If you ever watch toddlers move, you’ll notice that they execute picture-perfect squats time and again. But when you’re well into adulthood, how to do squats becomes a little more of a loaded question: Are your feet in the right position? Are you getting down far enough? Should you add weight?
While there’s a lot to unpack with how to do a proper squat, the benefits of learning how to squat correctly are immense—squat variations not only help you get stronger during your workouts, but they also represent a movement pattern that you use during everyday life.
“In life, we squat all the time, from playing with our children to going to the bathroom to sitting on a chair, ” Noam Tamir, C.S.C.S., founder and CEO of TS Fitness in New York City, tells SELF. “It’s very much a functional movement.”
When you learn how to do squats correctly, you can really make the most out of the move—and your workout. Here’s what you need to know.
What muscles do squats work, and what are the benefits of squats?
The squat is considered a compound movement, meaning it works multiple muscle groups across multiple joints. The primary muscles involved in the movement are your quadriceps (the muscles in the front of your thighs) and your glutes (your butt muscles), Tamir says. On the eccentric part of the move, or the lowering portion of the squat, the muscles in your hamstrings and your hip flexors fire too. Squats also work the muscles around the knee, which helps build strength and prevent injury, he says.
Throughout the move, your core muscles fire in order to keep you steady.
“Your abdominals are stabilizers,” he says. “So they assist in weight-bearing movements.” Strong core muscles are important because not only do they help you with your lifts, but they also reduce the risk of lower back pain.
If you do a weighted squat—whether using a dumbbell in a goblet squat, two dumbbells in a front squat, or a barbell in either a back or front squat—you’re also working your upper body. That’s because the move requires an isometric holding of weight, a static muscle contraction without any movement, Tamir says.
Weighted squats, like other forms of load-bearing physical activity, also benefit your bones: They help you build stronger bones, he says, which can help prevent osteopenia or osteoporosis as you get older.
Plus, since a proper squat requires mobility in your hips and ankles, you can also consider squatting a mobility exercise that can help you move better, Tamir says.
Everything you need to know about how to do squats
Before you start adding weight, you want to get the squat motion down with bodyweight squats first. Form is key, since performing squats properly can cut down the risk of injury during the move.
Here’s what you need to know about doing squats correctly, and how you can avoid some common squatting mistakes.
Before you squat, you should get in proper squat position: Keep your feet about shoulder-width apart, Tamir says. There’s no set rule for exact positioning of your feet—it’ll vary depending upon anatomical differences—but a good guideline is for them to turn out anywhere between 5 and 30 degrees. So rather than pointing straight ahead, your feet will turn out slightly, but how much they do will depend on your particular comfort level and mobility.
Dialing your feet into the ground helps engage your muscles, improve alignment, and create stability with the ground, says Tamir. It’ll also help keep your arches from collapsing, which can make your knees more likely to cave inward when you squat. (This is what’s known as knee valgus.)
Your upper body also matters for squats. “Keep your chest up, your chest proud,” says Tamir. This will prevent your shoulders and upper back from rounding—a common mistake—which could overstress your spine, especially if you are squatting with weight on your back.
When you’re ready to squat, think about starting the movement by bending your knees and pushing your hips back, says Tamir. Engage your core for the descent, and keep it braced throughout the move.
“Make sure you’re controlling the eccentric part of the movement,” he says. Rather than rushing through the downward motion, take a couple of seconds to lower yourself. This will increase time under tension for your muscles, which will make them work harder. (Slowing down the eccentric is also a great strategy to make the move feel harder if you’re working out at home and don’t have access to the weights you’re used to.)
Inhale while you lower, and as you squat down, your knees should track laterally above your first or second toe, Tamir says. Tracking too far in can also make your knees collapse inward, and tracking too far out can put extra stress on them. (Don’t worry so much about the old rule that your knees should never extend forward farther than your toes, Tamir says. Knees extending farther than your toes can happen due to anatomical differences in your bone length. Trying to restrict that movement can actually make you lean forward more, which can stress your lower back, according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.)
As for when you should stop the move? There’s lots of discussion about how low you should squat, but the average exerciser should shoot to hit parallel depth with their squats, says Tamir. “That means the back of your thighs will be parallel to the floor,” he says.
Some people have difficulty getting to parallel because of lack of mobility or injury—and if that’s the case, it’s better to end the squat at whatever depth is pain-free for you—but sometimes people default to quarter-squats because they’re using too much weight, says Tamir. If that’s the case, easing off the weight and performing the full range of motion for the move is optimal.
Once you reach the bottom of the squat, pause for a second so you are not using momentum to push yourself back up. (You can also increase the length of your pause to add difficulty to the move.)
Make sure your feet stay planted throughout the duration of the squat, paying particular attention to driving through your heels on the way back up, says Tamir. This will fire up your posterior chain—the muscles in the back of your body, like your hamstrings and glutes.
Some people have a tendency to pick up their toes when they’re focusing on driving through their heels, but you really want to make sure your entire foot stays firmly on the ground: “Your big toe is actually really important in glute activation,” he says.
You should also exhale on your way back up, says Tamir. Making sure you breathe throughout the move—inhale on the way down, exhale on the way up—is vital. You definitely do not want to be holding your breath.
At the top of the squat, try to tuck your pelvis into a neutral position. “Think of it like bringing your belt buckle to your chin,” says Tamir. Just be careful that you are not hyperextending: A common mistake Tamir sees often is people pushing their hips too far forward, which can actually make you lean backward and stress your lower back.
What’s the best way to progress with squats?
Before you start loading your squat, you should definitely get the bodyweight move down, says Tamir. (If you’re having difficulty with the movement, you can hold on to a wall or, if you have access to it, a suspension trainer like a TRX, to get more comfortable with what it should feel like.)
In some cases, if you are still having difficulty with the move, holding a light weight—like a five-pound dumbbell or a 10-pound plate—in front of your body as a counterbalance can actually help you master the move, says Tamir. “It gives them more weight in front of their body, so they feel more comfortable pushing through the heels and pushing their butt back.”
When you’re ready to add more load, the goblet squat is a helpful next progression, since you’re holding the weight in front of you, says Tamir. This helps you drop into the squat and keep weight on your heels. Keep your elbows and wrists stacked vertically—you don’t want your elbows to flare out at your sides.
After a goblet squat, you can try a dumbbell front squat, where you hold two dumbbells at your shoulders. This squat variation tends to be a little easier than a kettlebell front squat, which requires some technique to align your wrists. Barbell back squats and front squats are more advanced, and it’s super important you get your technique down before adding large amounts of load.
Need some examples of how to work them into your routine? You can try this three-move dumbbell lower-body strength workout, this no-equipment butt and cardio workout, this resistance-band lower-body workout, and this barbell lower-body workout.
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