Squats are widely regarded as one of the most essential exercises. While many people tend to focus on movements like the bench press or abdominal exercises, the free squat—performed without any equipment or machines—is a straightforward yet highly effective exercise. Free squats, also known as bodyweight squats, primarily target the legs and hip muscles, enhance balance, expand your range of motion, and stretch the muscles at the lowest point of the squat. This exercise can significantly improve leg endurance and contribute to visible muscle toning.
Protecting Your Knees
Lower your knees. The basic concept of "squatting" is simply bending your knees, lowering your body closer to the ground. For optimal results, aim to bend your knees to a 90-degree angle before returning to a standing position.
Ensure your knees stay behind your toes. This positioning helps safeguard your knees and back while maximizing the effectiveness of your squat. As you lower into the squat, ensure your knees track directly over your feet, not extending beyond your toes.
Position your feet shoulder-width apart. For a standard free squat, start by aligning your feet with your shoulders. This will help minimize stress on your knees throughout the movement.
Point your feet outward for plié squats. A plié squat is a variation where you adopt a wider stance. To perform this correctly, angle your feet outward and make sure your knees track over your feet. Begin with a shallow range of motion and gradually work towards achieving a 90-degree knee bend.
Stop at the bottom. Once your leg strength improves, you may start to "break 90," which means allowing your squat to go deeper than a 90-degree knee bend. However, it’s crucial to stop when your thighs gently touch your calves. Going further could place undue strain on your knees.
Protecting Your Back
Engage your core and keep your chest lifted. Squatting can place strain on your lower back if not performed with proper form. Protect your back by keeping your core engaged throughout the movement. Imagine drawing your belly button towards your spine. By tightening your core, you can also maintain an upright chest. Visualize that you’re trying to let sunlight shine on the top of your collarbone and chest as you squat.
Avoid bouncing. Lower yourself with control and rise back up with steady movement. Never shoot straight up without controlling the motion at the top. When professional athletes perform squats rapidly, they maintain full control at all times.
Gradually increase your reps. Build your squatting strength over multiple sessions by adding a few extra repetitions with each workout. Squat up to twice a week, starting with one set of 10-13 reps. Slowly increase your reps or add another set in each session. Progressively adding reps helps strengthen your legs while protecting your spine from injury.
Trying Different Variations
Perform squats on the balls of your feet. If you rise to the balls of your feet while squatting (also called relevé), you’ll activate your calf muscles. You can either stay up on your toes throughout the squat or add a calf raise at the peak of each squat movement.
Try chair squats. Rather than simply moving up and down in your free squats, experiment with sitting back and holding an isometric squat position. Essentially, hold the bottom of your squat as if you're sitting in a chair. Start by holding this position for 30 seconds and gradually increase the duration as you build strength. For an extra challenge, you can try doing this against a wall.
EXPERT ADVICE
Laila Ajani
For those new to squats, chair or box squats offer a great alternative. Performing high repetitions of these easier variations can help you gain strength and teach your body to achieve proper squat form. If squats are too difficult at first, begin with lunges to build strength, and then gradually incorporate squats into your routine once you're ready.
Vary your workouts. Incorporating different types of squats into your routine targets a wider range of muscles, making your workout more enjoyable and diverse. Plus, strengthening your leg muscles helps boost your metabolism, promoting more calorie burn. A mix of squat variations challenges your body in multiple ways, further stimulating calorie expenditure.
Mark Rippetoe, Strength and Conditioning Expert
The low-bar back squat enables the use of heavier weights, activating the body’s largest muscle groups. To perform, take a shoulder-width stance, align your knees with your feet, push your hips back, keep your chest elevated, and brace your core. Lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the ground, then push through your heels to return to standing.
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Perform squats with weights to help tone and shape your body. Complete three sets: two for warm-up and one working set.
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When using weights, squat with your feet flat on the floor and take proper safety measures, especially when lifting moderate to heavy weights. Also include one set of abdominal exercises in your routine.
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