Squat form: depth, knees and tempo, step by step

Why the squat deserves a slot in a short week

The NHS lists squats among the activities that strengthen muscles, and suggests 8 to 12 repetitions per set, in 2 or 3 sets. Escamilla's review describes moderate to high activity in the quadriceps, the hamstrings and the calves. It also states that the squat does not compromise knee stability, and can improve it when performed correctly.

For someone with forty minutes free, that makes the squat efficient. One movement trains the front and back of the thighs, the glutes and the trunk that holds you upright. It is also the movement behind daily tasks: standing up from a low taxi seat, lifting a case from the floor, climbing stairs with a bag. It is the first of the patterns in ten essential movements, and the one most worth learning well.

Squat form, step by step

The goblet squat, with a dumbbell or kettlebell held against the chest, is a common way to teach the movement. No outcome trial has tested it specifically. Coaches use it because the weight in front helps you sit down between the hips while the chest stays up.

1. Set the feet. Stand with the feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly. Spread your weight over the whole foot.
2. Hold the weight high. Cup the dumbbell under its top end, elbows pointing down, weight touching the breastbone.
3. Brace. Take a normal breath and tighten the trunk as if someone were about to push you.
4. Start from hips and knees together. Bend both at once. Let the knees travel forward and out, following the line of the toes.
5. Descend under control. Lower for two or three seconds to the depth you can hold with a long back and flat feet.
6. Stand up. Push the floor away, keeping the knees over the feet, and finish tall with the hips under the shoulders.
7. Breathe. Exhale on the way up or at the top. Do not hold your breath through a whole set.

Knees, toes and the lower back

Fry's study had seven trained men squat with a load equal to their body weight, once freely and once with a board stopping the knees at the toes. The restricted version reduced the stress on the knee a little and increased the stress on the hips and lower back a great deal. The authors concluded that sensible joint loading may require the knees to move slightly past the toes.

The NHS gives the same practical cue for its mini-squat: bend the knees as far as is comfortable, keep them facing forwards, and aim to bring them over your big toe. What matters is the direction of the knee, not its exact position relative to the shoe. Knees that follow the toes are the target. Knees that collapse inwards under load are what coaches correct first.

How deep to squat

The two main reviews do not agree. Escamilla found that the parallel squat was not injurious to the healthy knee, and preferred it to the deep squat for athletes because ligament and meniscus stress might rise with depth. Hartmann and colleagues reached a different conclusion: with supervised technique and gradual loads, the deep squat protects against injury rather than causing it. They also note that compressive force behind the kneecap peaks near 90 degrees, and that very heavy half squats may favour wear in the joint.

Results point in one direction for muscle. In a 10-week trial by Kubo and colleagues, full squats increased the gluteus maximus by 6.7%, against 2.2% for half squats, with similar growth in the quadriceps. The sample was 17 young men, so treat it as a signal rather than a rule. The practical answer is simple: go as deep as your back stays long, your heels stay down, and nothing hurts.

Tempo and time under tension

Tempo describes how many seconds each phase of a repetition takes: down, pause, up. A 2015 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld and colleagues found similar muscle growth with repetitions lasting anywhere from 0.5 to 8 seconds, and weaker results when repetitions became very slow, beyond about 10 seconds. It pooled only eight studies. No verified study names a best tempo.

Tempo still changes the session. Wilk and colleagues showed that slower tempos reduce the load you can use and the number of repetitions you can complete, while increasing total time under tension. So test your weights at the tempo you plan to train with. Take 3 sets of 10 at three seconds down, one second of pause and one second up: each set lasts 50 seconds, and the exercise takes about five and a half minutes with 90-second rests. The calculator does that arithmetic for any plan. It is a planning aid, not a lever for growth on its own.

Common mistakes

• Heels lifting. The weight drifts onto the toes. Widen the stance slightly or reduce the depth.
• Knees falling inwards. Usually a load that is too heavy. Lighten it and think of spreading the floor with your feet.
• Chest dropping forward. Hold the goblet weight higher and slow the descent.
• Bouncing out of the bottom. Control the turn, or add a one-second pause.
• Chasing depth. Going lower than you can control turns a good squat into a rounded one.
• Holding the breath for the whole set. Breathe between repetitions, especially with high blood pressure.

Progressions and regressions

If the full movement is not yet comfortable, step back rather than forcing it.

• Regressions: sit down to a bench or a firm chair and stand up again; the NHS mini-squat holding the back of a chair; a shorter range with a pause.
• Progressions: a heavier goblet squat; a two-second pause at the bottom; a split squat, one leg at a time; a barbell squat once a coach has checked your position.

Add load only when the last two repetitions of each set look like the first. The squat pairs naturally with the hip hinge, which loads the back of the body from a different angle. If you are returning to training after 40, the progression in strength after 40 sets a sensible pace.

A 20-minute hotel version

A hotel gym often has dumbbells up to 20 or 25 kilograms, which is enough. Without one, a packed suitcase works for the goblet hold.

1. Warm-up, 4 minutes. Brisk walking on the spot, then ten slow bodyweight squats to a chair.
2. Goblet squat, 6 minutes. 3 sets of 10, three seconds down, rest 60 to 90 seconds.
3. Split squat, 6 minutes. 2 sets of 8 on each leg, holding a chair or the wall if needed.
4. Pause squat, 4 minutes. 2 sets of 8 with body weight only, holding two seconds at the bottom.

For a full-body circuit in the same room, see the hotel room workout.

Safety

Weight training is a relatively safe activity. A 2017 review by Keogh and Winwood found injury rates in weight-training sports well below those of common team sports, with bodybuilding at 0.24 to 1 injury per 1,000 hours. Those figures come from competitive athletes, and the risk is never zero.

Start with body weight or a light load and move only in a range that does not hurt. Stop at any sharp pain in the knee or back. If you have had a knee or back injury, see a physiotherapist before you load the squat.

If you would like a coach to check your squat where you train, at home, in a hotel or at the office, you can create your space in the Club.