What follows is what works for ME and MY clients. This shouldn’t be taken as a personal attack against YOU, your favorite coach, or any methodology that’s seemingly at odds with my point of view.
By all accounts you’re still a decent human being, even if you happen to disagree with what I’m about to say.1
Relax: In no way, shape, or fashion am I discounting any those things, nor turning a blind eye to science or evidence-based approaches and modalities.
I’m on your side my fellow anthropometrical nerds.
What I AM discounting, however – but not necessarily turning a blind eye towards (maybe tossing some shade?) – is the fact that, while all those things mentioned above – moment arm lengths, hip extension torque, biomechanics – can be used to make a solid case for squatting the most amount of weight possible, as coaches we often forget two things:
1) Many people could give two shits about squatting the most amount of weight possible.
2) Most people aren’t powerlifters.
Don’t get me wrong: I am all for people training with intent, striving to get strong(er), and pushing some appreciable iron. The tagline for this site is “Because Heavy Things Won’t Lift Themselves” for crying out loud.
That said, I’m also very much interested in the long-game. I want to keep my clients/athletes healthy and set them up for the most long-term training success possible.
One such way I accomplish this is how I prefer to coach the squat. Again, what follows is what works for me and what I feel fits the needs/goals of the bulk of MY clients and athletes.
If you disagree you’re wrong hopefully we can hug it out if we ever meet in person.
Squat Down, Not Back
The video above demonstrates me initiating the squat by pushing my hips back, but specifically getting a lot of motion via the lumbar spine.2
This won’t bode well for most lifters.
Is it wrong?
Well, no.
Plenty of lifters do this and move a lot of weight. However, what often works for powerlifters, wearing squat suits, won’t be the best fit for “natural” non-powerlifters, not wearing squat suits.
Plus I’m pretty sure a a piece of my soul dies every time I see it.
Instead, I prefer this approach:
Take in your air at the top, create a flexion moment (clamp down abs to prevent excessive lumbar movement), and squat DOWN by breaking with knees and hips simultaneously.
For most lifters, most of the time, this will be the better long-time fit in terms of being able to 1) not only squat a decent amount of weight, but also 2) make it less likely your lower back will hate you.3
I’m currently in the throes of jet-lag sucktitude.
I’ll be back on my writing content horse next week, but I’ve got a treat for you today. TG.com regular contributor, Dr. Nicholas Licameli, is subbing in for me today and he went to TOWN in today’s guest post.
This is one of the most thorough articles I’ve read in a while on the topic with a metric shit ton4 of information with many additional links to help you nerd out a bit more if you so choose.
The squat is a topic that has gotten a great deal of attention among many fitness and medical professionals since mankind first started lifting heavy things against gravity. Since then, much of the conversation has changed (with the advent of civilizations, roads, running water, Instagram.
However much has stayed the same.
I understand this isn’t the first article written about the squat.
Some of the greatest minds in fitness and strength and conditioning have written on the topic, and I encourage you to dive into the multitude of references that I’ve provided.
My goals for this article are to help make your squat look and feel better, improve performance and effectiveness, un-complicate the complicated, and give you the confidence to perform this foundational movement without fear.
Unfortunately, there are those that say to avoid squatting.
As a physical therapist, I have to apologize because much of that flawed thinking stems from misinformed and unqualified professionals in the medical field that are pleasantly ignorant to current practices.
The squat and hip hinge are foundational to basically all movements in and out of the gym.
Whether you’re hitting a PR on the platform or sitting down on the toilet, you are squatting and you better be using proper technique. I’ve treated injuries as a result of poor squatting in both of those previously mentioned instances. Why avoid the squat in the gym if we’re going to do it constantly throughout our day anyway?
I say train it rather than avoid it.
Why not be prepared and do it right?
The squat and hip hinge require total control of the deep abdominals as well as the hips, pelvis, and entire spinal column. We can all agree that teaching proper abdominal bracing, pelvic positioning, and proper lifting mechanics are of utmost importance for the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries including knee, hip, and low back pain. For some reason however, we don’t all agree that squatting is necessary.
Newsflash…when done correctly, THEY’RE THE SAME THING!
