Everyone thinks they know how to perform squats until their lower back starts screaming or their knees feel like they’ve been filled with glass. It’s the "king of exercises," right? That's what every high school football coach and Instagram influencer screams from the rooftops. But honestly, most people are just mimicking a movement they don’t actually understand. Squatting isn't just sitting down and standing up. It is a complex coordination of the posterior chain, core stability, and ankle mobility that most office workers—and even many athletes—simply haven't mastered.
If you're doing them wrong, you're not building a masterpiece. You're just wearing down your joints.
We’ve all seen that person at the gym. You know the one. They load up three plates on each side, descend about two inches, and then shake like a leaf on the way back up. That’s not a squat. That’s an ego trip. To actually see results—whether you want massive quads, a stronger deadlift, or just the ability to pick up your grandkids when you’re 80—you have to respect the mechanics.
The Anatomy of a Perfect Rep
Let's get real about the setup. It starts at the floor. Your feet are your foundation, and if they’re wonky, everything north of them is going to suffer. Most people do best with a stance just slightly wider than shoulder-width. Point your toes out a little. Maybe 15 to 30 degrees. This isn't a hard rule, though, because hip anatomy varies wildly. Dr. Aaron Horschig of Squat University often points out that some people have deeper hip sockets (acetabulum) or different femoral neck angles. If you try to force a narrow, toes-forward stance and your bones literally hit each other, you’ll never get deep. You’ll just hurt.
Screw your feet into the ground. I mean it. Imagine you're trying to rip the floor apart between your feet. This creates "external rotation torque" at the hip, which keeps your knees from caving in—a common disaster known as knee valgus.
Now, the descent. Don't just drop.
Control it.
You want to hinge at the hips and knees simultaneously. A lot of old-school lifting advice says "butt back first," but that can actually lead to an excessive forward lean, putting way too much shear force on your lumbar spine. Think about dropping your hips straight down between your ankles. Keep your chest up, but don't arch your back like a Cinnabon. You want a "ribs down" position. This engages your core. Basically, if someone were to punch you in the stomach mid-squat, you should be tight enough to take it without folding.
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Why Your "Deep" Squat Is Probably a Lie
There is a huge debate in the fitness world about depth. Some say "butt to grass" or it doesn't count. Others, like many physical therapists, suggest stopping at parallel to save the knees. Here is the truth: depth is a privilege, not a right.
If you can hit a deep squat with a neutral spine, do it. It recruits more muscle fibers. It's great. But the moment your tailbone starts to tuck under—a move called the "butt wink"—you need to stop. That tucking motion puts immense pressure on your intervertebral discs. Research from Dr. Stuart McGill, a world-renowned expert on spine mechanics, suggests that repeated flexion under load is the express lane to a herniated disc.
Check your ankle mobility. Honestly, this is usually the culprit. If your calves are tight, your heels will lift off the ground. When your heels lift, your weight shifts to your toes. When your weight shifts to your toes, your knees take the brunt of the force. It's a chain reaction of bad news. Try putting a pair of 5-pound plates under your heels or wearing weightlifting shoes with a raised heel. If that suddenly makes your squat feel like butter, you don't have a "weak back." You just have stiff ankles.
Common Myths That Just Won't Die
You've probably heard that your knees should never go past your toes.
This is total nonsense.
It’s a myth that started in the 1970s and just refused to go away. While keeping your knees behind your toes does reduce the stress on the knee joint, it significantly increases the stress on your lower back because you're forced to lean forward more to stay balanced. A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that allowing the knees to move past the toes is perfectly fine and often necessary for a vertical torso. Unless you have a specific, pre-existing patellar injury, let your knees move naturally.
Another one? "Squats are bad for your knees."
No. Weak legs are bad for your knees. Squatting actually strengthens the ligaments and tendons around the joint. The caveat is that you have to use a full range of motion that your body can handle. Partial squats (the "half-reps" we see in every commercial gym) actually put more stress on the knee because the momentum has to be reversed at the point of highest pressure without the benefit of the posterior chain being fully engaged.
Variations: Finding What Fits Your Frame
Not everyone should back squat. There, I said it.
If you have a very long torso or a history of back issues, the traditional low-bar or high-bar back squat might just be a recipe for inflammation. Enter the Front Squat. By placing the bar across the front of your shoulders, you're forced to stay upright. If you lean forward, the bar literally falls off. It’s a self-correcting exercise. It hits the quads harder and is much friendlier to the spine.
