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How to do it
- Set the bar in a rack at about chest height and step under it to rack it across your upper back.
- Grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder width, brace your core, and step back from the rack.
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly out, and chest tall.
- Push your hips back and down, bending the knees to squat down until your hips reach below the knees.
- Drive through the full foot to stand back up, keeping the chest tall and bar path straight.
- Lock out the hips and knees at the top, reset your breath and brace, and repeat for clean reps.
Common mistakes
- Letting the knees cave inward on the way up, which strains the knees and weakens the drive.
- Cutting the depth short and not reaching at least parallel, missing the full quad and glute work.
- Rounding the lower back at the bottom, which puts the spine at risk under heavy load.
- Shifting the bar weight onto the toes, which throws off the balance and strains the lower back.
Muscles worked
Good to know
- What muscles does the Barbell Squat work?
- Mainly the quads. It also works the glutes.
- What equipment do you need for the Barbell Squat?
- It uses a barbell. Without it, the Dumbbell Squat and the Machine Goblet Sissy Squat train the same muscles the same way.
- Is the Barbell Squat good for beginners?
- GymVim rates it intermediate. For a beginner-rated exercise on the same muscle and movement, see the Band Squat.