Dial in Your Squat | Olympic Weightlifting Squat Technique

All right, let’s get your squat all sorted out. Bear in mind that we’re talking specifically about an Olympic squat here—some of the details on depth, bottom position and stance will vary for other types of squats and applications.

Variation
The following points are principles that apply to everyone, but there will be variation in the exact positions among weightlifters due to factors like proportions, hip anatomy and mobility. Focus on meeting the criteria of the principles rather than trying to replicate another lifter’s squat.

Stance
First, let’s determine your stance. Stand with your heels around hip-width and your toes turned out to whatever degree feels comfortable. Sit down in a relaxed but balanced position, not worrying about your back.

From here, we’re going to adjust the width and toe-out until we find the optimal position. The first criterion is finding the angle of the thigh that provides the best range of motion at the hip—that is, the position in which we can sit comfortably at full depth without feeling any bone on bone restriction or discomfort other than some possible tension from inflexibility.

The second criterion is keeping each thigh aligned with its corresponding foot—that is, if you look down over one thigh, it’s approximately parallel with that foot. We’re simply ensuring here that the knee is hinging as it’s designed to and eliminating any rotational force. For most athletes, this will mean the center of the knee is very slightly outside the center of the foot.

Depth
Full depth is simple—it’s closing the knee joint as much as possible while maintaining proper back extension and balance over the foot. We can sit lower if we relax and allow the back to round, but we of course don’t want to load a squat in this position. Keeping the back set properly will bring the hips slightly higher into maximal functional depth.

For some athletes, this will mean extreme depth, while others will be barely below parallel—again, this is why adhering to the principles rather than mimicking other athletes is so important.

Posture
The goal is to maintain as upright of a posture as possible throughout the motion to create the best structure to support weight on the shoulders or overhead. This includes keeping the head up and the eyes forward. The body tends to go where the head and eyes go—if you’re looking down or tilting your head down, you’re more likely to tip and shift forward. Keeping the head up also helps maintain overall back extension.

In order to maintain this posture, we need to bend at the hips and knees together to limit the backward hip motion to only what’s actually necessary.

Back
Throughout the squat, the back should remain set tightly in the same position. The lower back needs to remain in its neutral curve, and the upper back should be flattened somewhat through the attempt to extend it. This position needs to be maintained forcefully with continuous muscular effort around the entire trunk.

Pressurization
In order to stabilize the spine maximally, we need to pressurize the trunk with air. Take in a complete breath—allow the abdomen and chest to expand—then lock the air in and forcefully tighten all of the musculature around the trunk. If you have a tendency to get dizzy during heavy lifts, expel a small amount of air as you move through the most difficult range of motion.

Balance
The goal is to maintain balance over the whole foot throughout the squat with full foot contact at all times. No part of the foot should lift off the floor at any point.

Tempo & Bounce
Generally we want to train the bounce in front squats and use a more controlled tempo in back squats. This allows us to best use the front squat to train the rhythm and aggression of the clean, and strengthen the trunk against the additional forces experienced with the abrupt stop in the bottom, and to use the back squat to train leg strength through the greatest range of motion possible.

Even if using the bounce, the initial descent should be at a more controlled tempo and acceleration down begun around parallel. Always stand from the bottom of a squat with maximal speed unless you have a very good reason not to in a specific case.

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[matthewna]

This man explains things so efficiently. All these other videos are 20 minute or 10 minutes, some have half their video talking about what they ate that day.

[brunoduff]

The squat’s step by step in his book is extremely helpful. I no longer feel pain in my back due to it’s instructions. Totally worth it

[GetUnwoke]

every time I did squats, no matter which style lo-bar or hi-bar, my low back hurt and I dreaded every time I had to do them. I also kept stalling early and had no idea wtf I was doing wrong. the issue was that I was trying to fix my form while using the wrong bar placement. Finally decided to put the bar on the most comfortable shelf on my traps and everything felt natural and smooth for once. no back pain at all, just pure awesomeness!! bar placement matters the most I'd say and then it's a matter of balance and following the most natural feeling bar path. that was my experience anyways. just my 2 cents

[williamdejeffrio]

Perfect video! Straight to the important points and very informative. After squatting for nearly 50 years I am currently trying to improve my form, focusing on a more Olympic form. Thanks!

[chefbuff]

Amazing video, love the amount of knowledge you cover alongside its direct application(s) and such a concise delivery!

[robertrobert]

Extremely short intro and got straight to the point. That's how tutorials on Youtube should be done.

[Brisk]

I stopped doing parallel and started doing ATG even though I don’t do oly weightlifting, because I respect the ROM.

[zsahe]

Wow what a great video. Exceptional work. Thanks.

[jaromvicencio]

No nonsense explanation as expected from Greg.

[Spanker]

No bullshit, right to the point, very well done! I like the vid, sir. Will send it to my mates to end old debates.

[MeleDrummer]

Awesome, your tutorials are the best and the real examples really help understand the points being made

[jeffreywalker]

Excellent video. I would like to make a point that is not often mentioned, and this may be one of the better forums to do so. The apophysis (growth plate) of the 5th lumbar vertebra does not close until the age of 22! And it is angled through the vertebral body. So improper form (powerlifting type squats especially) prior to that age puts the spine at increased risk for damage. Rounded back in squatting or heavy deadlifts is dangerous for teens! If it were up to me, I would counsel all younger lifters to stick with higher reps and perfect form.

[Poncho_wl]

Thankyou Greg for introducing me to Lidia, my life if changed

[GNumber]

How about talking about nutrition specialy for weightlifting and how do you maximase your sleep quality

[jamesrichardson]

Great video Greg! Exactly what I needed before a big squat workout

[andr]

Thanks, got some good cues to keep in mind

[jeffhaley]

Excellent information and easy to understand guidance! Great job on edit and presentation. Keep up the awesome content!

[mukesh]

Thank you for making this knowledgeable video ☺

[catsrule]

Squats take a lot of work, are very taxing on the body, and do very little short term, but as for me, I’ve been doing it pretty steady for 7-8 months, and have been seeing some definition, I’m only doing 240-260 lbs 12, 10, 8 times, afterward I do lunges, and leg extensions. I feel it helps everything over all, and wouldn’t make sense working out without it.

[harleymbaldwin]

OK, maybe I'm being a bit pedantic here, but what's your opinion on the "momentary" inward knee valgus that we can see on some lifters (Koha & Valentin in this video) when coming out of the "hole"? Do you consider that a form "breakdown" - or how should we justify / explain this phenomenon? Is it something to avoid etc...?