Top Tips for Squatting

Squatting is a foundational movement pattern & shows up all over our daily life, yet I work with many people who aren’t confident in it. Or worse, they have pain and discomfort with squatting.

This blog post has a few of my top tips for squatting and a YouTube front squat explainer video.

I want you to find confidence in your squats, so take these tips and play around with them. See what feels good with your body.

Tip 1 - Let Your Knees go Past Your Toes

If you’re like me, you were taught to keep your weight in your heels and not let your knees go past your toes (or your knees would explode). Well I am here to tell you FOREGET THAT. Let your knees go past your toes. You suddenly won’t feel like you’re going to fall backwards on your bum.

Tip 2 - Practice Different Breathing Patterns

Breathing can be an incredible tool for squatting. Your exhale can help you find a core brace and manage intra-abdominal pressure. So play with your beathing while you squat and see what feels good to you. Here are some suggested patterns to try;

• inhale down and exhale up

• inhale at the top before moving, then exhale through the full squat

• take a big inhale at the top, exhale as you go down, pause at the bottom and inhale, then exhale as you come up

• Valsalva (not recommended if you’re pregnant or early postpartum) - inhale at the top to expand rib cage, “exhale” without letting air out which creates a lot of intra-abdominal pressure & stabilizes the spine. Hold this brace and your breath as you squat. This is a common strategy in powerlifting, but if not done properly can push pressure down into your pelvic floor (which is why I don’t recommend it for pregnant or early postpartum women).

Tip 3 - Spend Time at the Bottom

A lot of people struggle with the bottom of the squat. They loose form or they bounce out of the bottom. A really great way to work on this is to spend time at the bottom. You can do this with pause squats, where you perform a squat and pause for a second or two at the bottom before coming up. Another way is with these deep squat hovers. Check this exercise out here.

Tip 4 - Improve Hip Mobility

This is easier said than done, but your hips need to flex & internally rotate to get to the bottom of a squat - so working on these movements, especially internal rotation, can be helpful. Here’s an Instagram Post on hip internal rotation.

Here’s a front squat explainer video if you want to give some of these tips a try.

And if you want to work on your overall strength & like the way I coach, I have a program for you.

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