The Dont's of Squatting

We outlined and elaborated on the main points to a squat here, that will make you stronger without the consequences of injury.  This post will cover the common mistakes, the potential consequences, and how to avoid making these errors.

A woman performing squats in a squat rack.  The bars should be set low enough to go to full depth, but high enough to prevent injury should you not be able to get out of the bottom.

Author: Em Bhoo: under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Don't #1:  Don't Stand With Your Feet Too Close Together

This is a mistake that is usually made by beginners.  When the feet are placed too close together, you will not be able to descend to full depth without compensating by bending the back for balance, or shifting too much of your weight to the ball of your foot.  The movement will almost resemble a stoop more than a squat.

Don't #2:  Don't Stand With Your Feet Too Wide Apart

Standing too wide will also disallow you from descending to full depth, and cut your range of motion.  It will also place too much stress on the adductor muscles.  The ideal stance is with your feet either shoulder width apart, or slightly wider.

Don't #3:  Don't Round Your Back

This can not only crash the lift by throwing your balance forward, it can also crash your spine or the erector muscles.  Maintain a slight arch in your back.  This is greatly helped by moving your hand position on the barbell to as close as you can get while maintaining a balanced, solid grip on the bar.  A closer grip will pinch your shoulder blades together, making rounding more difficult.  The close grip serves another important purpose; it brings the muscles of the shoulder blades together that serve as a stable platform on which to place the bar on your back.

Don't #4:  Don't Short Cut and Half Squat

As champion bodybuilder Tom Platz used to say, "Half squat, half leg."  The benefits of doing a full squat and the hazards of half squatting have been discussed in the previous article, but it is such a common mistake based on such a popular myth that it is worth noting again.  One other addition not talked about last time was strength in range of motion.  Your strength development in a particular muscle group is greatly reduced within the range of motion you do not use.  For instance, if you are able to squat 400 pounds in a hamstrings - parallel squat, and have never squatted to full depth, your muscle development functionally will be greatly reduced in the lower half range of motion.

Don't #5:  Don't Squat Without Proper Equipment

Though there are many competitive weightlifters that know how to "miss" a lift, should they not be able to successfully squat their attempted weight, the average person is not so adept, not having trained to fail the right way.  For the average, non-competitive weightlifter, it is wise to squat in a power rack, and not out in the open where there are no safety bars to catch the weight should a mistake happen.