As both a doctor of physical therapy and professional natural bodybuilder, it should come as no surprise that in my opinion, people of all ages and from all walks of life should be squatting. This includes the young athlete just starting his/her training career, those recovering from injury, those trying to prevent injury, and even (and especially) the elderly.
No matter if you are an athlete or a great grandparent, we are all essentially “squatting” multiple times throughout our day, so why not train it, strengthen it, and perfect it?
You can release this muscle or stretch that muscle but if patients and clients don’t know how to squat and hip hinge, we are spinning our wheels and wasting valuable time.
How to Squat
While this isn’t a step by step “how to squat” article, here is a quick and dirty rundown of some things to keep in mind.
There is a plethora of information out there about thoracic spines, knees, ankles, spinal positioning, foot placement, etc., and sometimes it can complicate things, make people fearful, and mystify the movement.
Basically, a proper squat and hip hinge starts (obviously) at the hips with the spine in a neutral position (more on this later). After a breath in, tension should be kept throughout the body and throughout the movement. The entire spine, including the neck, mid back, and lower back, should be kept in a relatively stable and neutral position. The feet should remain actively planted on the floor with the weight evenly distributed.
More on all of this to come.
In the beginning of my lifting career, I struggled with finding the “groove” of the squat. This is partially due to improper mental cueing during the movement. Some of my mental cues during the squat were:
“Arch the back hard to avoid spinal flexion.”
“Keep the head and chest up so they remain in line with the horizon.”
“Sit back and push through the heels.”
“Always squat below parallel.”
While there could be worse things, especially considering that, like most beginners, my sources of information were muscle magazines and of course the biggest guy(s) at the gym, I think these cues can be quite misleading and detrimental to squat technique.
Here’s why.
“Arch the Back Hard to Avoid Spinal Flexion.”
Avoid a hard arch in the lower back.
Don’t let the lower back round of course, but rather maintain the natural arch of the lumbar spine.
Hard lumbar extension will crunch down on the delicate structures of the spine, put the glutes in a less than optimal position to stabilize the pelvis, and place the hip in slight flexion before the movement even starts.
Starting in hip flexion will cause the femur to run out of room in the acetabulum for hip flexion when you want it most…at the bottom range of the squat. This could result in femoral acetabular impingement (FAI) and labrum pathology.
Get out of that hard arch and find your neutral.
“Keep the Head and Chest Up So They Remain in Line With the Horizon.”
Keeping the head and chest up isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however if we achieve that position by hyperextending our backs and flaring our ribs forward, it becomes problematic and essentially unstable.
Cueing a slight posterior pelvic tilt prior to un-racking the weight and maintaining that position throughout should do the trick. This will place the spine and ribcage in more of a neutral position.
We maintain the position by taking a breath, contracting the upper back, lats, mid section (as if putting on a tight belt or walking into cold water up to your navel), pelvic floor (as if holding in gas or urine), and even the feet (more on this to come).
Check out my explanation of what it means to “contract your core” right here. Tony does an awesome job of explaining this here, as does John Rusin here. Quinn Henoch and Ryan Brown also hit the point home here. Eric Cressey nails the upper body and lat set up here.
“Sit Back and Push Through the Heels.”
It’s true that we don’t want to push through our toes and allow our heels to rise off the floor, however it is also true that we don’t want to shift our weight so far backward that the toes lose contact with the floor and most of the force goes through our heels.
Yes, we want to descend slightly backward, but the focus should really be on descending down between our hips.
When we say we put an adversary on “his/her heels,” we are saying that we put them in a vulnerable position and on the defense, which will likely lead to a step backward. Why would we want to put ourselves on our own heels while squatting?
A better cue is to have an “active foot,” evenly maintaining 3 points of contact with the floor: base of big toe, base of little toe, and heel. Tony explains this really well here. This foot position will help stabilize the hips and knees, as well.
Mastering the “active foot” takes practice, but once you feel it, there’s no going back.
For everything you (and your children and their children’s children) will ever need to know about squatting, check out this bad boy by Greg Nuckols.
Find Your Squat
Hey fellow millennials!
Remember what our mothers taught us…we are all special, we are all unique, everyone is a winner, Mufasa died of natural causes, and most importantly, we are all different!
