2 Squat Mistakes Every New Lifter Makes
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Stop doing this.
Today’s two squat mistakes make for inefficient training, they can be borderline dangerous, and . . . they make you look like a newb.
On the upside, both errors are quite easy to fix from a technical standpoint, so let’s grab this low hanging fruit real quick-like.
Mistake #1: Where are you going?
When you unrack the squat, don’t walk a marathon back from the rack to set up (Figure 1). Stay relatively close to the rack.
figure 1: An exaggeration, yes, but not by much
Most people who squat inside a power rack will typically do this well as lifters only have so far to walk back (Figure 2) before hitting the uprights behind them. However, when people train with a squat stand (Figure 3) or squat outside a power rack, they often walk ridiculously far back from the rack.
figure 2: squatting inside a power rack will force you to be reasonable, so Do this whether or not you’r inside a cage.
Don’t do that.
After standing the barbell up from the hooks, take one step back with your right foot, one step back with your left foot, make any small stance adjustments you need to make, and then you’re good to go.
figure 3: far enough back to clear the hooks yet close enough to be efficient and within the length of the spotter arms
No - you don’t want to stand so close that you risk running into the hooks when squatting, but you also don’t want to waste a bunch of energy by walking back five steps before starting to squat. On top of that, when you’re exhausted at the end of your set, you want a short, efficient distance to walk back to the rack - not the equivalent of a city block.
Mistake #2: What on earth are you looking for?
Stop looking for the hooks (Figure 4) when you re-rack the bar.
figure 4: don’t do this.
They didn’t go anywhere while you were squatting, so when you finish your set, keep staring at the same focal point you used during your set, walk forward until the bar makes solid contact with both uprights, and then slide the bar down the uprights until it’s back in the hooks (Figure 5).
figure 5: this . . . is much better.
Your torso tends to follow your head, so by looking side-to-side for the hooks, you tend to create a twisting effect, and you greatly increase the chances that you will someday miss one of the hooks when re-racking the bar.
It is safer, more efficient, and far easier to simply stay tall and walk straight ahead until the rack stops you - then “squat” down until the bar is in the hooks.
Although this error is easy to fix from a technical point of view, it also can be a difficult habit to break, so remind yourself that the goal is to hit the uprights - not the hooks - with the bar.
As always, we hope these tips help you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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