Tip Reassess Your Squat Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Reassess Your Squat Here' s what you need to know about knee position butt wink and more by Chad Coy & TJ Kuster October 2, 2017March 24, 2022 Tags Legs, Squat, Tips, Training People who say squats are bad for the knees don't know how to squat properly. When a squat is performed correctly, there should be no knee pain (barring a pre-existing condition). When you squat, do the following during the descending portion of the lift: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your toes slightly pointed out. Push your hips back. Drive your knees out (see photo). Keep your heels flat. Make sure your back is strong and flat. Knees In vs. Knees Out On the ascending portion of the squat: Drive your hips up and forward. Extend your knees pushing them outward. Drive through the three points of your foot: heel, big toe, and pinky toe. Keep your chest up. Know what proper depth is, especially if you want to take credit for the amount of weight you squat. For our purposes, proper depth is achieved when the hips are either even with or slightly below the knees. Proper Depth If you can't squat to parallel, then you have mobility problems that need to be addressed. There's a limit to how low you should go however. Don't force your body into a depth it's not ready for or you'll start to butt wink (see photo below) and could do some serious damage to your lower back. Butt wink is when your lower back rounds and your pelvis rotates back. Butt Wink If you can't get your hips at knee level when squatting, you're doing a partial rep, which will primarily work the quads. Partial Squat Although there's nothing wrong with a partial squat if your goal is to nail the quads, full range of motion (ROM) should be your go-to depth. Your glutes and hamstrings engage the most when you squat to proper depth. If you're going to parallel or below you can be sure that your glutes are firing. And when they do, you'll decrease the stress on your knees. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip The Medball Ab Rollout This tough rollout variation will nail your core and your lats. Do 3 to 6 sets of 5 to 8 rolls. Abs, Exercise Coaching, Tips Nick Tumminello December 27 Training Tip The Super Lunge Get more range of motion, build more muscle, and get stronger with this exercise. Check it out. Bodybuilding, Legs, Tips, Training Drew Murphy June 20 Training The Look Of Power Build a Thick Neck Replace the pencil-look with the power-look. Get yoked fast. Here's how to build a thick neck with high-frequency training. Exercise Coaching Christian Thibaudeau August 17 Training Tip The Sicilian Crunch Abs respond better to heavy weights because of their muscle fiber makeup. Here's one way to nail those fast-twitch fibers. Abs, Exercise Coaching, Tips John Paul Catanzaro July 16