When it comes to the squat, this last point is key.
We are all structured differently, which is why there is no particular squat that is perfect for everyone. Things like foot position, stance width, and squat depth will all be impacted by things like the size of our torsos, length of our femurs, and the structure of our hips and pelvis. We need to find the squat variation that best “speaks” to us.
The classic example of this is hip flexion range of motion and lumbar compensatory spinal flexion.
Much has been written about this topic, and to avoid making this more like a Harry Potter book rather than a guest post, I’m going to refer you to some excellent articles down below.
Keep in mind that a range of motion measurement taken while lying on a treatment table DOES NOT always necessarily correlate to what we observe during an actual movement pattern like a squat and vice versa.
That being said, a 2008 study (stolen by me from afantastic articleby Bret Contreras) showed a 60 degree difference in hip flexion range of motion between the least flexible (80 degrees) and most flexible (140 degrees) subjects out of a total of 200 hips.
That’s quite a large difference, considering exercises like a deep squat require about 120 degrees of hip flexion. Differences in femoral anteversion/retroversion (how much the head of the femur faces forward or backward), acetabular anteversion/retroversion (how much the the hip socket faces forward or backward), and inclination angle of the femoral neck (angle of the neck and shaft) are seen from individual to individual as well as from hip to hip within the same person.
These genetic structural differences all change an individual’s ability to squat.
Thanks Mom and Dad…
Pushing past end range hip flexion in the descent of a squat for the sake of going deep will cause compensations up and down the chain, particularly flexion of the lumbar spine, AKA the dreaded “butt wink” (cue the tire screech and screams).
While some amount of lumbar flexion and “butt wink” is acceptable (we’ll get to that in a minute), too much, too often, in an uncontrolled manner, can be problematic.
So you can see why being married to a certain squat variation can be inappropriate.
If you are an individual that is unable to squat deeply but force yourself to perform deep barbell squats because your lifting partner says so, you’re setting yourself up for injury and a faulty and uncomfortable squat.
When it comes to varying your squat type, be sure to know your goal.
Why are you squatting?
To improve overall strength?
Hypertrophy?
To get a stronger squat?
To impress a member of the opposite sex (spoiler alert, they don’t care)?
To be able to pick up your child without pain?
There are many variations of the squat.
The conventional barbell back squat is just one option and unless you are training for a powerlifting meet, where you will be required to perform the conventional barbell back squat, there is no reason to lock yourself into only one type of squat.
Why not try a goblet squat? Or a sumo squat? Or a front squat? Why not use dumbbells or kettlebells instead of a barbell? If structured correctly, any variation of the squat will improve strength and hypertrophy as well as train the hip hinge and proper bending/lifting mechanics.
What’s the take home? We are all structurally different and it is important to find the squat pattern that works best of us.
Here are some great resources that will help you find the squat pattern that works best for you and your anatomy:
Note From TG: Nicholas is kind to include me amongst such elite company (Note to Self: you owe Nick 1000 Predator handshakes), but mine is easily the least pithy of the bunch.
Neutral Spine…Does It Exist?
Yes and no.
Research has shown that lumbar flexion, particularly at the bottom of a squat (the previously mentioned butt wink), is quite natural in a squatting pattern, particularly at the point in the movement where the hips start to run out of space for further flexion.
I agree with Quinn Henoch that neutral spine is more of a range rather than a set position, so don’t lose sleep over a little spinal flexion.
How much excursion is too much?
You knew the answer before you asked it.
It depends!
That being said, you definitely want to avoid movement at the spine and pelvis as much as possible. A moving base causes leaked energy and therefore less stability and built up tension. This means less force produced, less strength, and less Instagram pictures with a bumper-plate loaded bar on your back.
Don’t Stop Squatting Because You Have Pain Or Feel Restricted
If you experience pain during a squat, SEE A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONER.
You want someone that will question the type of squat that hurts, ask when in the range of motion the pain occurs, analyze your squat pattern, ask about weekly volume and load, inquire about recovery and sleep, and do everything in his/her power to keep you squatting.
There are always ways to modify the squat in order to keep training this key movement pattern while training with an injury.
Sharp pain at the bottom of a squat?
