Bodyweight Squat
The bodyweight squat, or air squat, is a squat with no added weight: you bend at the hips and knees to sit down between your heels, then stand back up. It works the quadriceps and glutes, and is the standard way to learn the squat, warm up for loaded squats and build leg endurance.
Also called: Air Squat, BW Squat, Full Squats, Free Squat · Equipment: bodyweight · Pattern: squat
Step by step
- Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart and your toes turned out slightly, with your weight spread across the whole foot.
- Reach your arms straight out in front of you at shoulder height, or clasp your hands at your chest.
- Brace your trunk lightly and keep your chest tall.
- Bend your hips and knees together and sit down between your heels, taking about two seconds. Push your knees out so they stay in line with your toes.
- Squat as deep as you can with your heels down and your back flat, ideally until your thighs are below parallel.
- Drive through your whole foot to stand back up, keeping your knees in line with your toes.
- Finish standing tall with your hips and knees straight, then start the next rep.
- Sit down between your heels
- Knees out over your toes
- Heels glued to the floor
- Chest tall, arms reach forward
- Drive the floor away to stand
- Squat deep, back stays flat
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 | B |
| Quadriceps: vastus medialis | Prime mover | B |
| Gluteus maximus | Prime mover | B |
| Adductors | Secondary | C |
| Erector spinae | Stabiliser | C |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Heels lifting
Fix: Keep your weight over the whole foot and reach your arms forward to counterbalance.
Knees caving inward
Fix: Push your knees out so they track over your toes for the whole rep.
Cutting depth short
Fix: Squat until your thighs pass parallel, or as deep as your heels stay down.
Back rounding at the bottom
Fix: Squat only as deep as your back stays flat, with your chest tall.
Hips rising first
Fix: Drive your chest and hips up together as you stand.
Dropping into the bottom
Fix: Take about two seconds to sit down into each rep.
What the research says
Rehab & prehab · first choiceGeneral fitness · first choiceEndurance · first choiceFat loss & conditioning · first choice
- Load — Research finds muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are taken close to failure, but one trial found very light loads (about 20% of maximum) produced less growth than moderate or heavy loads. For trained lifters, progress usually comes from more reps, slower tempo, pauses or adding weight.
- Depth — In a 10-week squat study, full-depth training grew the glutes and inner thighs more than half-depth training, while front-thigh growth was similar.
- Effort — Studies show sets that finish a few reps short of failure capture most of the growth benefit, and true failure adds only a small extra return.
- Volume — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns.
- Endurance — A trial comparing light and heavy loads taken to failure found light, high-rep training tended to build more muscular endurance, which suits high-rep bodyweight squats.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the bodyweight 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.