The squat: step-by-step technique and five common mistakes

The squat gives the most and punishes bad technique the hardest. The good news: everything you need to know fits into seven steps.

The setup

1. Feet about shoulder width or slightly wider, toes turned out a little (10–30 degrees). There is no single "correct" stance — there is the one where you can lower your hips without your lower back rounding.
2. The bar sits on your upper back muscles, never on the bones of your neck. If you use a machine or a dumbbell goblet variation, keep the weight close to your body.
3. Chest up, eyes forward. Imagine balancing a bottle of water on your chest that must not spill.
4. Breathe in and brace your stomach as if you were about to take a light punch. That tension is what keeps your back flat.

Going down and coming up

5. Bend at the hips and knees at the same time, as if sitting onto a chair slightly behind you. Your knees are allowed to travel forward — that is normal and safe.
6. Depth: go down until your upper thigh is parallel to the floor, or slightly lower, but only as far as your lower back stays flat. When your pelvis tucks under at the bottom ("butt wink"), that is your limit for now.
7. Stand up by driving your heels into the floor, extending hips and knees together. Breathe out as you pass the hardest part.

Five mistakes and their fixes

1. Heels lifting off the floor

A sign of tight ankles or the weight sitting too far forward. Fix: shoes with a flat, firm sole, a slightly wider stance, and ankle mobility work (10 easy kneeling lunges with the knee travelling past the toes against a wall).

2. Knees caving inwards

Usually weak glutes or too much weight. Fix: drop the load by 20 %, put a resistance band around your knees and deliberately push against it throughout the movement.

3. Lower back rounding at the bottom

You are going deeper than your hips currently allow. Fix: squat to parallel, no deeper, and hold that depth for 4–6 weeks while mobility improves.

4. Tipping forward like a deadlift

Back and quads that are weak relative to your hips. Fix: goblet squats with a dumbbell held at the chest, 3 × 10, as an extra exercise for two weeks.

5. Bouncing at the bottom

You drop, bounce and stand. That loads tendons, not muscles. Fix: lower over two to three seconds, pause for half a second at the bottom, then stand.

If your knees hurt

Knee pain on every single squat is not something you push through. Reduce the weight to a load you can do 10 reps with pain-free, reduce depth, and work in that range for three weeks. If the pain persists, stop the exercise and see a physiotherapist or doctor — carrying on solves nothing.

Alternatives when squats do not work for you

• Goblet squat — a dumbbell or kettlebell at the chest; the position of the weight keeps your torso upright for you.
• Leg press — no balance demand, a good option while you learn.
• Split squat (one foot forward) — less weight, less load on the lower back.

The short version

• Feet shoulder width, toes slightly out.
• Breathe in and brace before every rep.
• Depth to parallel or a little below — as far as your back allows.
• Drive through your heels, not your toes.
• Joint pain means less weight, not gritted teeth.