How to Squat: The Setup | STOP Doing This!
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Welcome back to our series on fixing some common setup errors (and therefore how to correctly set up) for several of the lifts. We covered the bench press and the press in previous articles in this series, and today, we’re going to address the squat.
The main principle is constant throughout this series: Everything that can be set up before you unrack the bar should be set up before you unrack the bar.
Therefore, anything that can be tight, rigid, and correctly positioned before lifting the barbell off the hooks . . . should be. If you need to make a bunch of adjustments after you unrack the bar, this is a problem (Figure 1) - you’re accidentally setting up a habit that won’t work as the bar gets heavier. You might get away with this habit with the empty bar, but you don’t want to have 135 lb, 225 lb, 315 lb, etc. on your back and then try to adjust your grip, adjust your hand position, lift your chest, squeeze your back, etc.
figure 1: Don’t be like this fool. The bar’s too high, the grip is too wide, and the upper back is not set.
With this in mind, get everything set properly in position before unracking the bar. Here’s how to do it (and watch the included video above for a demonstration of the process):
Before You Unrack the Bar
1: Grip
Take the correct grip - as narrow as you can make it, but wide enough to permit the bar to sit in the correct position on your delts. If you end up making any grip adjustments after you unrack the bar, you didn’t do this step correctly in the first place. Do better next time.
figure 2: This . . . is much better.
2: Squeeze Yourself Under the Bar
Without moving your hands, slide under the bar and wedge yourself into position with the bar sitting on your delts (Figure 2). It should take some effort to do this correctly. If you can simply slide into place easily, you probably need to move your grip in a bit (i.e., narrower).
3: Stance
Take your squat stance (heels at roughly shoulder width with toes pointed out at about 30 degrees) with the middle of your feet directly under the bar. This doesn’t need to be a carbon copy of your squat stance - after all, you’re still going to back out of the rack and assume your actual squat stance - but it should be pretty close.
4: Chest up and Valsalva
Lift your chest, take a breath, and then hold that breath while simultaneously clamping down on your trunk with every possible muscle in your midsection.
Unracking the Bar
5: Stand Up
This should look like the last 2-3 inches of the ascent of your squat. In other words, straighten your hips and knees until you’re completely standing up. Stand up tall.
6: Two Steps
Take two steps back from the rack - one with your right foot and one with your left foot. At this point, you’re far enough from the rack, so take your squat stance. You’ll probably need to make a few minor adjustments to get your stance just right, but don’t walk a mile back from the rack.
At this point, you’re ready to squat without needing to make any adjustments to your grip, hand position, bar position, back extension, etc. Under a heavy load - at best - these adjustments are difficult and a waste of time and energy, and at worst, they’re impossible to accomplish, so take care of them deliberately and early.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
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