10 Simple Squat Cues to Improve Your Squat Form
Revised by Stephanie Zaban (Registered Kinesiologist & Masters of Kinesiology)Table of Contents
An Introduction to 10 Simple Squat Cues to Improve Your Squat Form
The squat is a fundamental fitness movement which not only helps with strength and power, but also promotes balance, mobility and functionality in daily life. When performed correctly, this exercise can dramatically improve your workout results by working several muscle groups simultaneously and maximizing calorie burn . However, it requieres appropriate technique to avoid injuries and maximize effectiveness.
In our guide, "10 Simple Squat Cues to Improve Your Squat Form," we provide you with key insights that can transform the way you squat. These tips are designed to make it easier to carry out this exercise and help you understand how your body should move during a squat.
10 Squat Cues
Feet just at shoulder width apart to allow proper depth for the squat.
Keep your hands close and not too far across the bar. This helps to keep your chest up and body straight.
Pull your shoulder blades back and brace your core to maintain neutral spine.
Always make sure the plates are clipped in so there is no wobble to throw off your balance.
Inhale the breath and maintain intra thoracic pressure to help keep your core tight during the squat.
Abduct and external rotate the legs in order to ensure the gluteal muscles are acting as the prime mover in the exercise.
Keep your eyes focused forward, perhaps on a specific spot which will help to maintain proper position.
Ensure your weight is back in the squat, and that the pressure is maintained across your mid foot.
Drive the knees outward as you come up from the squat, and do not let your legs come inward.
Lift with intensity and do not lift too slowly; ensure you are gaining power as well as strength.
Different Squat Cues
Many squat cues can be used to improve your squat form. They prove to be invaluable whether you're working out alone or coaching someone else. Cues can be visual, verbal, or tactile, accommodating the fact that everyone has unique learning styles. To ensure optimal positioning and form, different types of cues can be combined, either to guide your trainee into the right position or to remind yourself to maintain the proper form when exercising alone.
Verbal Squat Cues
Below are verbal squat cues that you can use for yourself or your athletes/clients:
Keep your feet shoulder-width apart.
Keep the weight in your midfoot (avoid raising the toes or the heels).
Keep your knees in line with the toes as you squat.
Drive your knees outwards as you come up from the squat.
Maintain a neutral spine throughout the squat (no flexion or extension of the spine).
Keep your shoulders down and back.
Keep your gaze facing forwards
Visual Squat Cues
Visual squat cues involve demonstrating the desired action. This can include showing the person the undesired movement they are doing, and then demonstrating the correct movement for a better understanding of what they should be doing.
For example, you can show what a squat looks like when you maintain balance in the midfoot, compared to a squat where all the weight is in your heels.
Tactile Squat Cues
Tactile squat cues involve physically guiding the athlete into the proper position. For instance, you can manually adjust their hips into the correct position to avoid pelvic tilt (also known as "butt winking"). This allows the athlete to feel what the proper form should be, so they can adjust themselves accordingly.
Always remember: it's vital to ask your clients for permission before you perform a tactile squat cue!
Improving Your Squat
There are many changes you can make to improve your squat, and often, even a small adjustment can have a significant impact. Whether you're a seasoned athlete or a beginner, tracking your progress can be a highly motivational tool that illustrates just how far you've come. You can monitor your progression through video recording, enabling you to visualize your improvements. Alternatively, maintain an exercise log or journal to record your sets, reps, weight, and types of squats you perform.
Related: How to Fix the Forward Lean in Your Squat)
How to Improve Squat Depth
There are many things that you can do to achieve a deeper squat. Here are a few of our suggestions:
Increase Hip and Ankle Mobility
Many people suffer from reduced mobility in the ankles and/or the hips. The good thing is, you can work to increase your mobility in both areas. This is something that you will have to be committed to in order to see any results. Stretching once will help to temporarily increase your mobility by a small amount, but to maintain this, you will need to be performing exercises consistently.
Squat with Your Heels Raised
Those with poor ankle mobility can opt to squat with their heels raised. This will help to achieve a deeper squat, but you should still perform exercises to increase your ankle mobility!
To squat with your heels raised, place two 10lb plates flat on the floor beside each other. Elevate your heels on the plate and perform your squat as usual. If you are a heavy lifter, investing in squat shoes may be a better and safer option for you. These shoes have a built-in heel to help you achieve a deeper squat.
Be Consistent and Frequent
If you want to squat deeper, you need to perform squats more often and be consistent in the way that you are performing them. This means that you need to maintain the correct form as you squat by following the cues we mentioned above. You will also need to squat more than once a week to see any improvements. Remember, practice makes perfect!
Increase Quadriceps Strength
The deeper you squat, the more that the quadriceps will be activated. You can perform different types of squats that focus on the quadriceps such as the front squat or pulse squat. However, I would also recommend completing exercises that are more quadriceps focused such as single-leg knee extensions or an elevated split squat.
Stretches for Squatting
Your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves are all muscles involved in squatting. It is important to prepare these muscles before squatting to reduce the risk of injury and maintain or improve their range of motion.
Here is a list of stretches for squatting:
Leg Swings
Leg Swings are a fantastic way to open up the hip joint and prepare it for movement. This dynamic warm-up will help increase the range of motion in the hip and prepare you for a better, deeper squat.
Lunges
Doing Lunges before a squat is beneficial for preparing the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps for movement. Keeping it simple and performing a dynamic walking lunge is a great warm-up before beginning to squat.
To perform a walking lunge, simply lunge forwards with your right leg. Return to the starting position and then repeat the lunge on your left leg. Keep alternating legs for about 10 reps and take your time! We are using the lunge as a warm-up so no need to have a quick tempo.
You can progress the Lunge and add in an upper-body rotation to engage the core. When you Lunge with your right leg, turn the torso to the right and then return to the center. When you Lunge with the left leg, turn the torso to the left and then return to the center.
Glute Stretches
The heavy involvement of the glutes during the squat means that they should be warmed up properly before heavy lifting. The Pigeon Stretch targets the glutes and the hip flexors which is very important for those of us who are sitting down for most of the day.
Warm Up Set
After all of your stretching is done, I would recommend performing a warm-up set for squats before you start your usual strength training routine. If you are a heavy lifter, this may involve just the barbell or the barbell with a very light load. For the average person, this may just be performing a set of bodyweight squats.
