Barbell Back Squat
QuadricepsBarbellIntermediate
The king of leg exercises. Nothing else loads your legs, core and discipline quite like it.
Muscle worked
Quadriceps, Glutes
Equipment
Barbell
Difficulty
Intermediate
Time per set
30-60s
How to perform
Step by step, every rep
01
Set the bar
Set the bar in the rack just below shoulder height. Step under it, settle it on your upper back (not your neck), hands slightly wider than shoulders. Take a big breath and stand up out of the rack.
02
Walk it out
Two or three steps back, no more. Feet shoulder width apart, toes pointed slightly out. Lock your position and stop fidgeting.
03
Brace
Take a full breath into your belly and hold it. Tighten your core like you're about to take a punch. This pressure is what protects your spine.
04
Sit down
Break at the hips and knees at the same time. Think of sitting into a chair that's behind you, not straight down. Knees track over your toes.
05
Hit depth
Go until your hip crease drops just below the top of your knee. If your heels lift or your back rounds, you went too deep. That's your limit today, not forever.
06
Drive up
Push the floor away through your whole foot. Hips and chest rise together. Don't let the knees cave in. Breathe out near the top and reset for the next rep.
Common mistakes
Avoid these
✕
Knees caving inward
Kills force output and hammers the inside of the knee over time. Fix: Spread the floor with your feet. Cue: push your knees out toward your pinky toes.
✕
Heels lifting off the floor
You lose balance and shift load onto your lower back. Fix: Work on ankle mobility. In the meantime, elevate your heels slightly with flat plates or a squat shoe.
✕
Going too deep too soon
You round your lower back at the bottom, which turns a leg exercise into a spine risk. Fix: Stop where your back stays flat. Depth improves with mobility, not ego.
✕
Looking up at the ceiling
Extends your neck and throws off your spine alignment. Fix: Pick a spot on the floor 2 metres in front of you and keep your eyes there.
✕
Bouncing out of the bottom
You lose tension and recruit the wrong muscles, plus it's hard on the knees. Fix: Pause for half a second at the bottom, then drive up with control.
Progressions
Scale it up or down
Make it easier
- Goblet squat with a dumbbell at chest
- Box squat to a bench at your current depth
- Bodyweight squat with no load
Make it harder
- Pause squat: hold 2 seconds at the bottom
- Tempo squat: 3 seconds down, 1 second up
- Front squat for more quad emphasis and core demand
How to program it
Sets, reps, rest
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Load |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build Strength | 3-5 | 3-6 | 2-3 min | Heavy. A weight you could do 7 with, stop at 5. |
| Build Muscle | 3-4 | 6-10 | 90-120s | Challenging. Last 2 reps should feel difficult. |
| Build Endurance | 2-3 | 12-20 | 45-60s | Lighter. Focus on clean reps and getting winded. |
Want this exercise programmed into a full plan?
Learning the form is step one. Fitting it into a plan built around your body, your equipment, your schedule and your food is what actually changes things. Fuel your sessions with enough protein using the Indian Food Database.
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