Then there’s the Goblet Squat. This is the gold standard for beginners. Hold a kettlebell or dumbbell against your chest like a holy relic. This counterbalance allows you to sit back deeper and find your center of gravity. It’s almost impossible to mess up a goblet squat compared to a barbell squat. If you’re just learning how to perform squats, start here for a month before you ever touch a rack.
- The High Bar Squat: Bar sits on the traps. More quad-dominant. Requires better ankle mobility.
- The Low Bar Squat: Bar sits on the rear deltoids. More glute and hamstring dominant. Common in powerlifting because you can usually move more weight.
- The Box Squat: Amazing for learning to sit back and for building explosive power from a dead stop.
- The Zercher Squat: You hold the bar in the crooks of your elbows. It’s painful. It’s weird. It builds a core like a tank.
The Role of Breathing (And No, Don't Just Exhale)
Most people breathe like they’re going for a light jog while they’re under a heavy barbell. That is a mistake. You need internal pressure.
Look into the Valsalva Maneuver. It sounds fancy, but it’s basically what you do when you’re trying to open a really stuck pickle jar. You take a big breath into your belly—not your chest—and hold it. You "brace" against that air. This creates a cushion of pressure in your abdomen that supports your spine from the inside out. Don't exhale until you're past the "sticking point" on the way up. If you let your air out at the bottom, you lose your tension. You collapse. You fail the lift.
Just don't hold it so long you pass out. That's a different kind of problem.
How to Actually Progress
Consistency is boring, but it’s the only thing that works. You don't need a new "glute blast 3000" program every week. You need to squat two or three times a week with varying intensities.
Start with the bar. Just the bar.
Record yourself. Watch your hip path. Is it moving in a straight vertical line, or is it swaying like a boat in a storm? Once your form is locked in, add 5 pounds. Then 5 more next week. This is "Linear Progression," and it’s the most effective way for 90% of the population to get strong.
If you hit a plateau, don't just keep bashing your head against the wall. Change the stimulus. Switch to tempo squats where you take five seconds to go down. The time under tension will expose every single weakness in your form. If you're "shifting" to one side, tempo squats will make it obvious.
Real World Application: Beyond the Gym
Why do we care about how to perform squats anyway? It’s not just about looking good in jeans, though that’s a nice perk. It’s about functional independence. Everything in life is a squat. Getting off the toilet? Squat. Getting out of a car? Squat. Picking up a dropped set of keys? Hopefully a squat, unless you want to blow a disc out by reaching over with straight legs.
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When you train the squat, you're training your nervous system to coordinate your entire body. You're building bone density. You're increasing your metabolic rate because you're working the largest muscle groups in your body.
Troubleshooting the "Pain Points"
If your lower back hurts after squatting, you're likely "stripper squatting." This is when your hips rise faster than your shoulders, turning the movement into a glorified good morning. This happens because your quads are weak, so your body shifts the load to your back. Fix this by lowering the weight and focusing on keeping the angle of your torso constant during the first half of the ascent.
If your knees hurt, check your tracking. Your knees should follow the line of your middle toes. If they’re wobbling or "hunting" for a position, you lack stability. Use a mini-band around your knees during warm-ups to "fire up" the gluteus medius. It helps, seriously.
And please, for the love of all things holy, stop using the "pussy pad"—that foam neck protector on the bar. It actually makes the bar less stable by raising its center of gravity and prevents the bar from "biting" into your traps, which is what you want for a secure lift. Tough it out. Your skin will get used to it.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Workout
Don't just read this and go back to your old habits.
Next time you hit the gym, try this specific sequence to reset your form. First, spend three minutes in a deep bodyweight squat stretch (the "third world squat"). Just hang out there. Shift your weight from side to side to open up your ankles.
Then, do three sets of 10 goblet squats with a light weight. Focus on "feeling" your whole foot on the floor. Big toe, pinky toe, and heel—the tripod foot.
When you finally move to the barbell, keep the weight at about 50% of what you usually do. Do five sets of five reps with a three-second pause at the bottom. This eliminates the "bounce" and forces you to stay tight.
Watch your feet. Brace your core. Drive your knees out. Master these three cues, and you'll stop being the person with the "bad back" and start being the person with the legendary leg day. It’s a slow process, but your joints will thank you in twenty years.
To refine your technique even further, start filming one "work set" from a side-on angle and another from a 45-degree angle behind you. You’ll see things in the recording that you can’t feel while you’re under the load. Compare your footage to high-level lifters like Bryce Lewis or Layne Norton. You aren't looking for "perfect," you're looking for "safe and efficient."
Stop chasing the weight. Start chasing the movement. The weight will follow.