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

There is one thing that fitness magazines will not tell you about squatting . . .

Lean over when you squat.

Why won’t magazines tell you this and why should you lean over? That’s what’s coming up, and we’ll also give you a cue to help you achieve the correct, “leaned-over” position when squatting.

Why Fitness Magazines Won’t Tell You to Lean Over
First, the authors sometimes simply don’t know any better. They don’t know that getting into that nice, efficient, leaned-over position - not totally horizontal, but certainly not vertical - actually puts you in a better, stronger position from which to drive the barbell back up out of the bottom.

Second, magazines and websites are in the business of selling magazines and clicks, respectively, and on the cover of a magazine, leaning over when squatting might look scary to the average Joe or Jane Doe. To the uneducated public, a vertical back angle looks safer than a more horizontal back angle, but this is because the uneducated person is confusing the concept of a vertical back with that of a straight back.

tyler squats 515 lb with a back that is both straight . . . and leaned over.

We want a straight back, of course, but we don’t care too much about a vertical back.

Of course, the back will be vertical at the start and finish of a squat since we start and finish in an upright position, but throughout the squat, the back will take on a range of angles as we work down into that leaned-over position at the bottom of the squat.

The above reasons explain why magazines won’t tell you to lean over, but why do we actually want to lean over?

Why You Should Lean Over When You Squat
Simply put, leaning over puts us in a better, stronger, more efficient position for squatting for a number of reasons, and we’ll get into a few of those today.

Rob achieves a lean-over position - with a straight back - as he squats 445 lb for a set of 5 reps.

First, you’re trying to solve a geometry problem with your body. It’s easier and more efficient to achieve the bottom position of the squat (i.e., hip crease just below the top of the patella) when you get your segments and your joints out of the way. As a result, you’re going to get your knees out of the way by shoving them forward and out (i.e., sideways), you’re going to get your femurs out of the way, you’re going to reach back with your butt (i.e., hips), and because your butt is going to reach back, your back is going to be leaned over.

If you don’t reach back with your hips and lean over with your torso, it will be harder and less efficient to hit depth in your squat, and if you don’t hit depth, the squat doesn’t count.

Second, you’ve got two joints that act as the primary movers in the squat (technically, it’s the muscle mass surrounding these two joints) - the knees and the hips. The farther the knees go forward when you squat, the more load the knees are responsible for (to be precise, the more moment they are handling). On the other end, the farther the hips go backward, the more load the hips are responsible for handling.

You want to use both of these joints in a manner which allows us to use them each to their full potential, and since the hips are the larger joint and surrounded by more muscle mass when compared to the knees, you want to squat in such a way that the hips are asked to do their fair share of the work, so you reach back hard with the hips.

As mentioned earlier, since you reach back with your butt, you have to lean over with your torso. After all, if you only reached back with your hips and didn’t lean over, you’d fall over backward, so leaning over is - in part - a simple counterbalancing mechanism, and you naturally do it every time you sit down into a chair.

In turn, this reaching back of the hips and leaning over of the torso puts you in an excellent position at the bottom of the squat from which to drive your hips straight up out of the hole.

What About Your Back?
You - as an educated lifter - are not concerned about your leaned-over back because you understand the difference between a vertical back and a straight back.

Your back is going to be straight because you always perform your Valsalva maneuver and brace hard before starting each rep (watch the included video if you’re not sure what that means). As a result, your back is a rigid, straight, steel beam capable of handling your work sets just fine.

Isn’t This Stressful on My Back?
Absolutely, and thank goodness it is. Learning how to read and do math applies stress to the brain, and that’s how you become smarter, and training with weights applies stress to your body, and this is how you become stronger. The bones and muscles of your back are part of your body and thus - just like the bones and muscles of your hips and knees - they need stress to get stronger.

This is productive stress - not inappropriate stress. On day one of your training career, you start with a manageable amount of stress - it might be the empty bar for three sets of five reps for some people - your body adapts, and then you apply slightly more stress next time, and the cycle repeats.

Humans have been leaning over to do productive work for thousands of years - don’t let fitness “experts” convince you otherwise.

