This week we're focusing on the back squat for our main lift. I'm in the weight room today. I've got one of the racks here that I'm going to use for back squats. 

We want to make sure, first of all, our hooks, right? These j hooks here are set up at the right height. To adjust these, pull this yellow knob out, and then I lift up and pull out. Okay, and then I can set it. We want the bar to be at a height where, when we step underneath, stand up, we can easily back that bar out of those hooks. 

Okay, so let me show you. The gym are 45 pounds. There is a shorter bar. It's a very shiny, silver. It is 35 pounds if you want a little bit lighter bar. My hooks are at the right height. When I step underneath my bar, stand tall, back it out. Okay, and then when I'm done, I  walk it back in and set it down. Okay, I never want to be backing my bar up into those hooks, So I always want to make sure I'm setting it on my back, standing tall, stepping back to lift, and then walking with it forward, and then setting it in. Okay, so that's how you set up your bar. 

We're going to go over the back squat and form. Okay, so today or this week, yeah, you're finding a heavy five rep, right? Heavy means you have one to two reps left in the tank, okay? You're not going to failure on these. and you're maintaining good form throughout, right? 

So in a back squat, that weight is on my shoulders, right, on my back. As I'm going down into that squat, if I start to feel my shoulders pull forward, right? So I'm rounding my back. I'm losing my core, or whether it's on the way down or on the way up, that is, I would say, stop there. You don't need to add any more weight on, even if you can stand it up out of the bottom. That is considered loss of form, okay? 

So first thing, when I unhook, when I re-unrack that barbell, okay, I want to make sure my feet are hip to shoulder width apart for my stance, hip to shoulder width the part for my stance, I'm driving my heels and my feet into the ground and what that's going to do is turn on my glutes and it's going to open up my stance a little bit, okay? So when I start squatting, those knees should be tracking out over the toes. I also want to make sure I have tension created in my upper body. So when I have that barbell on my back, I'm not relaxed. 

In my setup, I'm pushing up into that barbell, squeezing my shoulder blades together in the back, creating tension on the top half of my body, okay? And then driving those feet into the ground and thinking of screwing them in, it's going to create the tension on the bottom part of my body. When I start going into my squat, I want to make sure I'm sending my hips back and down into that squat and not straight down, okay? So I'm going a little bit back and down at the same time, and then driving up out of that. 

I want to talk about range of motion. Goal is to be getting into a full depth squat, meaning my hip crease is at or just below my knees. Okay. You're going to be better off training that full range of motion than loading a bunch of weight on your barbell and only doing a half of a squat. Okay. So as you are moving up in weight on these, keep that in mind. That would also be considered loss of form when you cannot go to that full depth, okay? Throughout that squat, we want those heels to stay down, okay? So think of driving those heels into the ground, right? We've screwed those feet in, gripping the ground with the toes, okay? Creating that nice big surface and keeping those heels down in our squat. 

So I'm going to go through a couple of reps. These bars down here, make sure those are low enough that you're not hitting those in the bottom of your squat. You shouldn't be failing any reps throughout these. So those aren't, you know, if you want to set them at a height that is just below the barbell when you're in that full-depth spot, that would be good. You obviously don't want them higher, but make sure they're low enough that you're not going to hit those once you get to the bottom. 

So I'm going to step underneath my bar. Make sure I'm centered. Okay, both feet are right underneath. I am creating that tension. I'm pressing up into the bars, squeezing my shoulder and legs together, stand up and back it out, make sure my feet are set in my squat stance. Okay, I'm still creating tension, punching up into that barbell, feet are screwed in. All right, so I'm going to go back and down, hold up all the way down in that squat. Drive through the floor to stand. Okay. 

My eyes, I want to make sure my eyes are straight ahead, or I like to say, on the horizon, because if my eyes are at teh ground in front of me, my chest is going to fall forward, okay? I want to keep my chest up as much as possible. So, eye is on the horizon or up in that mirror, okay, in front of me.

Lock it and set it down, okay. And then you can step away. All right.

Have fun, good luck!



Have fun. Good luck.