What’s the Proper Way to Squat – Q&A
Question: What is the proper way to squat? And could you address the issue of butt-winks at the bottom of the squat and how to correct that?
Answer: It depends. Simply there is no single proper way to squat despite what many will have you believe or vigorously contend. At the very least most will define three primary ‘types’ of squats which are:
- High-bar/Olympic squat
- Generic Power Squat
- Geared powerlifting squat
And I’d note that that only begins to scratch the surface of the different types of squats which have been done over the years. But those general categories tend to encapsulate the three ‘primary’ types of back squats that are done by trainees. I’ll describe each generally and try to look at some of their various pros and cons below.
The high-bar/Olympic squat is done with the bar held high on the traps and the goal is generally to keep the torso as vertical as possible; this is usually facilitated by wearing shoes with a slight ‘heel’ on them as this lets the lifter get the knees further forward. The focus is generally more on squatting ‘down’ than ‘back’ in this style of squat and it’s critical to push the knees way out and squat ‘between the knees’ (as Dan John puts it so simply). A slightly narrower stance is also usually used (as this tends to have more carryover to pulling and the jerk in Olympic lifting).
Olympic lifters use this as a general leg strengthener as well as to strengthen the muscles used in the Olympic lifts. Generally, lifters using this type of squat aim for maximum depth (often called ass to grass or ATG) although bodybuilders often use a high-bar style but stay above parallel.
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The second type of squat is what I call the generic power squat. In this style of squat, the bar is held a bit lower on the back (but typically not as low as some powerlifters would do it) and the lifter sits more back although there is also a down component. Generally, there will be more even involvement of the lower body and the low back tends to work harder since the torso will tend to be tipped further forward. Depth is typically just below parallel and a wider stance is often used; this can be perfectly appropriate for raw powerlifting competition and the following video shows a fairly generic ‘power’ squat.
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Finally is the geared powerlifting squat. Frankly, technique here can vary massively depending on the type of gear allowed, whether or not a monolift is being used and how strict the federation is about depth. You will see anything from a squat that looks almost like a high-bar squat (in IPF competition) to insanely wide stance squats. The focus is generally more on squatting back than down but, again, there is huge variance here. Unless you’re planning on competing in a geared powerlifting federation, this probably isn’t relevant to you. You can go Youtube videos and you’ll see all kinds of different techniques, again depending on the gear and federation and what’s being passed as a ‘squat.
And of course, there are endless other details to squatting which is what I suspect you are actually asking. Debates over head position, how much torso lean, whether you break at the knees or hips first have been going on for years and aren’t going to end soon. All techniques have their pros and cons and there are always trade-offs in techniques and you will see top competitors doing all kinds of different stuff along with differences in ‘style’ between two people doing the same ‘type’ of squat. I doubt this really answers your question but short of writing a lot more, that’s the best answer I can give you.
So which is the ‘right’ way to squat? That’s a question with no answer. For most, either the high-bar style of squatting or generic power squat is going to be the better choice than the geared power squat (unless they are planning to compete in a geared federation).
To really do a high-bar squat right usually requires Olympic shoes (especially if the goal is to hit depth without getting up on the toes); if a lifter doesn’t have those I’d tend to teach the generic power squat with the lifter sitting both back and down and aiming to hit parallel if they can do it without tucking their butt.
Which brings me to your second question, about the ‘butt-wink’. This is a term invented by, I believe, Mark Rippetoe, to describe the phenomenon whereby the butt tucks under (and the low back rounds) during a squat. This video shows a pretty exaggerated version of tucking the butt under.
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Frankly, this can be related to a lot of different things often various aspects of flexibility or mobility in the lower body. Tight hamstrings are often a culprit, tight glutes can be a problem too. Often a lack of ankle mobility sort of ‘moves’ up the chain and causes problems higher up. Sometimes it’s just an issue of the lifter not consciously trying to keep the back arched.
I will note that with ATG squats, some amount of butt tucking is almost invariable. What I personally look for is what’s going on at the low back. If the butt only tucks to the point that the back is flat, it doesn’t concern me; if the back actually rounds (as it does in the above video) then that has the potential to put a lot of stress on the spine due the combination of flexion and compression.
How you go about fixing it depends on the problem and I usually use a combination of static stretching, what’s usually called the squat stretch and focusing on keeping a hard arch. The squat stretch probably has the most potential to do benefit here, since it’s about as specific as it gets.