Try using a more neutral spine with slight flexion using a goblet squat to free up some space in that acetabulum.
No good?
Try adding a band around the knees during a few warm up sets.
Still no good?
Add a box to squat to at a level just above where the pain is felt.
The point is, you deserve better than a rushed, “Stop squatting for 4 weeks, take these anti-inflammatories, and see me in a month.
Oh, and if that doesn’t work, try foam rolling, cupping, turmeric, an oxygen deprivation mask, and VooDoo floss bands in a bath of apple cider vinegar and creatine.”
Fixing the symptoms with things like medication and surgery without considering the cause is an all too common theme.
These things have their place, of course, however they must be used appropriately. For example, surgery to repair a labrum that was damaged after repetitive impingement due to faulty lumbo-pelvic mechanics would be like fixing ceiling tiles in your living room instead of fixing the leaky roof.
After the surgery, if the individual returns to squatting with the same mechanics that got him/her under the knife in the first place, what good has been accomplished? Doesn’t make sense to repair, install, and paint shiny new ceiling tiles without fixing the roof first. Check out a video I made on this a while back right here.
So What Can We Do To Improve How The Squat Looks And Feels?
This is a tough question, because, as you probably guessed, everyone is different and it depends.
I recommend seeking out a qualified healthcare practitioner that will assess, reassess, and give you the tools to improve your individual squat.
Gone are the days of performing long, drawn out warm ups in the name of injury prevention, mobility, and movement optimization. A warm up should increase your heart rate and mentally and physically prepare you for the specific movements of the day.
The warm up should be active, specific and purposeful, not a cookie cutter series of activities like flailing around on the dirty gym floor or jamming a lacrosse ball into your sciatic nerve in hopes to break up adhesions in your piriformis.
Things like static stretching and foam rolling are passive activities.
In contrast, light cardio, dynamic stretching, loaded eccentrics, and actually getting under the bar and grooving the squat movement with sub-max loads are all active.
Passive activities like foam rolling do have their place, but they should be used appropriately. The benefits of foam rolling are short-lived, so if you’re going to foam roll, I’ve found it best to do it in between warm up sets. Of course, the specific muscles you target will be individual to you, your body, and your squat. For more on this, check out my article and videoas well as this fantastic episode of Mobility Mythsby Quinn Henoch.
Don’t feel obligated to use cardio as the only way to increase heart rate.
A dynamic series/circuit of exercises, combined with specific mobility work using active techniques such as loaded eccentricsand reciprocal inhibition (here and here), followed by some squatting with bodyweight or just the bar, will increase your heart rate just fine, not to mention both physically and mentally prime your system.
You get more bang for your buck.
For more on a proper warm up, including explanations of how to put it all together, check out my current lower body warm up right here as well as a great hip mobility exercisenot in included in my warm up video.
Also, Quinn Henoch (<— can you tell I have a little man-crush on him?) nails it in this episode of Mobility Myths about stretching.
And That’s That
I hope this helps in your journey to finding and perfecting your individual squat.
Remember, there is nothing to fear about the squat and there is no need to overcomplicate this foundational movement. Don’t forget to take advantage of all the resources provided in this article, as they are from some of the greatest minds this field has ever seen. Happy squatting!
Oh, and one more thing…knees drifting over toes is OK.
About the Author
Nicholas M. Licameli
Doctor of Physical Therapy / Pro Natural Bodybuilder
Every single thing he does, Nick believes in giving himself to others in an attempt to make the world a happier, healthier, and more loving place.
He wants to give people the power to change their lives. Bodybuilding and physical therapy serve as ways to carry out that cause. Nick graduated summa cum laude from Ramapo College of New Jersey with his bachelor’s degree in biology, furthered his education by completing his doctoral degree in physical therapy from Rutgers School of Biomedical and Health Sciences (previously the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey) at the age of 24, and has earned professional status in natural bodybuilding.
His knowledge of sport and exercise biomechanics, movement quality, and the practical application of research combined with personal experience in bodybuilding and nutrition allows him to help people in truly unique ways. Love. Passion. Respect. Humility. Never an expert. Always a student. Love your journey.
