Squatting Wisdom: Anatomy, Mistakes, and Solutions
Introduction
The Importance of Squats
Most people will say that they do not like back squats but they know they are really good for developing muscle size and strength of the leg. I knew this information before I started my training journey, but something about the movement clicked well with me.
I always found it quite easy to do and get good depth. It was not until I was doing my undergraduate in strength and conditioning that I learned some people are anatomically built to squat, and some people are not. I will touch on this more when we discuss the anatomy of the squat.
I want you to change your view on squats from being a single exercise to a whole movement pattern. Squatting is more than the standardised barbell back squat or front squat. Multiple exercises come under the squat pattern such as:
Lunges
Split squat
Bulgarian split squat
Deadlifts (half squat, half hinge)
Pistol and skater squat
Goblet squat
During this article, we will be focusing our attention on the high bar back squat. Placing our attention on the Anatomy of the back squat, common mistakes, ways to prepare for your back squats, and hidden gems when it comes to back squatting. But remember that squatting itself is a movement pattern, not just a single exercise.
Benefits of Improving Your Back Squats
Everyone can benefit from improving their squatting pattern. You squat to pick up heavy objects, sit down and stand up, and squat when getting out of bed. One thing that occurs as you get older is the atrophy of muscles. This is where the size of your muscles starts to decrease, and with this decrease in size comes a decrease in strength. Working on your squats throughout adulthood can significantly slow down the rate at which your muscles atrophy.
If you suffer from clicking knee joints or find discomfort around the top of your knees/quads, then squatting could be the answer, as the movement helps strengthen the muscles around the knee, offering more support and structure to the overused joint.
Client Example
Someone who benefited from working on squatting patterns was Bruce. Bruce came to me after suffering a severe motorcycle accident that saw him break both his knees, his foot, and multiple other bones and ligaments. The end result of the accident was his not being able to walk for several months.
Once he had regained his ability to walk, he realised how limited he was in all aspects of movement, especially being able to sit down and stand up with relative ease and pain-free. When we worked together, there was a large limit in Bruce's range of motion due to months of being stuck in one position and the build-up of scar tissue.
We worked on many things together, and one of our main focuses was restoring good levels of knee flexion, of course, understanding that there will always be some limitations due to the surgical procedures that took place.
Here, you can see our first session and attempt at squatting (red shirt) and then you can see our second to last session (blue shirt) and the depth he was able to get to. This wasn't achieved purely by doing the squat but by doing movements that helped encourage his knee to bend and work on the surrounding muscles of the joint.
The squatting movement pattern can greatly improve strength, power, and mobility in a rehabilitation setting.
Understanding the Back Squat
Anatomy of a Back Squat
I mentioned earlier that not everyone can squat, which comes down to movement competency and anatomical structure. People with a longer femur (thigh bone) than their torso always struggle to squat to deep depth.
Femur Location on the body
This is due to the length of their femurs, which limits them from sinking deeper as the knee can not travel as far over the toes as someone with a shorter femur. For those with a longer femur, their torso tends to lean much further forward, which can place a lot more stress on the lower back rather than on the legs.
Credit:Quora
It could also be due to the structure of the hip socket. Some people have a deeper hip pocket that allows the femoral head to have more freedom to move when sinking into a squat, whereas others have a shallower socket, and the femoral head has a limited range of motion.
However, this does not mean you can not perform a squatting pattern. Back squats are the most common means of squatting but it is not the only means to develop leg strength and size. If you are set on back squatting then that is fine too, you do not have to go as deep as someone who has much shorter and more back squat-friendly limbs.
Common Back Squat Mistakes To Avoid
Depth
Often when squatting, people always attempt to go as low as they can or ass to grass as a means to get greater recruitment of the muscles.
When you go too low, your lower back loses its integrity. When you squat, you ideally want to keep a neutral spine which consists of curves. When you go too low, the curve at the lower back becomes excessive. This means that when you try to ascend out of the bottom position, the first movement occurs at the lower back as it returns back to neutral rather than the legs taking the majority of the weight.
The best way to overcome this is by recording your squat from the side so you can see where the lower back starts to curve. Or you can grab someone in the gym or your training partner to tell you when to stop just before the lower back begins to curve under
From there you can practice pause squats to help you get a better feel for the ideal depth as well as build up strength in that bottom position which tends to be the point where most squats go wrong.
Bar Placement
When programming back squats for my online coaching members, I will always advise them not to use the hip thrust pads to put on the bar. The reason is that the pad offsets where the bar should sit and ends up putting the bar high up on the neck when, in reality, the bar should be placed on the back.