How Do I Do This Correctly?
To make sure you’re squatting correctly, use the “Squat Trifecta” cue. Watch the included video below for a more in depth explanation as well as demonstration, but in short, when you prepare to start your descent in the squat, use the following three-part cue: “Chest down, butt back, knees out.”

In other words, you’re going to point your chest at the floor (i.e., you’re going to get leaned over), you’re going to reach back with your hips, and you’re going to shove your knees apart. This will help you achieve the correct bottom position in the squat so that you can efficiently and strongly drive up out of the hole.

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

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Starting Strength Squat/Low Bar Squat | Fix Your AWFUL BACK!

Is your awful back wreaking havoc on your squat? In this video - our first in a series of Saturday Shorts on fixing the squat - Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers quickly discusses and demonstrates how to solve this problem.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 07/30/22)

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The Pin Squat: What, How, and Why

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 09/02/22)

In last Friday’s article, we covered the tempo squat. Today, let’s briefly discuss the pin squat. 

What is a pin squat?
A pin squat is a squat wherein you descend, set the bar on the pins (AKA safeties, crash bars, or spotter arms) at the bottom of the squat, pause for a moment, and then squat the weight back up again.

How do you perform a pin squat?
You descend as you would in a normal squat - hips go back, knees go forward and out (staying in line with your toes), and your chest points down. The pins should be set so that - at the bottom of your squat (when the bar is on the pins) - your hip crease is just below the top of your patella.

In other words, the pins need to be set so that you can hit depth, and checking this on video is always a good idea if you’re coaching yourself.

Once both sides of the barbell are in contact with the pins, pause a legitimate one to two seconds (“one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two”), and stay tight during this pause. You should still be supporting most of the weight of the bar.

After the pause, drive the hips up out of the hole as you would in a normal squat and continue your ascent. Don’t be surprised at how slow the ascent is - pin squats are never fast.

Why might you do pin squats or where might you see them in your programming? 
Let’s say your coach has programmed you within a Heavy-Light-Medium structure or something similar - in this case, you might see a pin squat show up as a medium day squat or even a light day squat (the loading and volume need to be carefully managed - especially if it’s a light day squat).

Due to the pause on the pins, the pin squat eliminates the stretch reflex out of the bottom, so it’s a disadvantaged squat, and thus you’ll need to use a lighter weight than with your regular squat, so it fits the bill for a medium or light squat.

However, as with last week’s tempo squat (click here for the article or check out the video earlier in this article), remember that “lighter” does not necessarily mean easy.

The pin squat - again like last week’s tempo squat - can also be useful for a number of other reasons - one of which is that it can help a lifter focus on a specific aspect of his technique.

For example, if Peter tends to squat with his knees too far forward and his back angle too vertical, a pin squat will encourage him to lean over more to get the bar down to the pins. On the other hand, if Mary struggles with hitting depth, a pin squat will force her to correct this - quite simply, if the bar doesn’t contact the pins, the rep doesn’t count (a box squat can be used for this as well). Finally, if Ben tends to relax and “get loose” as he descends, a pin squat will punish this type of behavior, and thus it will remind him to stay tight throughout the entire rep.

This wraps up our short discussion of the pin squat, and in an upcoming article, we’ll move on to the box squat.

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

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If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

The Tempo Squat: What, How, and Why

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 08/26/22)

What is a tempo squat?
A tempo squat is a squat wherein we assign a certain amount of time to each portion of the movement. Tempo squats are usually given with three numbers: the first represents the eccentric (or downward) phase of the lift, the second number represents the pause at the bottom (if any), and the third number represents the concentric (or upward) phase of the lift.

How do you perform a tempo squat?
We’ll use the example of the 3-0-3 tempo squat - also known as a Denver squat (since 303 is an area code for Denver). In a Denver squat, you spend three seconds going down, there is no pause at the bottom (since the middle number is zero), and then you spend three seconds going back up again.

Another example would be the 3-1-2 tempo squat - also known as a Chicago squat. In this case, you spend three seconds descending, you pause for one second at the bottom, and you then spend two seconds ascending again.

