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The SINGLE BEST Squat Tip I-ve Ever Used!

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Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

If you are looking to improve your squat, then this video is mandatory viewing. When it comes to squats, there are lots of tips used to help you perform the lift better, safer and with more weight. The problem is, the wrong tip can get you focusing on something that you don-t have much control over and can set you off down the path of compromising elsewhere in the lift and getting hurt. Here I show you the best tip for getting out of the hole and explain why it works so well. Firstly, nothing is more important than the setup of the squat. If your body is out of alignment and the bar is not braced in the appropriate place for you then you are going to struggle on the lift no matter what else you do. The same can be said about your hips. Your hips need to be squared off when initiating the lift in order to ensure symmetrical loading of the legs during the descent. I actually covered this in a previous video that has been helpful to many. You can view that here and it will be linked at the end of this current video. The key to any good tip is that it solves a problem quickly (on the first time you try it) with minimal focus on the minutia and details that are hard to control once the weight is added to the bar. Similar to a back row, we are often given a tip to extend our arms back behind our torso to ensure a good contraction. That is not necessarily the case. I can pull my arms back but still lack thoracic extension which is going to prevent the full contraction of the back muscles. Instead, the better cue is to stick your chest out while pulling your arms back. This fixes the issue of kyphosis while automatically allowing you to pull your arms into extension behind your torso and get the best back contraction in the process. Because you can actually see your chest and control its movement much easier, it becomes a more practical tip with much more bang for the buck. The same can occur on the squat. First, on the descent, we are told to sit back. This is a tough concept to visualize and feel without some form of objective feedback that ensures you are doing it correctly and enough. The box squat provides you with the biofeedback to know that you now have a target to sit back towards while at the same time giving you a physical cue on when you have reached the appropriate depth. Well, once you get to the bottom of the squat (the hardest portion of the lift) the key is knowing how to get out of it explosively and with maximum stability. Any stability loss here and compromise of your tightened core will lead to a loss of strength and potentially you missing the lift. So, people will tell you to keep a tight core throughout. Once again however, what does that really mean? Are you supposed to just bear down, contract the abs, lean forward? Instead, if you focus on simply initiating the upward movement of the bar by moving your hips and chest at the exact same time you will nail this every time. Because the core connects the hips and chest together, movement of the two simultaneously demands that the core contracts and braces to keep the two in sync. Problem fixed. Ambiguity gone. Squat improved. If you want to lift more weight, get stronger and perform better on every lift you do then you have to start focusing on doing the things that help you to improve at every opportunity. Athletes take every element of their training seriously and leave no room for error. If you are looking to train like an athlete and get more out of every workout you do, head to and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System
Date: 2022-04-22

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Comments and reviews: 10

Oscar
Great tips you are giving out thank you. I also believe to improve squat or any other lift. We should focus on the auxiliary lifts. These lifts will get your stronger to perform the squat or any other lift. I also believe the seated rows and pull ups will help you have a stronger back to perform the squat and be able to maintain the bar in your back and have your back engaged. Once you you have that also try to focus on being squared not just your toes but your hips to. Make sure your knees do not cave in for that you-ll have to engage your guests so you can keep your hips squared and prevent your knees from carving in. I-ve actually messed up my knees before because of having my knee caving in. A trainer told me a few pointers and worked on the proper stance and to tighten up my glutes on the way down on the squat.
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sport
Just got back into the gym after a few years off; was on StrongLifts 5x5 and got to around 100kg Squat before with no injuries (I'm only about 70-75kg.
I've started from scratch and got to 62. 5kg Squat so far following the usual program. My lower back made a -pop- noise in the hole, I went dizzy and started seeing white then couldn't walk or get up after laying down. Been a few days with some pain still. I'm wondering how I can avoid this happening ever again to not put me off.
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armedmariner
I like Jeff so much I just bought a Team Athlean shirt off his website. $33 delivered. Pretty pricey but HELL MAN he has given me YEARS of free physical therapy training genius. I think I owe him more than that. I-m trying to get my most beastly son to join me in one of his programs so we can get into boot camp together and get Jacked Up. Jeff, you are a good dude man. I mean it. Many years I have studied you. Thank you sir.
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sport
Jeff, thank you for showing us the best cue I-ve ever seen regarding torso bracing and the connection with the hips and chest, -brilliant instruction, you are a teacher my friend! I am 72 and have been lifting on my 1/2 rack in my garage for the past year. I-m tall 6ft 3 and lean 165-I-m getting stronger but it-s harder to add mass now that I-m a little older. I will be looking to you for continued sage advice. Thanks again
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Moshe
This video saved me. I had this weird bulging feeling in my abdomen when I went up from the bucket and it freaked me out. Turns out I was leading with my butt and not even lifting my chest until the very end of the movement. I corrected to moving my hips and chest together, and the feeling went away and I felt my quads being engaged so much more! Thank you Jeff! You probably saved me from a hernia!
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Jill
Oh wow! That vocal queue of moving hip and chest together was a game changer for me! My front squats today were the best they've been since coming back to crossfit! I had a much easier time keep my chest up and getting out of the hole. Coach noticed a change too! Sometimes vocal queues are so frustating cuz you over think it and body doesn't respond. Huge thanks! Huge thanks!
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spearlight
This is such great tips. Finally understood how to engage my core while squatting with weights cuz I was doing it wrong the whole time and finally gave up on -engaging my core- & just focused on bringing the weights up lol. I really love how Jeff breaks it down mechanically in the simplest form. The world is so lucky to have him. He should be worldwide treasure.
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NEW
Hey Jeff, I have a Very Serious question about Squats. I really want to put Squats in my workout routine. I face one major issues, the meniscus has been shaved in both of my knees and it is painful performing a simple Squat without a chair for support and balance. Than I'm limited to 20 to 30 before the pain creeps in. What does the Physical Therapist in you suggest?
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Mack
Love these videos, Started to train a couple weeks ago but I hit a snag, I was doing squats (Pretty sure I did them wrong or over did them) ether way my knees crack and hurt when I bend down, they kinda feel like there on fire, Been resting them since but no luck, Anyone know what that might be or what I should do to fix it? Can I fix it?
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Gregory
The best squat tip you could ever need is to squat everyday. Not with weights but body weight squats on the days you are not squatting weights. It-s important to squat everyday. If you are too sore to squat everyday then you are doing too much weight lifting. Squat everyday. And this is why I feel calisthenics are king!
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