Tip One Method to Fix 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 One Method to Fix Your Squat There' s a lot to pay attention to when you squat but one training method gets everything working correctly Check it out by Joel Seedman, PhD May 21, 2018August 18, 2019 Tags Powerlifting & Strength, Squat, Tips, Training Visually, the squat pattern is simple. However, neuromuscularly and biomechanically it's actually very complex. It requires a number of precisely executed components to lock the movement in. Some of these include: Set the hips back without bending over. Spread the knees apart but not excessively. Keep a neutral spine while maintaining a very slight natural curvature of the back. Squat somewhere between 90 degrees and parallel (don't collapse or go ATG). Pull yourself into the bottom position rather than allowing gravity to push you down. Brace the core and tense your abs. Keep the chest out without hyperextending the back. Screw the feet into the floor by pushing slightly more to the outside of the feet. Keep the feet relatively straight and aligned with the each other. Pull the bar into your back by activating your lats. Keep the head neutral (don't look up but don't let the head drop). Maintain maximal full body tension each and every rep. Move in a perfectly vertical fashion without shifting horizontally. Load each leg as symmetrically as possible without favoring one side. And this list doesn't cover everything. So how the heck do you actually learn to squat without going through an exhaustive myriad of endless cues? Answer Eccentric Isometrics Now I'm not talking about simply collapsing down into the bottom of a squat, then pausing for a few seconds while you hang out on your tendons and ligaments. That's a bastardized version of an eccentric isometric squat, and it won't do anything to improve your squat mechanics... not to mention strength or muscular development. Instead, squat with painstaking attention to sensory signals and proprioceptive feedback using Jedi-like focus and intensity. Lower slowly under control, stay tight, then pause in the naturally stretched position while attending to as much somatosensory feedback as possible. Why Does It Work Your own body can provide all of the necessary feedback, coaching, and cuing you need. You simply have to learn how to listen to the sensory feedback coming from your proprioceptive mechanisms and you'll immediately begin to use the "sense of feel" to make subtle adjustments and fine-tune your movement. The best way to do this is through properly executed eccentric isometrics. This also means learning to sense where the natural stopping point and optimal range of motion is, which happens to be somewhere between 90 degrees and parallel. And just in case you were wondering, no, your body is not an exception to the rule. A proper squat including optimal range of motion and ideal joint angles will look almost identical from human to human if it's performed correctly, regardless of individual anthropometrics. 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 Box Jumps For Conditioning You've heard the warnings. Here's the full story. CrossFit, Metabolic Conditioning, Metcon, Tips, Training Christian Thibaudeau March 12 Training Iron Evolution – Phase 2 Zubaz pants, Hotskinz tights, and matching fanny packs. Dave Tate survived bodybuilding in the '80s - and learned a few things along the way, too. Motivation, Powerlifting & Strength, Training Dave Tate February 28 Training Tip Flye Push-Up Drop Set on Rings For this mechanical drop set, you go from the hardest to easiest movement to match your fatigue level: wide flyes, bent-arm flyes, push-ups. Chest, Exercise Coaching, Push-Up, Tips Ben Bruno August 10 Training The Single Most Neglected Part of Training Most lifters just wing it. And that's why most lifters never maximize their growth potential. Here's what you need to know. Christian Thibaudeau May 10