Credit: BarBend
When setting up underneath the bar, instead of placing it on the bottom of the neck, place it a bit lower on the traps and pull the bar into the traps which creates a muscle pillow on which the bar sits. I won't lie to you; the first few sets of squats won't feel comfortable, but it takes two sessions to feel normal.
Bar Height
It's not a common thought issue, but where you place the bar makes the difference in how your squat will turn out. If you place it too high, you have to tip-toe or shrug one side to get the bar off the pins.
If you set it too low, you are more or less doing a half-rep just trying to get the bar off. The ideal position of the bar should be around mid-chest height. This height allows you to set yourself underneath the bar comfortably, and you are in an advantageous position to lift the bar out of the rack and get into a squat stance without wasting too much energy. Energy conservation becomes a big factor when the weight on the bar starts to get significantly heavy (1.5> x body weight)
Knee movement
A common thought people tend to have when squatting is limiting the movement of the knees over the toes and collapsing inwards.
When you limit how much your knees can travel over the toes, you severely limit the depth you can achieve with your squat. The knees going over the toes allow the femur (thigh bone) to move around the hip socket, and as I mentioned earlier, that movement allows for the load to be taken by the legs rather than the lower back when in the bottom position.
The left shows the depth when knees stop at toes. The right shows the depth when knees go past the toes.
Credit: Squat University
The knees can also cave in when performing the back squat; however, they should not collapse completely. The heavier the weight you lift, the bigger the collapse of the knees. The reason this happens is due to the adductor muscles work in conjunction with the quadriceps to help bring you back to the starting position. But you do not want the knees collapsing in so much that they are almost touching, this will lead to knee injuries further down the line.
Getting Started With Back Squatting
Assessing Your Current Back Squat
When assessing your squat, you must clearly see the movement from top to bottom. When recording yourself, the best position is from the side because you can see the following:
Bar path
Lower back movement
Torso position
Bar placement
After you have recorded the side, the next angle to record from is the front, as it will allow you to see the following:
Knee movement
Foot positioning
Finally, you can record from behind however, you are not able to see much, mainly you will be looking to see if there is a shift in the hips, meaning you bias one side more when squatting.
Once you have critiqued your form, you can assess your squat strength. I would recommend doing a 3-5 rep max procedure rather than trying to do a 1-rep max as you will need someone there to support you, and that might not sound appealing
to you.
With a 3-5 rep max test, it is still challenging, but you do not have to push yourself to the extreme, and there are plenty of online calculators that calculate your one rep max from those scores.
This test can be repeated every 8 weeks or you can track your weights and see if they are progressing over time.
Range Of Motion For The Back Squat
Mobility vs Flexibility For Squatting
Getting into deep squat positions requires mobility at the hip and ankle. When going through your warm-up, you should focus on getting the ankle and hips moving not only in the positions of the squat but also in less common positions as it is best practice to get the whole joint mobile and prepared.
Mobility movements do not have to be restricted to warm-up only. You can sprinkle these in as you are resting or during different points of the session, which will have a positive impact on your mobility in the long term rather than the here and now.
This is known as micro-dosing or greasing the groove. It is an effective training tool used for people who are limited in time but still want/need to improve their strength. This style of training not only increases strength but also enhances skill learning through continuous repetition as there is a low amount of fatigue associated with this style of training.
Pre-Squat Warm-up Routine
Here is a squat warm-up routine you can follow to help prep you for the lift:
Hip Step Through W/ Perturbation 1x15es
Assisted Deep squat sit 1x 30-60 seconds
Ankle Rocks 1x 10es
Squat To hamstring Extention 1x10
If you were to go down the micro-dosing route, you can incorporate mobility movements around joints that specifically need more focus. If that is the ankles, then you can do ankle rocks in between sets, as well as calf stretches to help loosen the muscle in that area.
If the hips are the problem area then you can some movements I like to incorporate for my online fitness team is couch stretch to loosen up the hip flexor and Standing Hips CARS to get movement around the the whole hip joint.
Forgotten Gems for Squatting
Proper Footwear
There are many things to remember in general when performing the squat, but there are some other aspects that you can do which will make a difference to your ability to squat comfortably and squat heavy loads.
One of these is wearing the proper footwear. When squatting, you want a stable surface so you can push the ground away. Most trainers are designed to have a thick sole and a thin base, which is not an issue when training, but with the focus on pushing the whole foot into the ground to help get the weight up, it becomes an issue.
A simple solution to this would be to buy a pair of trainers with a flat sole, the go-to option for these is Chuck Taylor. You can purchase a pair of lifting shoes from Nike, Reebok, Rouge. These have flat soles and slightly elevated heels to allow you to sink a bit deeper into your squat. Vivo minimalist shoes also offers a flat foot element to your training. For a more cost-effective method, you can perform your squats in your socks/barefoot, which is my go-to method just because I like to get my foot out of a trainer as I spend all day wearing them.
