What are the five biggest squat mistakes made by intermediate lifters?
1. Form. Don’t let the knees shoot forward like you are trying to do some form of breakdancing or some twisted sissy squat. Most of the time, a lifter’s shin to knee will not be perfectly perpendicular. However, you still need to sit your ass back, get depth, and don’t let your knees fall way out over your toes. Sit back and imagine that you’re sitting into a chair, then start to flair your knees as hard as you can and arch your back with your head UP. Continue to do all this as you wait on your up call.
2. Wide Squats. Squatting too damn wide kills power, inhibits ability to hit depth and leaves you with zero stability. Nobody else on the planet is Chuck V, as he’s one of the best squatters that has and will ever come into the game. With that said, he is built to squat super wide. Chances are…you are not. I like people to start out at a medium wide stance, then go from there. In most cases, they won’t need to go too much wider. Of course, this still depends on many factors, such as build, height, leverages, etc.
3. High Squats. Don’t chop everything in training three inches high because you won’t be able to get down in the meet and you’ll wonder what the hell is going on. Now, I understand that everyone has trouble with the lighter weight, but once you reach 75%, you should be able to hit depth, or at least parallel.
4. Looking Down. Don’t glance or stare at the ground while unracking of the weight, or during any part of the squat. Many people have their own opinions. I personally, look up. Almost toward the ceiling, but more so where the wall would meet the ceiling in front of me. When a squat starts to slow midway-up, I really drive my head up, and push my heels through the ground. A lot of time when the bar slows down, it has a tendency to roll up your back and make you get on your toes. This can cost you a squat that you could have easily finished.
5. Jell-O Unracks. Get tight before you unrack a big weight. Pay attention to where you are lined up on the bar and your foot placement. Don’t just slam the bar out of the rack because then you’ll either shake all over the place, get on your toes, fall on your heels or drop your chin. You have to make sure to apply some pressure (about 20%) to the bar BEFORE you unrack it. This goes for a walkout or monolift. I like to push into the bar as I’m setting up and do a mental check of body tightness. Once I have concluded that everything is in place, I will then apply the other 80% and forcefully, but under control – rip the bar out of the racks with an arched back and heels pushed through the ground.
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Brian has been a competitive powerlifter since 1999, when he broke into the sport with bench-only competitions. In 2004, within a year of his first full power meet, he finished second at the WPC Worlds in the open class as a junior – totaling 2000 pounds. Since then, Brian has recorded numerous top-two finishes, including the WPC Worlds, WPO Finals, APF Seniors and the IPA Pro-Am. For the past six years, Brian has consistently added 90+ pounds to his total each year, going from 1752 to 2700 over this span. Brian is employed as a licensed massage therapist in Jacksonville, FL. He enjoys coaching lifters, guiding their training and watching them succeed. Brian’s best lifts in the 275 class include a 1145 squat, 785 bench and 800 deadlift.
View Brian’s Training Log 
Brian – great squat tips, especially on “Squatting too wide,” which is something I’ve wrestled with; I think a lot of us wish we could squat like Chuck, but would be better served “listening” to our own bodies.
Erik Eggers
Thank you!
I hope he doesn’t mind me adding this. If you have your Monolift in a small area, or against a wall, try not to focus on a particular spot when looking up. I have heard several lifters complain about being lost in the big room at a meet. The danger is finding a spot to far out and keeping your head lower than you would in training.
Thanks for the tips. I’ve been hearing a lot about packing the neck on lifts, does it apply to the squat as well? And is it “safer” for your spine than looking up?
Great tips. Never too many reminders about form, mental queues and tried and true methodology.
What about rack squats and high box squats? I see them discussed a lot for acclimation to heavier loads and building more explosion, but it would seem to run counter to your high squat tip. Thanks again!
DG in Port Charlotte
@Erick – the faster you learn that, the better lifter you will become!
@Adam – Good point. I should have clarified that. I guess I was trying to say – ‘dont look AT the ceiling(or anything, actually) but think more so toward the area where the wall would meet it, and that’s the position I believe your head should be’.
@Steven – I dont know what ‘packing the neck’, is, but I cant really say that putting 400, 500, 600 or 1185lb is in anyway “safer” with the neck in the “up” position.
@Damon – simple answer to that question – REVERSE BAND SQUATS!! You can get depth, stay in the same groove as in competiton,and you overload the top. Chains work too
squating wide does everything for squating close.. I train wide because it work the posterior chain better/ hips better than close does..
A high-level olympic lifter who can squat 2.5-3 times body weight, covering a larger range of motion without a belt or any gear is far more impressive and athletic than a full geared squat covering half the aforementioned distance. This article is sensible and appropriate for an intermediate powerlifter but is deceptive for nearly everyone else. For athletes and non-geared lifters, the shin angle should be forward, bar placement should be high, and as a result, torso angle should be more vertical.
Great article. I’ve noticed the “Jell-O Unracks” with a lot of athletes. I always thought it occurred when racking the bar from a lunge position rather than having 2 feet under the bar and not doing the “2-breath method” – first breath is the racking the bar; then exhale; second breath in, hold and squat. But the cues you mentioned makes me think back to squats I have seen and I can see the faults.
Just one question (with a part A attached to it)… Would a sign of your knees coming in while squatting be indicative of having to wide of a stance? Or could that be a result of weak adductors?
Agree with Allen – What about telling people this article only describes how to perform a Westside squat?
