equipment

Barbell

sets

3-5

reps

5-10

rest

2-4 min

1. Set the rack hooks at roughly mid-chest height.
2. Step under the bar and rest it across your upper back, not on your neck.
3. Grip the bar firmly and pull your elbows down to lock your upper back tight.
4. Unrack the bar and step back into a stance about shoulder width, toes turned slightly out.
5. Brace your midsection and set your eyes on a fixed point ahead.

1. Begin by pushing your hips back and bending your knees at the same time.
2. Lower under control, keeping your knees tracking over your toes.
3. Descend until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, or as deep as you can go with a neutral spine.
4. Drive through your whole foot to stand back up.
5. Keep your chest and hips rising together, then stand tall before the next repetition.

Take a breath at the top and brace before descending. Hold it through the bottom and exhale as you pass the hardest part of the ascent.

• Keep your whole foot in contact with the floor.
• Let your knees travel forward and outward rather than caving inward.
• Keep your chest up and your upper back tight.
• Push the floor away as you stand.
• Always squat inside a rack with the safety pins set.

• Letting the knees collapse inward on the way up.
• Rising with the hips first so the torso pitches forward.
• Rounding the lower back at the bottom of the squat.
• Coming up onto the toes as you descend.
• Squatting without safety pins or a spotter on heavy sets.

From standing tall to thighs at or below parallel. Depth should be set by where you can hold a neutral spine, not by a fixed number.