Legs
Back Squat
What it works
Mainly: Quads, Glutes. Also: Core, Lower back.
Setup
Bar on your upper back, not your neck. Hands wherever your shoulders let you grip without pain, feet roughly shoulder width, toes turned out slightly.
How it goes
Take a breath and hold it, sit down and back at the same time, and drive up out of the bottom without letting your hips shoot first. Depth is wherever you can go without your lower back rounding.
Two things people get wrong
- Knees caving in as you stand up — think about pushing the floor apart with your feet.
- Chasing depth you cannot control yet. A clean parallel squat beats a deep one that folds.
If the kit’s busy
Leg press or goblet squat while you build the pattern.
Also written as: Squat, Squats
In these programmes
These are setup and execution cues, not coaching. If something hurts, stop — and if you're training around an injury or a health condition, get a professional's eyes on it first.