To do it, load up a bar with maybe 50% of your best squat. Now holding a hard arch in the low back lower yourself to the point in the squat just above where your back would normally start to round. Now trying to hold that arch (you may need a helper to let you know), let the weight push you down a little bit deeper; this is stretching all of the tissues that might be limiting in as specific a way as possible and over time you should be able to lower your depth without tucking.
If you want to get more information about squatting than you ever hoped for, I’d refer you to Boris Bachmann’s Squat RX blog and video series. Excellent stuff and he’s got an entire video on correcting low back tuck somewhere on the blog.
Thanks for this Q&A, Lyle. I’m trying to fix the exact tendency you describe (‘butt tuck’). Pretty sure My hamstrings are to blame for this one. If I’m standing completely vertically, I can’t bend forward with my legs still straight and touch my toes…
Brilliant article!
I used to perform a high-bar squat. Found my knees would click when doing them. Got knee pain eventually. Some massive guy told me not to let my knees go over my toes… Rebuilt my squat to a generic PL style. Along the way I read a lot of different (conflicting) advice. Even got a bio-kinetics textbook (which didn’t mention the knees over toes!). In the end, there is no secret ingredient.
@Ryan
I have had the same experience as you on high-bar squats, to the point to where my knees were hurting on warm-up sets.
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Nice article, Lyle. For my next training cycle I will be moving back from Leg Press to BB Squats, so this is a great refresher.
You mentioned that bodybuilders usually stay above parallel when performing a high-bar squat. What is the physiological advantage to this? My first reaction was that it was to save the knees, but wouldn’t decreasing ROM also inhibit recruitment of muscle fibers?
Thanks Lyle.
Thanks for the good article……what a relief to know that there is no ‘real’ answer to the question……its been driving me crazy for a year now! From now on I will squat the way i do because I can, not because some ‘expert’ said that that was the way to do it THANKS for the freedom
Nice article…PS your RSS feed does not work properly…
Best one is the one you can safely perform and progress on.
First of all, Lyle thanks for the article. In my opinion, there is an answer: it depends on what is the purpose of your squatting. The low bar version uses more muscle mass, and I think is better for overall strength, while the high bar is more appropriate for people who are concerned about aesthetics – they give more work to be done by the quads, and less from the hamstrings and glutes and abductors which the low bar uses more.
Thanks for this info as this has settled my mind at last, so much crap on the internet you get bogged down with who to believe. I know this is a good source so i can crack on and just Squat!
Many thanks
I don’t think it was Rippetoe who coined the term “butt wink”. Last time I checked Rip hates that term.
@Alec
I believe Bodybuilders use half-squats so they can use more weight, which in turn is often considered a requirement to stimulate more muscle growth. It’s pretty debatable in my opinion. I would consider it only as a “once in a while” stimulus, but not a regular practice.
I don’t think it’s particularly Knee sparing either. Forcing your knee joints to stop at the middle point of their range of motion, does not really seem particularly “safer”. Though it’s probably true that with the weight they use, going for a deep squat would probably end in very poor over-all technique, which could wreck the knees and back – thus you could consider it “safer” from that angle.
So if you want to push some additional weight stimulus on your quads, while avoiding excess stress on the lower back and knees – you might want to try some parallel or Box squats every now and again. – But personally I wouldn’t use them as a regular exercise for my main development.
- And Lyle – Great article as always.
I just watched some Rippetoe videos and he’s a pretty big advocate of the Low-bar squat, and advises just about everyone to do that, instead of any High-bar stuff.
His line of thought is that a low-bar squat more accurately reflects the posture and muscle utilization of the Olympic Lifts. Thus it makes little sense for anyone to use High-Bar.
Lyle,
This is one of those down-the-rabbit-hole topics since it’s so much about personal preference. I mainly stick with the power squat, which is what I’ve first started with and am used to, and I’ve also experienced similar knee issues as mentioned above with the high-bar squat. I’m very protective of my knees because I’ve seen my father go through several operations on each one of his. A little bit of precaution does go a long way.
-Mitchell
How does one overcome the extremely long femur/short torso problem when squatting to parallel or below?
I see a lot of people complaining about knee problems when doing the high-bar squat.
But would it not be possible to avoid the pain if you progressed slowly and carefully in the high bar squat, even someone with a history of patellar tendon problems like should be able to do it safely as long as the progression is slow right?
I reckon this only applies if we assume that the knee pain people are complaining about is coming from too much stress, too early on the knee.
I always had lower back pain whilst squatting high bar. I joined a new gym which happened to have mirrors to my side and low and behold I saw my butt wink was phenomenol!!. I squat parallel now so less butt winking. (very tight hip flexor too)