How to Perfect Your Squat Form
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If you've ever struggled with maintaining proper form during squats or felt unsure about your technique, this episode is for you. Join me in this episode of the “Embrace Your Real” as we unravel the secrets to mastering this fundamental exercise, empowering you to train smarter, safer, and more effectively. Whether you're a beginner or seasoned lifter, there's something valuable here for everyone.
Today, we're revolutionizing our approach with a detailed breakdown on perfecting your squat form. It's not just about aesthetics; it's about maximizing gains and preventing injuries. Get ready for a step-by-step guide to elevate your squat game and achieve unparalleled results!
What I discuss:
Knee and feet placement.
Engage your core
Don’t allow your chest to move.
Push your hips back!
Lower to 90 degrees.
Maintain control through the movement!
Breathe correctly!
Don’t be afraid to go down in weight!
If you loved this episode, be sure to tune in to…
Episode 364 - How the Heck Should You Breathe in a Lift? (Part 1)
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey there, beautiful human you're listening to Embrace Your Real With Me, Julie Ledbetter, a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I get you a dose of real talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it. Let's go.
Welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Real podcast. I wanted to try something new on the podcast. It's 2024. We're all about trying new things, and I kind of want to break down kind of how to perfect the squat form. So if you could tune into this episode, if you have a spot where you could be in front of a mirror and you have your dumbbells, I think that that would be super beneficial.
You can always bookmark this episode. And so the next time you are working out, you can tune in and you can try it out for yourself. But mastering proper squat form is not just for esthetics. It's actually crucial for maximizing the benefit of your squat and also to prevent injuries. Poor form means that you're not working the right muscles to the fullest, which means that you're not going to see optimal results, and plus poor form can open you up to risk of injury. So when you're not using the right muscles and you're using muscles in the wrong way, you could tweak, twist or pull something which is not something that we want in 2024.
And so the squat is one of the kind of main lift weightlifting or resistance training exercises. As a compound movement. It targets multiple large muscle groups. It gives you kind of the biggest bang for your buck. This can target your quads, your hamstrings, your glutes, your lower back. And like I said, executing squats incorrectly. That will lead to discomfort, injury, and hindered progress overall. So I kind of want to dive into how to do this squat and then also how to fix your form if you're not performing it properly right now, you can kind of think of this episode as your ultimate squat guide that will provide you with kind of a step by step breakdown of the key elements that constitute a flawless squat.
Like, I know you know, all over social media, you see these influencers for lack of a better term, and some of them have great form. And then others you're like who? But when you see someone with good form it, you're drawn to it. You just know, like, dang, that's really good form. It's slow, it's controlled. I can see the actual muscles that are being worked.
But before we dive in, I wanted to share. This reveal comes from Black Unicorn 1974. I love that screen name. She gave a five star review and said just what I needed to hear. I don't know how Julie does it, but she seems to cover the topics and I listen at just the right time. From how to lose weight properly to how to lift weight properly, how to just feel better about yourself in general. Julie covers it. I've also been following her workouts on the movement with Julie app, and I can feel myself getting stronger every day. If you're looking for a positive, uplifting content, this podcast is for you.
I love that so, so much. Thank you Black Unicorn for tuning in and leaving a rating and review. Also so grateful to hear that the app is helping you and that the moment with Julie workouts are serving you. That is always something that I love to hear and I'm so grateful you're in that community. Okay, so let's dive in to squat and kind of how to perform and perfect the squat.
So step number one is your knee and foot placement. So why is this so important. Well during the process of kind of the movement your knee should never really go over your toes. And this this again will vary from person to person depending on your torso and your ratio of torso and all those things. But it should never really your knee should never really go completely over your toes if you do this, this can trigger injury. And by having kind of the proper foot placement, this can ensure that your knees are in line with your toes, which is not always optimal when it comes to this squat form. So when your feet are positioned correctly, your knees will naturally track over your ankles throughout the squat movement. And this can help like keep your knees in line. And this actually prevents them from caving inwards, which can put this unwanted stress on your ligaments and tendons, especially in your knees, which is ultimately going to lead to discomfort and injury in your knees and in multiple different places in your legs. Plus, this proper foot placement can help to engage the correct muscles during the squat.
