How to Squat Heavy ALONE! | How to Fail a Squat Safely

When lifting weights, it's generally a good idea to not end up dead or - for that matter - even injured. With this in mind, let's quickly cover how to avoid getting yourself trapped under a heavy squat that you just failed.

Figure 1: For so many reasons, this is stupid. don’t spot like this.

Spotters are fantastic (when possible)
Ideally, when training, you don't want to fail a rep. You try to avoid it whenever possible, but sometimes these things happen, and in the squat, the best solution is to have spotters that you trust. Specifically, get two spotters, i.e., one on each side.

Forget the whole “spotter-behind-you” thing (Figure 1). It’s stupid, the back spotter is in a terribly mechanically disadvantaged position, and it’s a good way to get both you and your spotter injured. It can, however, make for viral “YouTube-fail” videos.

The video included in this article covers how to spot the squat as well as how to squat alone, so I’d recommend watching that.

The great thing about having spotters is this: the moment you start to fail, i.e, the moment you start to go back down, the spotters immediately take the bar. You don’t have to go all the way down to the pins.

figure 2: This is much better.

If you start to fail a rep, you only descend an inch or two, and your spotters step in and support the bar (Figure 2). At this point, you and your spotters - because you stay under the bar and never abandon your spotters - lift the barbell up and put it back in the rack.

What if you train alone?
Spotters are indeed great; however, if you often train alone (and I understand that as I usually do also), you need to be able to set the safeties (AKA “pins” or “crash bars”) correctly. Whether you’re using pin/pipe safeties, spotter arms, or even strap safeties, the concept and process are both quite simple:

Set the pins low enough that they don’t cause a problem but high enough that they save you from a problem.

The process is as follows:

Figure 3: Parker helps check for adequate clearance.

Step 1: Make sure the pins are low enough
As you’re warming up with the empty bar, look to the side at the bottom of the rep (don’t do this on a regular basis, but doing this a few times with the empty bar is fine). Make sure that, when you’re at the correct depth, you’ve still got a couple inches of clearance between the bar and the pins (Figure 3). You want a couple of inches (and not just a tiny sliver of space) because you need to be able to accidentally go a bit too deep on your squat and not immediately run into the safeties. Going an inch too deep on a squat happens every now and then, and running into the safeties makes the ascent much harder, so give yourself a little room.

figure 4: Parker helps me perform a practice fail.

Step 2: Practice failing a rep
Next, either with the empty bar or with a very light weight on the bar, do a “practice fail” (Figure 4). To do this, perform a couple of normal reps, and then on the third or perhaps fourth rep, go down, start coming back up an inch or two, pretend it’s too heavy, then simply relax your upper back, squat back down, and set the bar on the pins.

At this point, you’ll perform the COS (Crawl of Shame), and crawl out - either forward or backward - from underneath the barbell.

Don’t envision this - actually practice it. You need to know you are still safe in the even of a missed rep.

WARNING: STUPIDITY
I do NOT recommend ever dumping the bar backward off your back and onto the floor. I don’t recommend it with a high bar squat, and I certainly do not recommend it with the squat we teach, which is commonly referred to as a low bar squat. It’s a silly practice, requires a decent amount of nimbleness - which you may or may not possess when grinding out a challenging, exhausting rep - and lastly, it encourages you to quit on a rep that you very well might have been able to get if you had spotters or safeties that you trusted.

You’re welcome to dump it off your back if you like - it’s your life - but be forewarned that it’s stupid. At the very least, don’t do it in my gym.

Wrapping it up
Back to sanity . . . be sure to practice a failed rep, and then adjust the safeties accordingly if they are too low. Again, the safeties need to be low enough that they don't cause a problem but high enough that they save you from a problem.

Don't wait until it gets heavy to find out whether you've set them correctly.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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Starting Strength Squat Looks HORRIFYING, Here's Why

We posted a video a few weeks back, and some people were very concerned by one aspect of the squats they saw. What was it?

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FIVE Squat Mistakes You're Making with Your KNEES...

Let’s identify and fix - in lightning-quick fashion - a few problems we commonly see with lifters’ knees in the squat.