Squat technique is a daunting topic to write about. No matter what, despite logic, sound reasoning and the fact not everyone falls neatly into any one way of doing anything (especially as it relates to lifting weights), some people are going to get triggered and go batshit crazy.
This post may rub some people (and coaches) the wrong way, but I beg you to take a deep breath, listen to what I have to say, and understand that this is not an attack against you or your way of doing things.
Rather, what follows is a brief look into what works for me and what I feel works best for the bulk of people I work with on a weekly basis as it relates to coaching the squat.
In short: Making the squat look more like a squat.
Gone, I feel, are the days where we’re overzealous with cueing people to aggressively sit back during their squats.
For competitive powerlifters, who are into powerlifting, and who are wearing squat suits, while they powerlift…the cue to sit back makes a lot of sense.
For everyone else?
Mmm, not so much.
Call me crazy (and some may do just that), but I’d garner a guess that many trainees would benefit from two subtle tweaks to their squat:
No more (or less emphasis on) sitting back.
Finding and maintaining foot pressure.
The former is not to say I don’t advocate to sit back. I do. It’s just I feel there should be a simultaneous break with knees going forward AND hips going back on the descent. The net result is a SQUAT down.
The latter takes a bit more practice, but has a profound effect on one’s ability to have a bit more “umph” out of the hole (quads, baby!) and to stay in a better position throughout the rep/set (I.e., less falling or dipping forward).
Check out the brief video below. Hopefully it’ll make sense and not cause anyone to punch a wall with their face.
I kid you not, as I type these words I am sitting in my apartment waiting for the delivery guys from Sleepy’s to drop off the new mattress Lisa and I bought the other night.
Not that any of you reading are in any way interested in mine and Lisa’s sleep quality5, but she’s had the same mattress for about a decade (and we’ve been together for six years), so it was time to upgrade.
We walked to the local Sleepy’s down the street from our apartment and spent a good two hours test driving a few mattresses6 and narrowed it down to the one that’s supposed to be arriving between 8-12PM today (or when hell freezes over, whichever comes first).
We’re totally going to be asleep at like 6 tonight. Can’t wait!
A few things before I get to this week’s list of stuff to read:
Last weekend marked my official “start date” for my new solo venture.7 I’m sub-leasing space from Run Strong Studio in Brookline, MA (Boston) and training people out of there. Here’s a little flavor for what it looks like:
A video posted by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on
Rebecca – the woman who owns the studio – has been awesome. She’s a doctor who trains people on the side (mostly runners) in a rehab setting. When we met for the first time in person I saw she had a copy of Gray Cook’s Movement on her desk and she also dropped a few Mike Boyle and PRI references. I knew right away she was eating at the cool kids table.
Since our first meeting to now she’s allowed me to “vomit” strength and conditioning and bring in a bunch of equipment into her space. The result is what you see above.
It’s nothing fancy pants, but it’s perfect for what I’m looking to do: coach people, write awesome programs, and make them into badasses.
The first week has gone well and I’ve already had several people perform their initial assessment and are primed to get after it. If you’re in Boston and want to check things out for yourself you can go HERE.
ALSO
As a reminder: Dean Somerset and I will be in Los Angeles (Anaheim) at CrossFit 714 for our Complete Shoulder and Hip Workshop the weekend of November 14th.
That’s in two weeks, yo. For more information you can go HERE.
[Cue obligatory “this is why Tony & Dean are the awesome” testimonial here]
“Being cynical of the workshop frenzy in our industry has made me extremely picky with how I spend my time and money with my educational efforts. Tony and Dean presented our group with simple and concise information that will be easy to implement into my business’ daily operations.
The assessments and corrective strategies that I learned this weekend will be very useful in any size setting which translates to me being able to spend more time growing my business while delivering an effective product. If you value your time and the quality of your work, this is a must-attend event.”
Last week (another) major story broke reminding everyone that red-meat is going to kill us all. It happens every year, it’s nothing new, really, it’s not, and the mainstream media latches onto it and apocalizes (<– Yep, I just made up a word) it.
RUN EVERYONE. BACON IS GOING TO KILL YOU. AHHHHH……….
Cressey Sports Performance business director, Pete Dupuis, explains why we waited seven years before pulling the trigger and opening a second location.
Nicholas M. Licameli