So, for example, having your toes slightly outward like you would in a sumo squat that's going to activate the glutes and hamstrings more effectively, as well as having them kind of pointed straight ahead, like a traditional squat that will put more emphasis on your quads. So this change depending on what kind of squat you're doing, like if you're in the mood usually group, you know that we have so many different squats. We do, we do, we do a goblet squat, we do a plié squat, we do a sumo squat, we do a back squat. In a traditional squat, your foot placement should be kind of right underneath your hips with toes pointed forward. In a sumo squat, your feet are going to be wider than your hips, pointing outwards at a 45 degree angle. So in a goblet squat, there is, definitely more in line with a traditional squat, a sumo squat a plié squat is a little bit wider of a stance with your feet than a sumo squat, so just keep that in mind. Back squat again very traditional squat. So that's going to be kind of again just right underneath your hips with your toes pointed forward. You'll notice that having your feet positioned too close together that can actually limit your. Your squat depths. If it's too narrow, it's going to limit your squat depth, and a wider stance allows you to actually sit back deeper into the squat, which can increase your ROM, which is just essentially from range of motion, which works your muscles more effectively. So if you can't yet perform like a traditional squat, if that feels funky to you, then try to go a little bit out with more in a sumo squat, a wider stance.
But oftentimes, if you can't perform a traditional squat with your knees under your hips, it's because your hip flexors aren't flexible enough yet, which is something that we can chat about in a later episode, but slightly widen your stance and that will allow you to keep your proper form. So maybe it's not completely in a sumo squat stance, but it's a little bit wider than what you would ideally want to have with a traditional squat, and then you can gradually work your way back towards that traditional squat position as your hip flexors become more flexible. So to kind of sum this up, your knees, your ankles and toes should always be tracking in the same like tracking in the same position, exactly in line. No matter what kind of squat you're doing. Many women have this tendency to let their knees kind of go inward, especially when the lift starts to get hard. And that's that's what you really need to keep your eye on. Some additional tips for a proper foot placement during squats. Avoid rolling your ankles inward or outward. Press evenly throughout your entire foot. So not just on your toes, or not just on your heels, but your entire foot. And then experience again with these different foot placements to see what feels most comfortable and what feels most stable for you.
Step number two engage your core. I'm sure you've all heard this before, and some of you guys immediately know what I'm talking about. Other guys are like, I have no idea what you're talking about. When you say engage my core, especially in a squat. So this step is really important, as many women tend to kind of tweak their lower back during squats especially. And oftentimes it's because they're not intentional about engaging their core. So to do this you need to have that neutral spine, no arch in your lower back, no rounding of your shoulders forward, because that's what's going to trigger this injury. So as you lower your body into the squat, focus on keeping your spine straight and your shoulders back. So this neutral spine shape, this is going to help distribute the weight evenly across your back so that you can prevent excessive strain on your lower back, which again is very, very common a squat injury. This is also a very common deadlift industry in an injury, which is something that I'll go into on a different podcast when I break down the deadlift. But something that I like you to think about for the neutral spine is really tucking your pelvis under. So when you do this, your spine will naturally go into a neutral position. So kind of going back to the core, like you need to engage your core to keep this neutral spine position through your squat reps. Your core is what is going to keep this spine position in place throughout the entire exercise. So when doing this correctly, you could actually even have like a sore core next day. Even though you may, you didn't intentionally work your core. With the squat being a compound exercise, you're targeting multiple muscle groups. But one thing that I want to state, because oftentimes when I say that if people, you know, people hear that and they say, oh, well, my core wasn't sore in the next day, does that mean I was doing it wrong? No, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're doing it wrong. But just when you start to activate your core in any lift, not only will you find yourself being able to lift heavier because you kind of have a whole other muscle group that's helping you out, but you'll also be strengthening your core, your deep core, your abs at the same time. So before you even start the descent into your squat, it's essential to engage those core muscles. And this is really achieved by drawing your belly button towards your spine. So think about kind of zipping up and drawing that belly button back towards your spine. And this engagement really serves multiple purposes. It protects your lower back from excessive strain and also stabilizes your torso throughout the entire squat movement. So really that is a key part again. So any every time and you can even reset it if you need to reset. Engaging that core every single rep. That's what you need to do. I'd rather you get 6 to 8 solid reps in of you engaging your core, keeping that, maintaining that neutral spine rather than you trying to power through 12 to 15 reps that have low muscle engagement and you put yourself at a higher risk for injury. So how to maintain that neutral spine? Well, a neutral spine is crucial for squatting safely and effectively because as you lower your body into the squat, you have to focus on keeping your spine straight to avoid any sort of rounding of your shoulders. And also remember that a neutral spine helps to distribute the way evenly across your back, which prevents excessive stress on your lower back, which is what I mentioned earlier. All right.
