Technique · Legs
Barbell Squat
There is no single perfect squat shape. Your levers change stance, torso angle and knee travel; the useful reference is staying balanced and controlled under the bar.
Start with your feet and your proportions
There is no universal stance width. Find a position that keeps the whole foot stable, lets the knees follow the toes and allows a natural descent.
Femur length, torso length and mobility change how much you need to lean. Do not fight your structure just to look more upright.
Keep the system over its base
A useful reference is keeping the bar roughly over the mid-foot during the descent and ascent. The torso can lean, but the combined system should stay balanced over the foot.
Brace and Valsalva
Take a breath before the rep and expand the trunk 360 degrees—front, sides and back. On heavy sets, a brief Valsalva can increase trunk rigidity through the hardest part, then you can breathe once you are stable again.
Valsalva also raises internal pressures and should be contextualized for people with relevant blood-pressure or cardiovascular issues.
Descent and depth
Hips and knees move together. Descend at a speed that lets you keep the foot, brace and bar path organized.
Use the depth you can control. If you can squat below parallel without losing the position, there is no reason to avoid it; if the whole system breaks down, control is the first problem to solve.
Raout
Track the squat you actually performed.
Raout keeps load, reps and notes on stance or depth together from one session to the next.
Drive up as one system
Push the floor away and let hips and chest rise together. Avoid shooting the hips up while the chest stays behind, or allowing the knees to collapse inward.
Progression and tracking
Stance, footwear, depth and bar position materially change a squat. If you change them, note it.
Raout keeps load, reps and technical notes beside the next session so you compare the same movement standard.
Raout
All exercise guides
Raout
Track the squat you actually performed.
Raout keeps load, reps and notes on stance or depth together from one session to the next.