Weight Options
You wouldn’t turn up to work, and the first thing you do is jump into a 45-minute meeting, you would get yourself settled, have your coffee, check your emails and mentally prepare for the day. The same is true when approaching your squat and having warm-up sets.
Warm-up sets are sets you perform before getting into your working sets.
For example:
Working sets: 120 kg 3x6
Warm-up set 1: 60kg x10
Warm-up set 2: 80kg x 8
Warm-up set 3: 100kg x3-4
Warm-up sets can help prep you for the movement and can also be a tool to help you gauge how strong you are feeling for that session. When doing your warm-up sets, you want to be mindful of how challenging you find them. The weights should only start to feel challenging the closer you get to your working set.
If you are warming up and it takes a fair amount of effort to get through it then that is a good indicator to reduce the weight for the working set or how many reps you do. Before starting your working sets, you should aim to do 2-3 warm-up sets.
Breathing Techniques
One thing all my clients, both online and in-person, have always struggled with remembering to breathe during an exercise. You may be the same too. When back squatting, it is a little easier to remember.
You need to get your breathing sorted to set yourself up for a successful back squat. When starting the squat, you want to inhale and imagine you are blowing up a balloon in your stomach. If you struggle to feel the stomach and back expand, you can place one hand on your stomach and the other on your chest, focusing on making the hand on the stomach move away as you inhale.
You are not aiming to inhale as much air as you can. It should only take about 2 seconds to inhale the ideal amount of air.
Once you have taken this inhale, you want to hold your breath to create internal pressure, this acts as a natural weightlifting belt, keeping the core and spine in a locked and safe position. Then you begin the descent of the squat.
When ascending from the bottom position of the back squat, it is important to exhale forcefully through pursed lips to maintain internal pressure and help stabilise the core and spine. As well as this helps with maintaining proper form and preventing injury.
Setbacks With Squatting
Overcoming Plateaus
Just like with weight loss, you hit plateaus with your training. It can be frustrating, but look at it as a time to strip back the movement and work on different portions of the lift. More often than not, it will always be a lack of strength coming out of the bottom of the squat.
When these periods of plateaus occur, I find it helpful to add some variety to my training. Variations of the squat, as well as variations of other lower body movements, create a different stimulus for my body to adapt to.
Pause squats are always a good movement to practice squat technique and build strength in the bottom position. Also, adding more single-leg exercises can be a good tool to help increase strength on a more specific level. Examples include split squats, partial skater squats, and eccentric bias Bulgarian split squats.
The body adapts to stimulus, and it could be a case where a change in stimulus is needed to help pose a new challenge for the body and encourage more growth for you to then go back to your original style of training and see improvement.
Dealing with Injuries
Unfortunately, the one thing guaranteed when you go to the gym is that you will get injured. That's just a consequence that comes with training. The severity of the injury differs; injuries can be minor, where a muscle may be sensitive/sore for a few weeks. Then there are those on the more severe end, which take a few months to heal.
Back squats pose a risk of injury, but there is always a means to recover. Always practice safety when back squatting.
Always use a load you can handle.
Increase in realistic increments (2.5-5kg).
Use the safety pins.
Always face towards the rack when squatting and walk backwards to unrack.
If you sustain an injury, do not push through it. Give the body time to recover and step away from back squats. You can still train, but this is where you can introduce other variations and squat patterns to your training to help get you back into the squatting motion, eventually getting you back to squatting with the bar.
Key Takeaways Of The Back Squat
The main focus of this article was on the barbell back squat. Still, this guide aims to teach you different ways to improve your squatting and educate you on the importance of squats as a whole movement pattern rather than just a single exercise.
When deciding whether or not to include back squats in your training plan, think of the benefits that can come along with squats, such as slowing down the rate at which your muscles atrophy and improving strength around the knee joint and how it can be helpful in rehab settings, as illustrated by the case of Bruce who was able to improve his knee flexion range of motion and mobility through squatting.
Remember that your anatomy can be a factor in how you squat. Not everyone is anatomically built to back squat, but shifting your view on squats to being a movement pattern rather than just a single exercise will allow you more freedom to develop.
We also covered some common mistakes to avoid when back squatting, as well as some hidden gems that you may not be adding into your back squats, which could make the difference in the amount of weight you can lift and the depth you can achieve.
Call To Action
Using the squat assessment method detailed here in this article,
Record your squat
Asses areas that need improvement
Make notes on key areas
If you need help addressing these improvement areas, my inbox is open for inquiries.
I hope this helped,
Till next time,
Myles
