Front squat, back squat, goblet squat, sit in a chair, sit on the toilet, it doesn’t matter, they ARE ALL THE SAME THING.
This is the 3 steps I care about when doing a squat assessment/teaching the movement. I try to keep it very simple, but simple isn’t easy. I focus more on what the person feels, not particularly what they look like.
Step 1 - Baseline Strength.
This is just establishing competence. Do you have a baseline level of strength? If you do, you are more likely to respond to actual cues, especially as the weight gets heavier.
Not having the baseline level of strength doesn’t mean don’t squat. It just changes the expectations. Technique changes as intensity increases. If baseline strength isn’t there, a lot of the squat cues that exist are pretty useless since you’re asking someone to control their bodyweight as well as an external load.
A set of 5 on each side, as close to their squat depth as possible. For the average size person, 18” is about right. There is a balance component involved, so you may have some signal versus noise issues, but you’ll be able sort that out after you test enough people.
Step #2 - Can you feel your abs?
Trunk stiffness is paramount for moving heavy weight, and a proper breath ensures trunk stiffness. The pattern is the same for normal breathing, bracing, or valsalva - feel the air go into your low back and GET WIDER. You get air into the entire trunk, but it has to start there.
This usually makes you naturally get the spine to a more “neutral” position. This fixes most bar path problems caused at the initiation of the squat. Also maintaining a more neutral spine gives you more access to hip flexion, necessary for lowering yourself down.
Step 3: Hamstring Tension
Squirrely feet are a sign you aren’t keeping tension in the hamstrings, either toes sliding out (weight on heels), or heels rolling in, usually at the bottom of the squat. This means you aren’t using the biggest muscles - quads, hamstrings, adductors, glutes, to provide eccentric control, and/or you’re just relaxing in the bottom. Weight in the middle of the foot ensures this.
Some cues to FEEL, GAIN, and MAINTAIN tension:
spread the ground apart
keep the heels AWAY from each other
Pretend the knees are lights and keep the lights pointing forward
THINK about coming back up before you get to the bottom
The weird part of this, it may feel like your knees are turning IN. That’s fine. They aren’t, they just aren’t going OUT. Hip internal rotation is important for joint stability, so you have to keep some muscle tension there to actually take advantage of it.
Summary
So that’s HOW to squat in three simple steps. Now with each step, I may have to spend a lot of time with other regressions to figure it out, but that short term pain helps long term.
Cues are important, but the purpose of the cue is what really matters. Everyone will look different because everyone is different, but you should feel the same muscles working. If you are strong enough and know what muscles to use, you can do ANY squat variation.