Barbell Back Squat
The barbell back squat is the standard loaded squat: with a barbell across your upper back, you sit down between your feet to at least parallel and stand back up. It works the quadriceps, glutes and adductors, with the trunk bracing hard throughout, and it is the benchmark lift for leg strength.
Also called: Squat, Back Squat, BB Squat, Barbell Squat · Equipment: barbell · Pattern: squat
Step by step
- Set the bar in the rack at mid-chest height and the safety bars just under the depth you will squat to. Step under the bar and place it on your upper traps, below the bony point at the base of your neck.
- Grip the bar just outside your shoulders, as narrow as your shoulders comfortably allow, and pull your elbows down and back to tighten your upper back.
- Stand up to lift the bar out of the hooks, then take two or three short steps back. Set your feet about shoulder width apart with your toes turned out about 15–30°.
- Take a big breath into your belly and brace your trunk as if about to be pushed, keeping your ribs down and spine neutral.
- Bend at your hips and knees together and sit down between your feet, keeping the bar over your mid-foot and your knees tracking in line with your toes.
- Descend under control until your hip crease is below the top of your knee, or to the deepest point at which your back stays neutral.
- Drive the floor away and stand up, letting your hips and chest rise at the same rate. Exhale near the top or after the hardest part of the rep, then re-brace before the next one.
- After the last rep, stand tall, walk the bar forward until it touches the uprights, then bend your knees to set it into the hooks.
- Big breath into your belly and brace before every rep
- Bar over your mid-foot the whole way
- Knees track in line with your toes
- Sit down between your feet
- Hips and chest rise together
- Drive the floor away
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Quadriceps: vastus lateralis | Prime mover | A |
| Quadriceps: vastus medialis | Prime mover | A |
| Quadriceps: vastus intermedius | Prime mover | B |
| Gluteus maximus | Prime mover | A |
| Adductors | Secondary | B |
| Quadriceps: rectus femoris | Secondary | B |
| Erector spinae | Stabiliser | A |
| Hamstrings: biceps femoris (long head) | Stabiliser | B |
| Soleus | Stabiliser | C |
| Rectus abdominis | Stabiliser | C |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Back rounding at the bottom (butt wink)
Fix: Squat to the deepest point your back stays neutral and brace harder before each rep.
Hips rising faster than the chest
Fix: Keep your chest up out of the bottom so hips and chest rise at the same rate.
Knees caving inwards
Fix: Push your knees out over your toes on the way down and the way up.
Heels lifting or weight shifting to the toes
Fix: Keep your whole foot planted with the weight over mid-foot and the bar above it.
Cutting depth as the load climbs
Fix: Pick a load you can take to the same depth on every rep.
Losing the brace in the bottom
Fix: Take a fresh breath and brace at the top of every rep, holding it past the hardest part.
Loose upper back
Fix: Pull your elbows down and back before the unrack and keep them there throughout the set.
What the research says
Strength · first choiceMuscle growth · first choiceGeneral fitness · first choiceSport performance · first choicePowerEnduranceFat loss & conditioning
- Load by goal — Research comparing loads finds maximal strength favours heavier loads (about 8 reps or fewer per set), while muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are taken close to failure.
- Depth — In a 10-week trial, full-depth squats grew the glutes and adductors more than half squats, with similar quadriceps growth, and strength gains were specific to the depth trained. Reviews of range of motion reach the same conclusion for the legs.
- Effort — Studies show sets that finish a few reps short of failure capture most of the size and strength benefit, and strength gains appear largely insensitive to how close to failure you train. Rep-in-reserve estimates are usable but tend to under-count.
- Volume and frequency — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns. Around 10 or more hard sets a week has been associated with more growth than fewer than 5, and twice a week is a common way to spread that volume.
- Rest — In trained lifters, rests of about 3 minutes between sets have produced greater strength and size gains than 1-minute rests.
- Sport transfer — A meta-analysis links gains in back-squat strength with faster sprint times, which is why the squat anchors many athletes' strength work.
- Warm-up and safety bars — A common approach is a general warm-up followed by progressively heavier squat sets; a combined general and specific warm-up has produced higher leg-press maximums than a specific one alone. Lifters training close to failure commonly set the rack's safety bars just under their squat depth.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the barbell back squat in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.