Get a Bigger Squat Now with 3 Simple Tips
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Let’s cover three ways to immediately improve your squat.
Tip #1: Focal Point
First, have a focal point - don’t allow your eyes to wander during the rep or even between reps. Second, for the location of your focal point, pick a point on the floor roughly 4-6 feet in front of you and stare at it throughout the entire set.
This is useful for balance, and it also encourages you to lean over as you start your descent and stay leaned over as you initiate your hip drive coming up out of the hole.
Tip #2: Knees Out
As you start your descent, shove your knees out. Specifically, shove them in the direction of your toes, and since you’re going to take a shoulder-width stance with your toes pointed out at roughly 30 degrees, this means your knees should travel both forward and out (i.e., forward and apart). With that said, focus on the “out” or the “apart” aspect of this movement.
Rob shoves his knees apart so his femurs track in line with his toes, and addy approves.
Shoving your knees apart makes it easier to hit depth in the squat and also makes for a stronger, more efficient squat as it helps involve your adductors more in the movement.
As a side note, it is possible - though less common - to shove your knees too far out. In this case, your femurs are tracking outside of your toes, and we don’t want this either, so simply point your knees in the direction your shoes are pointing, and you’ll quite literally be headed in the right direction.
Tip #3: Your Lean
This is the most counterintuitive of the tips presented in this article, but it contributes mightily to the effectiveness and efficiency of your squat.
Lean over as you start your descent, and stay leaned over as you come up out of the hole on the ascent.
In other words, as you begin the squat, reach back with your hips and point your chest at the floor. As you initiate your hip drive coming out of the bottom of the squat, stay leaned over longer than you think you should. This will put you in a better, stronger position for squatting.
Yes, your back angle becomes vertical eventually (after all, you finish the squat in an upright position), but it should not become vertical right away, and to try to make your torso vertical right away makes for a weaker, disadvantaged squat. With all of this in mind, get leaned over, and then stay leaned over.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
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