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.

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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?

The ONE Thing Fitness Magazines WON'T Tell You About the Squat

There is ONE thing that fitness magazines and other "experts" will never tell you to do when squatting, and it's the one thing that will make your squat better. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers breaks it down.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 03/20/23)

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?

This Simple Tactic Fixed His Squat & Deadlift in One Rep

How can a cue actually help improve every lift?

Let’s dive in.

What Aspect of a Lift Does This Cue Help?
Today’s cue is useful at the beginning of the lift. It can be used over a broad range of lifts - from squats to deadlifts to bench presses to snatches - but it is specifically useful to address technical issues present at the start of the lift.

figure 1: becky demonstrates the error of breaking at the hips before before the knees at the start of the squat.

Here are a few examples of when today’s cue could be useful:

• In the squat, you tend to break (i.e., bend) at the hips before the knees as you start your descent (Figure 1) instead of bending the hips and knees simultaneously.

• In the deadlift, you try to yank or jerk the barbell off the floor (which causes all manner of problems).

• In the bench press, you pop your shoulders and the bar slightly upward before starting each rep’s descent.

• In the press, you “wind up your hips” and reach backward with your hips before pushing them forward at the start of the rep.

• In the snatch, you have the same problem as in the deadlift, and you try to yank the bar off the floor (instead of accelerating it smoothly).

The Solution
The cue is simply “Smooth start.”

As with many solutions, this may seem a bit underwhelming, but the execution of it is both important and potentially profound in terms of its impact on your lifting, so let’s discuss how this applies to the errors above.

figure 2: becky correctly bends the hips and knees simultaneously as she starts her descent.

• Squat: Cueing “smooth start” or even “slow start” allows you to focus on simultaneously bending both the knees and hips as you initiate the descent (Figure 2). Remember that this is a cue for the first few inches of the lift’s movement, and that’s where this simultaneous movement needs to happen in the squat.

• Deadlift: You now are focused on pulling smoothly and not trying to yank the bar off the floor. This allows you to keep your back rigid and pull in a nice, vertical path.

• Bench Press: The error of “popping” the shoulders up before starting the descent tends to be a quick movement, so cueing “smooth start” helps eliminate this bench press twitch.

• Press: “Slow start” can again be a useful variation of the “smooth start” cue as both cues will tend to slow you down a bit at the start, and this allows you to focus on only pushing the hips forward (and thus not allowing them to move back).

• Snatch: As with the deadlift, cueing “smooth start” encourages you to gradually accelerate the bar at the start of the pull instead of jerking the bar off the floor. The “slow start” variation of today’s cue can work when learning how to snatch and clean, but this cue usually needs to be abandoned as the weights get heavier, whereas “smooth start” remains useful at all weights.

Be sure to watch the included video (click here or scroll up) to see this cue in action, 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?

What No One Told You About Squatting (3 Minute Guide)

Struggling with your squat? In this quick 3-minute guide, you’ll learn the simple cues and setup steps most lifters never hear. No fluff, no mobility routines—just the essentials that make the squat finally click. 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?

Why Your Squat Feels Off (But You Can't Explain Why)

Something about your squat just doesn’t feel right — but you can’t quite put your finger on it. In this short video, Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains what’s really going on and gives you a few simple cues to fix it fast.

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?