How to Squat | Beginner's Guide

hello friends today we are going to learn about the conventional squat we're going to learn how to perform it what kind of equipment you need and how to set up for it so if you want to learn how to squat keep on watching so here on my channel i post videos with tips and tricks on how to jump start your fitness journey and reach your fitness goals efficiently so if you're new to my channel consider subscribing squats are considered a compound movement meaning that they use multiple muscles in order to be performed learning how to squat is important because squatting is an exercise that's foundational and building muscle mass in your lower body there are a lot of variations of squats such as goblet squats plays squats sumo squats but today we're going to focus on the conventional squat let's go to the gym the first thing we're going to talk about is equipment things i like to use are a lifting belt knee sleeves and weight lifting shoes the belt helps you stabilize and reduce stress on your spine which in turn promotes better form and body biomechanics which of course results in better performance knee sleeves helps to protect your knees from potential injury they add compression which helps to increase blood flow and reduce pain weightlifting shoes are beneficial because they're made with sturdier soles with a rubber or plastic composite bottoms to help keep your feet from sliding having the correct shoes help to distribute your body weight appropriately and provide a stable foundation which directly promotes good form i'm wearing my nike metcon 3 here if you're not looking to invest in new shoes i'd recommend wearing converse or even going barefoot i'll list some of the weightlifting shoes in the description box below along with links to the other equipment wearing shoes that are not meant for lifting can often cause weight to be shifted around unevenly resulting in bad form and sometimes even injury they do not provide the support you need to perform a good squat getting equipment can be expensive so if you're not quite sure you're wanting to make the commitment just yet and for sure get a good pair of shoes as you begin and as you progress and begin to lift heavier consider investing in a quality belt and knee sleep now that we know what equipment we need let's talk about form a common mistake we often see is overarching of the back and popping the booty out the butt wink although this results in a sexy mini torque motion the over extension of the spine can potentially be harmful to your back it often times shifts the majority of our weight forward and onto the toes resulting in difficulty to maintain balance as well as prohibiting the amount of weight we can squat what we want to see is a neutral spine throughout the entire movement when you come down you want your hips to be parallel with your knees the majority of the weight and power should come from your heels as you go up imagine a line of power coming from your heels pushing the weight up when you reach the top flex those cheeks pushing your hips forward and locking your knees [Music] when you first start squatting it's also easy for your feet and knees to be unstable as you see here with my knees moving in and out and my feet coming off of the floor this oftentimes means that the weight you're using is too heavy and that's okay i always recommend starting with just a barbell or even on the smith machine wearing the incorrect shoes can also easily lead to incorrect form ideally you want your knees to point straight forward and your feet on the ground at all times like so you'll also see that my feet are directly underneath my shoulders which is a good placement to begin as you start also i have the barbell placed on my traps this position is called high bar and i place my hands just outside of my shoulders this is the position i like and am comfortable with setup you want to set up for squats so it's efficient and easy for you to do this move the bar catches to just below your shoulders once you have the correct equipment set up and you have a good feel for the form go ahead and squat if you want more information on how to use a squat rack watch my video on how to use gym equipment that i've linked in the description box below i like you start by placing my hands in the barbell once they're on the barbell i don't move them i then come under the barbell and position it on my traps or wherever is comfortable for you given that the bark hatches are a little lower than your shoulders your knees should be slightly bent to get the barbell off of the catches flex straight glutes this will push your hips forward and straighten your legs bringing the barbell off of the catches from here take one step back and then bring the other foot back shoulder-width apart from the first foot before going into the squat i like to make sure my legs are evenly adjusted so that one length doesn't endure more weight than the other to do this i simply flex my glute to push my hips forward i want my hips to move straight forward if they move to the right or left instead i know i need to adjust the positioning of my feet once i'm in position i like to take a couple of deep breaths then i take one large inhale hold it tighten my core go down into my squat head parallel push up through my heels bring my hips all the way forward by flexing my glutes locking my knees and then exhaling then take another breath in hold it and do it all over again again make sure your knees and feet are stable if not drop the amount of weight practicing the correct form is always more important than lifting heavy when you're done with your wraps simply take a step forward towards the squat rack and set the barbell back onto the catches [Music] thank you so much for taking the time to watch this video comment below what your favorite variation of the squad is or if you have any other questions about the conventional squad if you did find this video helpful make sure to give it a thumbs up subscribe to my channel like me on facebook and follow me on instagram thank you so much again for watching this video and i hope you all have a fabulous day