Step number three. Do not allow your chest to move. So once you set up your neutral spine with your shoulders rolled back, you want to make sure that your upper chest stays put. So during the exercise your upper body should not be moving at all, which means that your chest. Should never dip forward. As you're doing this exercise. When your chest dips too far forward, your spine compensates. And that's what rounds in that lower back. And that's what can put too much stress on your discs. Ligaments in your back, which can drastically increase your risk of injury. Also, that's what might make you feel really sore in your lower back. If you are. Again, your chest is going too far out. You're moving your upper body, which is rounding those shoulders. Plus, a dip in your chest usually means that your core is not engaged properly either, which is what we just chatted about. So how you'll know whether or not your core is properly engaged. If your chest remains in the same spot throughout the entire lift, then you're engaging your core properly. If your chest moves throughout the lift, then you need to work on engaging your core more. Again, trying back that pellet, that belly button to your spine is something I almost think about a zipper, like all the way from, you know, my vagina area zipping up my core, so zipping it up to my belly button, really driving that belly button back to my spine. When your chest steps forward, you restrict your squat depth as well. So if you're struggling with range of motion, it could also be that your chest is dipping forward as well. And what I mean by this is you're not able to really squat all the way down fully, which will prevent you from fully working those muscles. Right? Range of motion helps you to work those full muscles, especially in your glutes and hamstrings, which is what you want. What you want is to be able to maximize the exercise so that you'll be able to strengthen all different parts of the muscles that should be working in that squat. So any kind of easy rule of thumb for knowing whether or not your chest is in the correct place is seeing if your shoulders are in line with your knees at the bottom of the lift. So the part of lift where your knees are most bent. If your shoulders are past your knees, then you've allowed your chest to dip and you need to activate those core muscles more. This is also why I love to have a mirror. I tell people all the time, if you can invest even in a cheap, you know, $3,040 mirror, that will help you tremendously, especially if you're wanting to activate your muscles, you're wanting to lift smart and you're wanting to really focus on form. Seeing yourself and seeing yourself in American help. If you don't have a mirror, at the very least try to film yourself, whether that is in the front and a side view that can give you a great kind of grasp on what you're doing. Because oftentimes if you're just going through the movement but you don't have a mirror, you're you're not looking at it on a phone video, then you won't see, oh, my chest is actually going forward, which is leading my shoulders to down, which is leading my core to not be engaged. And then you'll you'll start to see now that you have the things to look out for, you'll be able to look at that.
