Part 6: Your Squat Called. It Wants You to Stop Doing This.
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such silliness (and a silly focal point)
When you descend, reach back with your hips, point your chest at the floor, and shove your knees apart. In other words, purposely lean over when you squat.
this . . . is much better.
Because you lean over when you squat, you also reach back with your hips since that’s how you counterbalance – you do this naturally every time you bend over to pick something up from the floor. You also shove the knees apart to make room for your torso and to achieve depth more effectively.
Silly people – both at the gym and on the internet – may have scared you with ridiculous comments like “Don’t lean over! You’ll hurt your back that way!”
It’s not how you hurt your back; your back will be tight, rigid, and straight. You know how to brace correctly (check out the video below), so every muscle in your trunk is contracted hard. Your back won’t always be vertical, but it will always be straight.
As a quick side note and for comparison, you have a more horizontal back angle in the deadlift than in the squat, and most people deadlift more than they squat.
Remember, this isn’t how you hurt your back – it’s how you strengthen your back.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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