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NEVER DO SQUATS LIKE THIS! 10 Most Common Mistakes!

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Rating: 4.5; Vote: 2

The squat is not only considered the king of all lower body exercises, but is also one that gets performed incorrectly quite often. In this video, I m going to show you the 10 most common mistakes when it comes to squatting and how to avoid them to make sure you perform the lift correctly every time. Now, before you say that you can t squat because one or more body part ails you; I am going to tell you that there is always a squat variation that you can do. Whether that s an air squat, drop squat, Bulgarian split squat, goblet squat, or squatting to a box - there is something for everyone. Not only that, but this list will apply to each variation as well. The first mistake when it comes to any squat tutorial, is not knowing your width, Knowing how wide your stance should be is important when it comes to squatting not only comfortably, but optimally as well. Proper stance will allow for better mechanics and overall muscle recruitment, too. We often hear that when you squat, you should turn your toes out. Squat mistake number 2 occurs when we don t rotate our hips to match that alignment. If you squat with your toes pointed out and your knees tracking straight ahead, you are lining yourself up for future knee pain when squatting. Simply make sure that you rotate your hips so your knees travel in the same direction of your toes when you descend into the hole. Next, you ve probably heard that you should never allow for your knees to travel past your toes when you squat - this fear itself is a mistake. To allow for proper dorsiflexion of the ankle and the ability to squat to proper depth, there may be a requirement for your knees to move past your toes. Being afraid can lead to compensations and shortchanges elsewhere, which will ultimately cause your squat to suffer. The fourth common squat mistake you should avoid is that you de-couple your chest and pelvis. When you squat, your chest and pelvis should be moving together as a single unit. When ascending from the bottom of the squat, if the hips rise before the chest, you risk performing a good morning instead of a squat. This can have serious repercussions on your lower back, so remember to keep both moving together at the same time for a better squat. This mistake might occur simply because you didn t know the importance of this muscle when learning how to squat - losing tightness in your lats. By not engaging the lats, you lose rigidity in the upper torso which leads to rounding of the thoracic spine. This rounding will lead to weakness and inefficiency throughout the squat, which means you will sacrifice how much weight you can actually squat. The average squat how-to might not mention this, but using a neck pad can indeed cause a problem when you squat. While designed to make the bar resting on your back more comfortable, it comes at a cost. The optimal placement of the pad is on the C7 vertebrae, which when compressed by the weight of the bar, can lead to numbness and tingling in the hands and arms. This is something you are definitely going to want avoid at all costs. While not a mistake with the performance of the exercise, forgetting to include unilateral training is a squat mistake nonetheless. By not addressing any possible weaknesses or imbalances, you risk compensations elsewhere in the lift. These compensations have the potential to lead to injury if not addressed early, as force is not even distributed between the legs throughout concentric portion of the exercise. When it comes to the squat, more of us make this mistake than we care to admit and that s preparing for the squat with a proper warmup. I m not talking about just adding a few extra sets at lower weights, but about getting our bodies prepared to get under the bar in the first place. Not properly warming up can lead to not being able to move as much weight as you potentially could, but can lead to injury as well. One of the biggest squat mistakes you can make is adding weight to the bar without establishing a solid foundation. Albeit a slower process, making sure that you re progressing without cracks in your base and commanding weight without compensations will allow you to squat more weight without risk of injury. Remember, there is no need to rush the process!
Date: 2022-04-26

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Comments and reviews: 10

Ionut
I swear, man. that thing with your knees not going in front of your toes. So many personal trainers told me to do it like that, and i was like bro, it doesn t feel right, i m gonna break something. And they just shook their heads and looked at me as if i m some lost cause or something.
So thank you jeff for bringing some science behind my intuition, and some peace of mind for myself. And for encouraging to keeping your chest and hips aligned, not pulling your butt backwards as if you re sitting on a chair.
And for bringing solid techniques back into the mainstream, instead of let me show you the proper way to do this that nobody knows except me
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John
I remember the first day of my workout journey. October 1st, 2016. I found Jeff's video 8 best bodyweight exercises. Total newbie to a certain degree.
I started my personal training career in 2020. In November 2021, the LA fitness I worked was ranked #1 in the nation for their personal training program.
I'm now a personal trainer that owns a business with 20+ clients. Jeff changed a previous 3/4 a pack a day smoker, college drinker, weed smoker, who never drank water or worked out, into an award-winning personal trainer. Thanks, Jeff. You transformed me. I will be forever grateful.
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xI
I used to watch your videos because I was a skinny kid and my family was big and yes a couple of exercises have worked for me but then you contradict them later on in time granted your shoulder press and extension of arms saved my arms but not to sound like hater at all because I listen but I know fitness has developed and 'unique' ways of doing things but you contradict yourself in some videos no hate at all like I have said a fair few of your exercises or reps have taken over my norm I'm just saying I know fitness evolves but disproving yourself a year or 2 later is a different story
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Dr. Monkey-Kong
I can barely do partial reps on this shitty exercise I'm not gonna waste an other 6 months trying to figure out what's wrong I do Front Squats and bulgarian split squat it's more than enough.
Fun fact I can go all the way down with front squat when I can barely go 1/3 down on the barbell back squat. Knees are not travelling forward at all I'm having a thick piece under my heels and now it's amazing. Front squat changed everything for me, barbell squat hurts in the shoulders, forearms, wrists, it's a real nightmare this exercise.
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Thijs
I figured starting out with machines was right for me, there are soo many machines even a squat machine. And at some clubs (I can go to the gym throughout all of europe) the machines are better than at another place Ive noticed, or at least for my body. I really like the rotating core machine and the back extension machine
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James
Just wanna say I qualified this year as a Personal Trainer and am starting at a private sector gym soon, planning to phase into a Rehabilitation Specialist role, and your content has been insanely valuable to me (and thousands of others) over the years. Thanks as always Jeff, Jesse, and the whole Athlean-X team.
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SantosMMAgym
Ax Jeff: a lot of people train early in the morning due to their schedule, although there are concerns about the spinal discs being filled with water and more prone to injury, is it a no no to say deadlift heavy shortly after waking up? Even after a good warmup? Thanks: )
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kelly
At 3 minutes in, you address mistake #4- the chest / pelvis link. Then a little after 7 minutes in, you have a montage of Jesse squatting while completely ignoring that mistake. He looked like he was going to suitcase & touch his chest to his knees.
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FenixTomatoes
I have a neck injury and I can workout mostly normally but the squat always leave with a crazy pain for a week after I've done it and I don't even go heavy. I think my bar placement was a bit too high I'll give it another try tomorrow.
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DJQuickSB
i also have isues moving in one unit. though for me to connect them rather then imagining pulling the bar down, imagining doing some sort of lift remembering i have arms made my squat straighter. maybe that's something wrong too
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