Step number four is to push your hips back. So the best way to describe, like the proper movement that you should make in a squat is to imagine that you are sitting back in an imaginary chair. If you don't push your hips back, your knees will get pushed over your toes and your chest will dip forward. Which are that two big nose. You know, from what we just talked about. So to get the movement right, you can actually place a chair even behind you. If you want to try this, place a chair behind you and squat down until your bum touches the chair where it would normally land if you were sitting in a chair. As you can see, like all of these steps are kind of starting to work together, which is setting you up to perform each step properly. And when one thing is off, it kind of triggers this domino effect. But this means that it's easy to correct your form because you'll realize if one thing is off. Oh, all I need to do is focus on my chest not dipping, and then I will engage my core and then my shoulders won't round. It's it's you can check yourself with multiple different points, but one point being addressed can actually address all the other points, but kind of pushing your hips back into your squat. This is going to initiate the full movement of the squat. So think of pushing your hips back and keeping your upper body exactly how it is with zero movement. All of that movement is just coming from the movement of hips. Another way to practice your hip hinge movement is to stand in front of a door that's open, that can be closed, and as you kind of go back and you push your hips back, your butt should be pushing that door closed and you'll see that your upper body is not moving, but your butt is what's actually closing that door. That's a great exercise as well.
Step number five lower to 90 degrees. So once you start pushing your hips back, of course you want to start also bending your knees. And to perform a full squat, you want to lower your body until the thighs are parallel to the floor. Or you can think of this as your knees being bent to 90 degrees. This is typically equates to as deep as you can bend without lowering and rounding that lower back. So there are a few reasons why this is really important. Number one, compare to shallower squats where you don't bend down as far as 90 degree squat, 90 degree squats activate those glutes and hamstrings to a much greater degree and to an extent that. And the shallow squats. So you not only end up, you know, hitting your quads, but you're also hitting your booty, your hamstrings at the same time. And this is going to create a more balanced lower body workout, which can prevent, you know, muscle imbalances in the future. So if all you're doing is working your quads, you're going to end up likely having some knee pain due to muscle imbalances or vice versa. So what about going past 90 degrees? Well, some experts in weightlifters can do this in a safe way. It's not something that I recommend for the majority of people, simply because the majority of people are not that flexible. And it isn't really a conversation that, you know, the mass public needs to talk about. So really just try to hit that 90 degrees and don't really feel the need to go any deeper. Oftentimes, I think the reason I don't even want to go into it is because when people go deeper than 90 degrees, that's when they start to lose their form, and that's when you're at a higher risk of injury. So as you squat deeper the like, this forces on your knees, your hips, your ankles, and that increases. So if you have preexisting, you know, injuries or limited mobility that can actually aggravate the pain or lead to new injuries, which is not something that we want. So again, just trying to hit to that 90 degree bend and not going further.
Step number six maintain control throughout the movement. So now that we've gotten to the point where you're kind of at the bottom of your squat with your knees bent 90 degrees, this is the point where most people lose their form because pressing back up is kind of like the climax of the lift. So the most common mistakes that I see are people's knees that buckle, like their their knees are buckling inward or their chest dips forward. And so now that we have kind of set up our lift correctly, we need to focus super hard on that press up to maintain the proper form. Another common mistake that I see is people jerking or bouncing, which is just, you know, you want to keep things as smooth as possible. So these unnecessary movements can lead to poor form. And this is what is triggering injuries. So performing that slow and controlled repetition ensures that you're maintaining proper form and you're maximizing that muscle engagement. So to help you control your movement, I like to kind of count during my lifts so that I know that I'm not moving too fast. So kind of when you lower down and you press back up, that should take a full count of four. So this will kind of give you time. So even if you and this is a great way to kind of control tempo as well, which is another way that I talk about you can increase your progressive overload is by changing your tempo. So going slower. So on your way down you're counting one, two, three, four, five. And at five that's where you're bent at 90 degrees. And then you're counting five on the way up. So as you push up, making sure that you're pushing throughout your entire foot, not just your heel or your toe, and you're pushing one, two, three, four, five. And so that that will help you to maintain control throughout the movement.
Step number seven breathe correctly. Breathing is such an important tool that we need to utilize in any lift. Actually talked about this in episode 364. How the heck you should breathe in a lift? So I will link that in the show notes, but it can really help with core activation and it can give you so much more power when you're actually doing it correctly versus incorrectly. So when you start to learn how to breathe correctly, you'll realize, Holy cow, not only do I feel more powerful, but I also feel all my muscles being engaged as well as me not getting dizzy throughout a movement. So if you find yourself feeling dizzy throughout a movement or lightheaded, that oftentimes is a great indicator that you're not breathing properly. And if you find yourself not having enough power, it might be because you're not focusing on breathing. So again, episode 364 I will link it in the show notes, but that can be very, very helpful for you.