Mistake #1: Knees Too Far In (Valgus Knees)
You’ve got your stance correctly set with your heels at roughly shoulder width and your toes pointed out about 30 degrees. Your knees, however, are tracking inside of your toes - in other words, your knees are going forward and not traveling in line with the direction your feet are pointing.

To fix this, simply cue “knees out,” “knees apart,” or “knees sideways” as you start your descent.

Mistake #2: Knees Too Far Out (Varus Knees)
This is the opposite of Mistake #1, and while less common, it’s still certainly common enough to merit discussion. In this case, you’ve done too good of a job of shoving your knees out - to the point that they now track outside of your toes.

To fix this problem, cue “knees forward” or even “knees stay in.”

Mistake #3: Knees Bending After the Hips Bend
When you start your descent, you want the hips and knees to break (i.e., bend) at the same time, but you’re making the error of bending at the hips first and then bending the knees second. This causes balance and knee positioning problems (the knees usually travel too far forward at the bottom of the squat).

To fix this problem, cue “knees and hips together” or even “knees first,” but remember that this last cue is actually an overcue (i.e., an exaggeration of what we actually want to do).

Be sure to watch the included video to see this problem and the solution in action.

Mistake #4: Knees Slide Too Far Forward
You are breaking at the hips and knees together (i.e., you’re not making Mistake #3), but your knees are traveling far past your toes, and as a result, your balance is either forward or your back angle is too vertical.

To fix this problem, remind yourself to set your knees in their final position (roughly above your toes or just slightly in front of that) at one-third to one-half of the way into your descent. They will still bend after that, of course, but you’ll keep them in that location. Check out our video on using a TUBOW to help with this.

Mistake #5: Knees Not Moving Far Enough Forward
This is simply the opposite of Mistake #4 and can sometimes occur in combination with Mistake #3. In this case, your knees move forward, but only slightly, and as a result, you hit the bottom of your squat with your knees well behind your toes and nearly vertical shins.

The fix here is the same as that for Mistake #4: set the knees during the first portion of the descent. You may need to cue yourself to “set the knees forward” to help with this. Again, check out the TUBOW video to see what this looks like in practice.

As always, we hope these tips help you get stronger and live better.

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If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Enter the TUBOW

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 11/20/18)

What on earth is a TUBOW?
So glad you asked! A TUBOW is a Terribly Useful Block Of Wood. Many of you have seen us use 2-foot lengths of 4 x 4 lumber when people squat from time to time - these are TUBOWs.

Why would one use a TUBOW?
We use TUBOWs in the squat, and there are a couple reasons we might use a TUBOW. The most common use is to fix the knee's forward position on the way down.

becky’s knees are so far forward that parker refuses to watch.

Two common errors that we see when people squat is either (a) the lifter's knees travel forward all the way down, or (b) the knees travel forward at the bottom of the squat.

We would like to see the knee establish its final forward position about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way into the descent of the squat, and touching the TUBOW with the knee at this point provides excellent tactile feedback as to whether or not the lifter is doing that correctly. If the lifter accidentally knocks the TUBOW over, it provides excellent negative feedback that the knee has traveled too far forward.

becky touches her knees lightly to the tubow during the descent.

Another use of the TUBOW is to fix the knee's lateral position in the squat, i.e., is the lifter shoving the knees out (to the side) far enough, or perhaps even too far? The TUBOW gives the lifter something concrete (well, lumber, actually) to aim for, and very often, this will help solve the issue.

One of the great side effects of fixing the knee position is that it will often fix the back angle in the squat as well. If the lifter's knees can only travel "so far" forward on the descent, then the hips will have to travel backward (since your hips and knees are connected by your femurs . . . you know . . . the leg bone). If the hips have to travel backward, the lifter will have to lean over during the descent to avoid falling over backward and stay balanced on the midfoot, and that leaned over position is precisely what we want in the low bar squat. Pretty awesome.

Are you one of those people who is deeply, intensely, spiritually, emotionally, and morally opposed to using the TUBOWs? If so, you're probably the type of person whose squat would benefit most from using them. And if your squat benefits, then you benefit, because you'll get stronger - faster.

