knew how to do(Okay - this may not be 110% true, but you get the idea.)

    Learn from the youngins
    baby_squat.jpg
    That is probably the best diagram/photo ever that manages to be both ADORABLE and INFORMATIVE.
  • firedragon064
    firedragon064 Posts: 1,090 Member
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    Well, I guess you can say a squat is a squat if you lived long before civilizations and chairs ... or a non "modern day" culture without chairs. It's part of our nature - we are born knowing how to do it, but then we sit in chairs all day long and forget. Then we have to relearn what we already knew how to do(Okay - this may not be 110% true, but you get the idea.)

    Learn from the youngins
    baby_squat.jpg
    Love your demo pic!
  • grapenutSF
    grapenutSF Posts: 648 Member
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    There def is a correct way! Please don't get angry at them, he/she are only trying to help. \


    ^^This. If I was paying a professional and he just said "Good job, keep doing what you're doing" I'd think my money was not well spent. Soak up the information.
  • grapenutSF
    grapenutSF Posts: 648 Member
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    Well, I guess you can say a squat is a squat if you lived long before civilizations and chairs ... or a non "modern day" culture without chairs. It's part of our nature - we are born knowing how to do it, but then we sit in chairs all day long and forget. Then we have to relearn what we already knew how to do. (Okay - this may not be 110% true of how it all happened, but you get the idea... just trying to get a point across :flowerforyou: )

    Learn from the youngins
    baby_squat.jpg

    That kid was clearly trained by Mark Rippetoe.
  • grapenutSF
    grapenutSF Posts: 648 Member
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    PS- I want his shoes.
  • mixdouble
    mixdouble Posts: 41 Member
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    Public toilet description may not be pretty, but it sure is easy to match the motion.
  • rayleansout
    rayleansout Posts: 234
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    Yes there is a correct way - propper form is important to keep from being injured and working the muscle the right way.

    Step 1. Legs slightly greater than shoulder width apart - toes pointing straight ahead.

    Step 2: Dont bend or arch but push from your hip bones - let the hips control the bend not the waist - lead with your butt and push hips out - while keeping abdominals tight

    Step 3: Squat

    Step 4: Keep feet flat - push from your heels to return to starting position

    Step 5. Repeat
  • janet_pratt
    janet_pratt Posts: 747 Member
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    I feel your pain. I cannot do a proper squat to save my life. I know what it looks like and I know the body mechanics of it. Everything they were telling you is correct. You want you thighs to just break parallel and you do want to arch your back..ie..stick your butt out, to protect your low back, but in doing so, you don't want to fold your upper half over. It needs to remain stationary. That's my problem. For the life of me I cannot do it without folding in half. But when you start adding weight to the lift, if you are not doing it properly and are bending over, you will injure yourself when you try to come back up. I have to practice my form standing close to a wall..facing it. It helps me not to lean over. And I put a low plyo box under my butt so I don't fall over backward when I go all the way down. I'd like to squat weight but until I get my form fixed...just gotta work on that.
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
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    I feel your pain. I cannot do a proper squat to save my life. I know what it looks like and I know the body mechanics of it. Everything they were telling you is correct. You want you thighs to just break parallel and you do want to arch your back..ie..stick your butt out, to protect your low back, but in doing so, you don't want to fold your upper half over. It needs to remain stationary. That's my problem. For the life of me I cannot do it without folding in half. But when you start adding weight to the lift, if you are not doing it properly and are bending over, you will injure yourself when you try to come back up. I have to practice my form standing close to a wall..facing it. It helps me not to lean over. And I put a low plyo box under my butt so I don't fall over backward when I go all the way down. I'd like to squat weight but until I get my form fixed...just gotta work on that.

    I tend to do this too. Try finding a spot high on the wall or ceiling and keep looking at it during the squat. That will help prevent folding. Stretching of the hamstrings would help also. If your hams are tight, they will not allow your legs to bend down and you'll end up trying to feel the rest of the way down via folding your back.
  • Loko_Ino
    Loko_Ino Posts: 544 Member
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    Why argue with it when you can go online and see thousands of vids of correct squat form.

    Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbxxs1PErLQ
    This one is not bad, except I subscribe to ATG method, less shearing on the knees when you start getting up to the 315lb range.
  • keeponkickin
    keeponkickin Posts: 1,520 Member
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    if you want a good idea on a proper squat its just like you about to sit on a public toilet but not letting your butt touch the seat.....

    ^
    THIS
  • SassyCalyGirl
    SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
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    Yes there is a correct way - propper form is important to keep from being injured and working the muscle the right way.

    Step 1. Legs slightly greater than shoulder width apart - toes pointing straight ahead.

    Step 2: Dont bend or arch but push from your hip bones - let the hips control the bend not the waist - lead with your butt and push hips out - while keeping abdominals tight

    Step 3: Squat

    Step 4: Keep feet flat - push from your heels to return to starting position

    Step 5. Repeat

    you also need to squeeze your glutes on the way up!
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
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    Why argue with it when you can go online and see thousands of vids of correct squat form.

    Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbxxs1PErLQ
    This one is not bad, except I subscribe to ATG method, less shearing on the knees when you start getting up to the 315lb range.

    His form is okay. He's using the wrong shoes and he's not doing a powerlifing legal squat though.

    ATG method?
  • EricMurano
    EricMurano Posts: 825 Member
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    Also keep in mind that there are lots of different types of squats. That being said there are few things that you should NEVER do when doing any type of squat.

    I'm not going to mention any here because I'm not a professional and I don't want to give specific form advice.

    Research different types of squats. A couple of examples:

    * Power lifting squat - low bar position, *just* break parallel, torso will lean forward a little bit at the bottom, heavier weights,wider stances possible
    * Olympic squat - high bar position, torso stays the same angle the whole way down and up, *kitten* can go lower than paralell (*kitten* to Grass but only if you're flexible enough), shoulder width stance usually

    It's hard to tell whether someone giving advice is actually identifying a problem in your technique or whether they thing their favourite squat technique is the only one that exists.

    Edit: The general consensus is that you must always at least break parallel. That means that your hip joint should be lower than the knees at the bottom of the squat. No partials!
  • dane11235813
    dane11235813 Posts: 684 Member
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    Why argue with it when you can go online and see thousands of vids of correct squat form.

    Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbxxs1PErLQ
    This one is not bad, except I subscribe to ATG method, less shearing on the knees when you start getting up to the 315lb range.

    His form is okay. He's using the wrong shoes and he's not doing a powerlifing legal squat though.

    ATG method?

    *kitten* To the Ground
  • ncahill77
    ncahill77 Posts: 501 Member
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    For anyone that has issues with keeping your feet flat and rocking up on your toes, the best advice I ever got on doing squats was to curl your toes, you can't rock forward. I am so much more stable now doing that.
  • EricMurano
    EricMurano Posts: 825 Member
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    For anyone that has issues with keeping your feet flat and rocking up on your toes, the best advice I ever got on doing squats was to curl your toes, you can't rock forward. I am so much more stable now doing that.

    +1
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 11,998 Member
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    I had to start at square zero, too....after being advised my "squat form" isn't "correct". I think it is tight hamstrings, for me, so I'm working on stretching those - and the HEAVY lifting will have to wait until my form improves.

    :(

    (But, my future-self thanks me VERY MUCH for working on form, just now...)

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