Barbell Squat

The barbell back squat is a knee-and-hip extension exercise with the bar resting across the upper back, and it is the reference lower-body strength lift. It trains the quadriceps, glutes and adductors under load while the whole trunk works to keep the spine rigid, which is why it carries over to almost everything else done on two feet.

Targets: Gluteus Maximus
Also works: Adductor Magnus, Soleus
Equipment: Barbell
Level: Intermediate
Start with: 4 × 6-8, 90s rest

How to do it

Set the bar in the rack at roughly mid-chest height, step under it, and rest it across the muscle at the top of your back rather than on your neck.
Grip the bar firmly, pull your elbows down and your upper back tight, then stand up to unrack it and take two steps back.
Set your feet about shoulder width with your toes turned slightly out, and take a deep breath into your midsection to brace.
Sit down and slightly back, letting your knees travel forwards over your feet and your hips drop between your heels.
Descend until the crease of your hip is at least level with the top of your knee, then drive back up through your whole foot, keeping the bar over the middle of your feet the whole way.

Form cues

Spread the floor with your feet — actively screwing them outwards stops the knees collapsing inwards.
Keep your chest proud and your ribs down at the same time; the brace is what holds those together.
Think about driving your upper back into the bar out of the bottom, not about standing up.
Breathe in at the top, hold it for the rep, and breathe out at the top of the next one.

Common mistakes

Letting the knees cave inwards on the way up. It is almost always a bracing and foot-pressure problem rather than a weak-glutes problem, and spreading the floor fixes it faster than a band does.
Cutting depth to add weight. A partial squat trains a partial range; if depth disappears as the bar gets heavier, the useful working weight is the one where it does not.
The hips shooting up faster than the shoulders, which turns the squat into a bent-over good morning and moves the load onto the lower back.

Where this fits in a week

Dietly Fit scores one photo a week out of 100, names the area holding the score back, and builds the week around it — so a movement like this gets programmed when your gluteus maximus is what needs the work, not because it was next on a list.

More quadriceps movements

Demonstration courtesy of Gym Visual. Sets and reps are a starting point, not a prescription. Speak to a qualified professional before starting a new exercise program, particularly if you are managing an injury or a health condition.