Where do I get a TUBOW?
You can go to your nearest lumber supply store and get a 4 x 4 (and they'll often cut it to size for you), but if you'd rather just order a 2 foot section of 4 x 4 online and have it show up at your front door, then just click here.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

The 12 Squat Tips of Christmas

Let’s be festive, shall we? To borrow from “The 12 Days of Christmas,” below are The 12 Squat Tips of Christmas. May your squatting be merry and bright . . . but not light.

Tip #1
Get the bar on your back below your traps and resting on your deltoids (see video above). Don’t have the shoulder flexibility to achieve this “low bar” position? You still squat - OF COURSE you still squat - but you simply place it up a bit higher - specifically, you place it on your traps. In the meantime, try out the bar stretch (see video below) to work on getting that bar lower over time.

Tip #2
If you can get your thumbs over the bar (i.e., on the same side of the bar as the rest of your fingers) with a relatively neutral wrist position, do so. If you can’t, don’t sweat it - simply wrap your thumbs around the bar as you would in your other lifts, but your wrists will be in extension (i.e., bent backward), and with this in mind, you’ll probably want to wear wrist wraps.

Gage demonstrates the correct bar position (tip #1) with neutral wrists and thumbs over the bar (tip #2).

Tip #3
Get tight before unracking the bar (see video below). Don’t be sloppy here. Treat the unrack as the first rep (but no, you don’t get to count this rep as part of your work set). Shoulders back, chest up, take a breath and Valsalva hard, then stand the bar up.

Tip #4
Take one step back with each foot and establish a roughly shoulder width stance (i.e., your heels are shoulder width apart). Don’t walk a mile back from the rack. Point your toes out about 30 degrees.

Tip #5
Pick a spot about 4-6 feet in front of you on the floor and look there from now until you finish your last rep. Stare at that spot on the descent, at the bottom, on the ascent, and stare at it between reps as well.

Tip #6
Before starting your first rep, pretend you’re about to get punched in the stomach. Specifically, take a big breath and hold it by clamping down hard with your abs (really, every single muscle in your trunk) - this is a Valsalva maneuver. Keep this Valsalva until you’ve finished the rep. Then release your breath, take a new one, and start the process all over again for the next rep.

Tip #7
As you start to descend, point your chest at the floor (yes, lean over on purpose), reach back with your butt, and shove your knees apart and forward (so they travel in line with your toes).

Tip #8
When you reach the bottom of your squat, come right back up. Use the bounce. Do not pause at the bottom. To help with this, think “up” all the way down so that you get a nice, quick turnaround at the bottom of your squat.

Tip #9
Drive your hips up out of the hole. Don’t raise your chest. It will come up as you drive your hips up, and if you try to raise it early, it makes your squat weaker and harder. Stay in your lean longer than you think.

Tip #10
Squat to depth. Get your hip crease just below the top of your patella. If you don’t achieve depth, don’t count the rep. You don’t stop at the 90 meter mark and still call it the 100 meter dash, and you don’t cut your squat off high and still call it a squat.

chris hits depth on his squat.

Tip #11
When you’re done with your set of five reps, rest. How long? Longer than 2-3 minutes. Long enough to make sure that you successfully complete all the reps of your next work set. Get a magnetic kitchen timer and stick it on the squat rack if needed - that’s what I use when training at home, and it helps.

Tip #12
Wear lifting shoes - the things with a rigid sole, a velcro strap or two, and a slight heel. Not running shoes, for-crying-out-loud-not-Chucks, and not barefoot. Yes, yes, I know - you weren’t born with shoes, but you weren’t born with a barbell or clothes, either, so that logic is out.

Merry Christmas, happy squatting, and as always, we hope these tips help you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

Stop Destroying Your Squat - Stay Leaned Over!

Stop raising your chest early in the squat - it's making for a weaker squat. If you're trying to drive your hips up when you squat but still struggle with the concept, watch this video for a helpful fix.

(This is a Blast from the Past video originally published on 03/05/22.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.