These are the most common tempos we use here at Testify, but of course, there are other options - literally an infinite number of options. With that being said, I’d advise you not to go off the deep end here, or your ego may be writing checks your body can’t cash.

Why might you do tempo squats or where might you see them in your programming? 
Let’s say your coach has programmed you within a Heavy-Light-Medium structure or something similar - in this case, you might see tempo squats show up as a light or medium day squat. It’s not usually the first choice I’ll make for a light or medium day - I tend to keep it as simple as possible at first, and that means literally a lighter squat (usually in the 80-90% range), nothing fancier than that - but eventually, a lifter might see a tempo squat inserted there.

Why might we do that? A tempo squat - since it’s a slow, torturous event - will use a lighter weight than a normal squat, so it fits the bill for a light or medium squat (but note that light and medium do not mean easy). 

The tempo squat can be also useful for a number of other reasons - one of which is that it can help a lifter focus on a specific aspect of his or her technique. If Bert tends to get forward at the bottom of his squat, a tempo squat allows him to think and focus very hard on maintaining his balance over the midfoot. If Ernie struggles to set his knees correctly on the descent, a tempo squat forces Ernie to take more time to do it correctly.

Tempo squats can also be used to help in cases of tendinopathy, and I have Will Morris to thank here for his recommendation of the 3-1-2 tempo squat (AKA Chicago squat). I will leave it to more educated professionals such as Will, John Petrizzo, Rori Alter, and Nick D’Agostino to give a detailed explanation of why this tends to work well - the people I just mentioned are all both physical therapists as well as Starting Strength Coaches and are excellent resources. From a purely physics perspective, I suspect that some of it has to do with the concept of impulse (i.e., change in momentum) and the inverse relationship between the force and time necessary to create a specific impulse. However, this is a topic for another day, so it suffices to say that tempo squats tend to be very useful in cases of tendinopathy.

This wraps up our discussion on tempo squats, and remember, if your coach programs them for you, there’s probably a good reason . . . or maybe your coach just likes to watch you suffer.

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

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

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

Spotting the Squat: Don't Make These Mistakes!

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 08/19/22)

Spotting the squat is important, but it’s often done terribly and awkwardly, so let’s briefly discuss how NOT to spot the squat.

Don’t Space Out.
This isn’t the time for selfies or catching up on your pleasure reading. You need to keep your hands off the barbell unless it moves in a direction other than upward, but you still need to be available and attentive throughout the entire set.

A missed rep can happen quickly, especially if it’s due to a loss of balance, so be ready.

figure 1: Don’t Do This. (note the crooked barbell)

Don’t Touch the Bar . . . When the Lifter is Walking It Back In.
At the end of a successful set, do not try to help the lifter get the bar back to the hooks (Figure 1). By touching the bar, you’ll simply cause the lifter to be uneven (because you and the other spotter will not provide equal amounts of assistance) and possibly miss one or both of the hooks.

At the end of a set, the lifter already squatted the weight on his own - he can certainly walk it back on his own. Spotters should simply be present as the bar contacts the uprights to make sure that the bar does not bounce back from the rack.

figure 2: Don’t be like these fools.

No 1-Person Spots
Spotting the squat is performed by two people - never one person. Spotting the squat from behind the lifter is awkward at best and dangerous at worst as the spotter is in a terrible position to handle a heavy load should the lifter fail (Figure 2).

When setting up to spot, the spotter on the lifter’s left should have his left foot forward, and the spotter on the lifter’s right should have his right foot forward - this way, you are both facing the lifter as well as each other.

Keep your hands off the bar unless the bar moves in a direction other than up - any rep touched by you cannot be counted by the lifter. However, if the lifter does need assistance, you need to provide it, and you do so by spotting the bar with the crook of your elbow, and both hands will help by grabbing the plate (Figure 3). At this point, the lifter and the spotters together will lift the bar and take it back to the hooks (the lifter should NEVER abandon the bar).

figure 3: The correct way to spot a failed rep

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

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

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

Starting Strength Coach Reveals the WORST Thing To Do with Your Squat

What's the worst mistake that you're making with your squat? Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains what it probably is and how to fix it.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.