Number eight do not be afraid to go down in weight or even start with body weight, which I always tell people. If you are really focused on maintaining proper form or building in those strong cues so that you can have a solid lift, you have to be humble yourself. You have to humble your ego. And I know it's super hard. I know you want to go heavier, but it's just not worth it. And it's actually not going to be the way that you change your body composition. The way that you activate those muscles is through proper form. And the only way to have proper form is when you are allowing yourself the opportunity to focus on things. So again, mirrors can be very helpful. But even mirrors, sometimes you miss things. So if you're looking at in a mirror, if you could prop your phone in a different position, that it gives kind of a different angle on what you're doing in your squat, that can be very beneficial as well. And that will allow you to reduce the risk of injury, because oftentimes people hurt their back or they hurt something, they hurt their knees in their squat, and it's because they're trying to push heavier and they're just not recognizing the cues that you need to in order to maintain and perfect that squat. I love that my app has video demos that can be very helpful. And so these cues paired with the video demos can be very helpful to maintain that. Proper form. And again, just remember that you're creating that mind muscle connection. So yeah, might be frustrating at first that you have to drop down to low weight or even body weight. But you remember that you're creating that mind muscle connection, and before you know it, you'll have a solid squat pattern. You'll have a solid squat form so that when you do put on the heavier weight, you won't break that form. You've already created that mind muscle connection. One thing that I did want to know when it comes to mobility for squats is three things. So your ankle mobility can be very beneficial. One thing that you can do to help with your ankle mobility. So sit on a sit on the floor, extend one leg out and then make small circles with your ankle rotating it clockwise and then counterclockwise. That can be very beneficial. So repeat that a few times. You know 10 to 15 times on each leg. That can be very helpful. Also, when you are up against a wall, you can put your foot up against a wall and get that calf stretch. So can stretch for ten 15 seconds. Repeat on each leg a few times. That can be very beneficial for ankle mobility. Some ways to kind of improve your hip mobility. So kneeling on one leg with your other leg forward, your toes pointed out, keeping your back straight, gently push your hips forward until you feel that stretch in front of your hip. That can be very beneficial for hip mobility. And then last thing is improving your thoracic spine mobility. So stand with your feet shoulder width apart, clasp your hands behind your head and gently rotate your torso from side to side, keeping your hips square. That can be very helpful as well. One thing that you know, we live in a day and age where we can get instant education anywhere. So just type into YouTube ankle mobility or hip mobility or thoracic thoracic spine mobility. That can be very beneficial for you depending on what you are struggling with. Keeping that, keeping those aspects of your body mobile can be very helpful in just overall perfecting your squat form. So I hope that that was helpful. Again, I know it's kind of hard to show the squat form in a podcast version, but I thought that we give this a shot and see how you guys like it. I'm having those cuz I think can be very beneficial. So again, even just writing it down on your phone and having that the next time you see squats programed in your program or listen to this podcast, as I go through the the kind of cues and you can mimic them at home in front of a mirror can be helpful as well. If you are interested in learning more about my dumbbell only program, I do have a Julie app, which is five brand new workouts every single week. Dumbbell workouts for women. So all you need is a few pair of dumbbells, a small space and your phone. And then also the podcast that I talked about in my episode was how the heck you should breathe properly. That's definitely one that I would tune in. If you have struggled with feeling dizzy or lightheaded, or just not feeling like you have power in your lifts, it might be because your breathing needs just to be looked at and that you can follow those cues as well. So episode 364 I will link that in the show notes. And then Sally Dot movement with julie.com to learn more about my workouts. I will also link that in the show notes, but that is all that I have for today's episode. I hope that you enjoy it and I'll talk to you the next one.
All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an “a” in the middle for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace it real because you're worth it. [00:00:00][0.0]