NEVER Make This Squat Mistake Again! | FAST FIX

This squat mistake either makes you look ignorant or it makes you look like you're compensating for something. Either way, it's not a good look. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers helps you fix it.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 04/22/23)

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• Book a free intro and strategy session with us 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. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Get a BIGGER Squat Now with 3 SIMPLE Tips!

Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers 3 easy and quick ways to improve your squat and start setting new PRs right now.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 04/17/23)

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel 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. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

STOP Using Your Back Like This (How to Squat Correctly)

Are you using your back like a doofus when you squat? Let’s fix it.

We’re not talking about a conceptual misunderstanding of what to do with your back - if you’re reading this article or watching the accompanying video below, you’re probably aware of what you should be doing with your back as you squat. You’re trying to reach back with your hips and point your chest at the floor as you start your descent. You’re already aware that this relatively horizontal back angle in the squat makes for a stronger, more efficient back angle and is indeed how we train our backs to get stronger as well.

In this case, what could possibly go wrong?

We’re talking about the problem of overextension in the low back (i.e., arching the low back). Watch a video of yourself squatting, and as you start your descent, if you see more wrinkles develop in the back of your shirt - specifically, in the lower half of your back - then you are probably overextending your back.

In other words, if it looks like you’re twerking when you start to squat (Figure 1), you’ve got a problem.

Figure 1: don’t squat like this fool.

This problem tends to show up more often with young kids and women, but the error can happen with anyone regardless of age or gender, and - on a rather important note - this problem tends to cause more back discomfort issues than a rounded (i.e., flexed) back.

Don’t get me wrong - we want a straight, rigid back when we squat, so we’re not looking for either an overextended (arched) back or a flexed (rounded) back, but of these two errors, the overextended back tends to cause more problems, and there are two situations which commonly cause this error to happen, so let’s take a look at them.

Cause #1: Bad Focal Point
A high focal point means lifters have to keep their eyes up, which usually causes them to keep their chest up (instead of pointing it at the floor), which - combined with reaching the hips backward - makes for an arched back.

This also means that if you squat in front of a mirror (and I’m terribly sorry if your gym is silly enough to put mirrors in front of the squat rack), you need to ignore that mirror. Looking at yourself while squatting means you’re keeping your gaze too high, which is no good. You don’t watch yourself while throwing a baseball or shooting a basketball, and you certainly don’t need to watch yourself while squatting either.

The solution is to choose a fixed point on the floor about four to six feet in front of you and stare at it the entire time you’re squatting. Stare at it before your first rep, during each rep, and between reps as well. Looking forward and down will help you reach your hips back and point your chest down as you start to descend, which allows you to achieve the correct back position.

Cause #2: Reaching Back Without Leaning Over
This version of the error shows up when a lifter knows he should reach back with his hips and lean over, but he accidentally only focuses on the “reaching back” part of the movement (Figure 2).

If you reach back with your hips and accidentally keep your chest up, you will be overextending your back, so the “reaching back” aspect of the movement must be accompanied by the “leaning over” or “pointing the chest down” aspect of the movement.

Figure 2: jeremiah was kind enough to purposely demonstrate the mistake of reaching back without leaning over. . . . don’t do this.

Reaching back and leaning over should go hand-in-hand, but if you can only focus on one part of that duo, I’d recommend focusing on the “lean over” cue. After all, you are probably quite adept at not falling over, so you’ll naturally reach back with your hips as you lean over to help with balance.

Bonus Cue
If you find that you still arch your back when you squat, then you can try out the overcue “round your back” or “flex your back” as you start to descend.

Remember - this is an overcue, i.e., an exaggeration of what you truly want to do. You don’t actually want a rounded or flexed back, but exaggerating the mental picture of what to do may help you achieve a straight back, which is what you want.

Find a good focal point, reach back with your hips, point your chest down, and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

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

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Stop Destroying Your Squat - Do This Instead

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 09/08/23)

A common problem in the squat is raising the chest early during the ascent. Raising the chest early simply means that you’re making your torso or back angle too vertical too soon when coming out of the hole on the squat. Let’s fix this.

Typically, when addressing this issue, we simply cue you to “drive your hips.” You drive your hips up, and everything else goes up as well. However, if that's not working and you’re still raising your chest too soon, try this cue: “Stay in your lean.”

In other words, stay in that leaned over position that you achieved during the descent. When you initiated your squat, you reached back with your hips, you shoved your knees apart, and you pointed your chest at the floor. Simply put, you leaned over, so stay in that leaned over position a little longer than you think you should on the way back up out of the hole.

Julie will maintain this back angle - this leaned over position - as she drives up out of the hole.

Now, of course, your torso will eventually become more vertical - we do finish the lift in a standing up position, of course. The key is that you don’t try to make it get vertical right away. Stay in your lean.

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

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

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

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

This One Cue Will Change How You Squat Forever

If your squat feels inconsistent, inefficient, or harder than it should, you might be missing this. One cue can change how the entire lift feels and moves - try it today and build from there. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel 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. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

10 TIPS to Help You DOMINATE the Starting Strength Squat

Want to improve your squat? Of course you do, and with that in mind, here are 10 quick tips to help you achieve your goal.

You can also check out the included videos to see these tips in action.

1. Position
Position the barbell below your traps and resting on your delts. It’s a very secure position as it is trapped - pun intended - by your traps from above and supported by your delts from below.

2. Stance Width
Take your stance with heels at roughly shoulder width. This is an excellent width to help you hit depth in the squat - not too narrow and not too wide.

3. Toe Angle
Point your toes our roughly 30°. You will be directing your knees to travel in this direction as you descend, so your feet function as arrows for the knees (or equivalently, your femurs). Again, this is useful for hitting depth in the squat and allows your adductors to contribute to the ascent of the squat as well.

4. Focal Point
Focus on a spot roughly four to six feet in front of you on the floor. This helps with your back angle - it helps you point your chest down as you start your descent, and it helps you stay leaned over (and thus drive your hips) coming up out of the hole. 

5. Breathing and Bracing
Before starting your descent, take a big breath, hold it, and clamp down on every muscle in your trunk - get tight like you’re going to be punched in the gut, and you’ll be doing a nice job of things. Hold that breath and tightness all the way down and all the way back up again until you finish the rep.

If the bar is moving - you’re not breathing.

6. Reach Back
As you start your descent, reach backward with your hips because . . .

7. Chest Down
. . . you’re going to point your chest at the floor as you descend, i.e., you’re going to lean over as you reach your hips back.

8. Knees Out
Additionally, as you descend, shove your knees out (i.e., apart from one another). Remember that your feet (specifically, your toes) are arrows for your knees, so your knees will travel forward and out in the same direction as your toes.

9. Hip Drive
When you hit the bottom of the squat (i.e., hip crease below the top of your patella), drive your hips up. Don’t think about driving your chest up. Drive your hips, and because you locked your back in rigid extension using tip #5, your chest and the bar will come up with your hips.

10. Stay in Your Lean
Stay leaned over a little longer than you think. You will “get vertical” eventually, i.e., your back angle will eventually become vertical (since you finish the squat in an upright position), but don’t try to get vertical right away as this makes makes for a weaker, harder, less efficient squat.

Stay in your lean.

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

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

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

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?