A little fun quote:
”Seeing some blob waddle up to a monolift and JUST break parallel while wrapped in enough supportive equipment to keep Adele’s tits above her belly is not my cup of tea”
Brain,
I was speaking with Steve Goggins last night about your squat stance. I trained with him back at Coffee Gym and now at NGBB with Curtis Leslie. I have the jack briefs and squat suit and I am doing the reverse bands right now to try and sit back more. I hit 900 last week but still felt like I was not sitting back enough. I am transitioning to a more wider stance now and it is a challenge. I used alot of back before and the tips you mentioned seemed like it can help my form. I would like to upload a few sessins for you to assess. The jack gear is awesome and really gives you a pop. I just know i should get more especially with the opportunities with my stance and transitioning. Great FORUM!
@ allen – I guess thats why I’m a 2x alltime world record squat holding POWERLIFTER, not anything else that you describe in your post(but i have also done 3x bw raw olympic squats prior to PL). Also the title and the tags give appropriate definition as to what the article pertains to.
Allen, you also mentioned “A high-level olympic lifter who can squat 2.5-3 times body weight, covering a larger range of motion without a belt or any gear is far more impressive and athletic than a full geared squat covering half the aforementioned distance”
My response? I’m sorry that I’m not impressive to you. But you cant argue with records, and unfortunately, nobody on the planet has squatted more than I have at 275 – even though “A high-level olympic lifter who can squat 2.5-3 times body weight, covering a larger range of motion without a belt or any gear” – seems to be common to you, and more impressive, so go figure.
@jake – Here is an example of a great raw squat, without the gear and monolift but with same form and technique. This is almost 4x bw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlMCIhdMSg4&feature=player_embedded#!
BTW, I never said this is how you have to squat!!!! I said here are some common mistakes that I see intermediate LIFTERS make. The powerlifting part is a given, as I think its pretty obvious in the article.
@ Allen: How many world records do you hold? None? Didn’t think so…Do you train high level athletes or ”raw” lifters”? Because a high bar placement and a more vertical torso results in LESS glute/hamstring involvement. It seems to me that in sports like football or hockey that the glutes and hams are pretty important, and that being the case, a more ”Westside” style squat would involve a larger amount of musculature and would therefore be more beneficial to the athlete.
@ Brian: Excellent article. Which ”build” is better suited to wide squatting? I ask because I find myself squatting fairly wide and feeling more ”stable” as a result. Is this normal for someone with short legs/long torso?
Awesome article Brian. Thanks for passing along the tips. Seriously why is there always such a huge bitch fest between oly lifters and powerlifters? A world record is impressive, period. We can both learn from each other. We all lift heavy shit, get over it. For a raw lifter would you recommend taking a medium wide stance and then bringing it in to find a comfortable/powerful position?
Im a raw lifter and i squat close but i want to squat Wider but my hips hurt when I squat wide. And no matter how hard I try and how long I do it they still hurt. any advice on How to fix this
Brian, I did read several times that you are an all-time world record holder, and I am genuinely happy for your success. I’m sorry for hurting your feelings. My hope was simply that you could defend the value of the way you say to squat and it’s carryover for non-powerlifters versus the way I said to squat. I realize you wrote the article for powerlifters. My responses are written for the readers who are not.
Great article and tips. Olympic lifters just don’t have the posterior chain to do extremely heavy weights geared or not, seems like an irrelevant comment on this article.
@KT — sure Steve is a great friend of mine. Send them over to my Q&A: http://asp.elitefts.net/qa/default.asp?a=ask
I will look at them, no problem.
Thanks for the line, KT
Brian, what about looking down to ensure the right foot placement after a two or three short step setup?
Thanks Brian, these are great tips.
Nice article. Thanks for sharing your tips, especially seeing as how you are a champion at your sport. Which probably means you know what you are talking about.
Know it all comments must be addressed though. I doubt I’m alone in thinking it strange; how people think an article like this (on a largely POWERLIFTING website no less) is their opportunity to weigh in on how they apparently know even more, and that they are privy to yet even more impressive insight. Not through a video mind you, for example saying ‘please, watch how I do it, this is better’. Just talking smack through the internet in an attempt to feel better about themselves.
Obscure and insecure people who haven’t accomplished anything and instead of learning and absorbing something from a master of his respective sport, they find fault and try to belittle the accomplishments of a select few. Should all athletes squat powerlifting style? Probably not. Not all athletes even need to squat at all. So who cares if Olympic lifters do it one way and Powerlifters another. Its like comparing the running form of a sprinter and trail runner. Are they not both running? So why is one better?
But maybe, just maybe, someone who can squat a car-regardless of the style- might just know a thing or two.
Joe, I don’t hold any world records. Sadly, I’ve only competed as memeber of the Men’s Junior World Team at 198 in the most stringent powerlifting federation, the IPF. Sadly I’ve also only qualified for USA weightlifting nationals at 94 kg. And unfortunately, I am only a strength and conditioning coach at the collegiate level. What saddens me most is that I orignially thought it would be possible to have a reasonable debate with other experienced lifters and coaches, rather than an easily disgruntled novice. This has inspired me to write an article, so perhaps my logic can be better understood. Look for it soon, and in the meantime, read up on motor learning and muscular recruitment. It may help you better understand the “musculature” to which you refer.
Despite writing at length above, apparently its still necessary to reveal to Allen that what he originally said is irrelevant to the article. Allen’s first comment is that a high level Olympic squat is ‘more impressive’. Which doesn’t even make sense or follow the tips of the article which were about how to improve one’s squat for powerlifting. Its wasn’t a piece on how impressive the author is; or who has the most impressive squat style and therefore which type should be abandoned.
Also, the fact that for some sports an olympic squat has more carryover is also irrelevant because again; this article is written by a powerlifter, for powerlifters. That is so obvious at the outset I can’t believe its been missed.
So now claiming to want to have a ‘reasonable’ debate as opposed to making snide, irrelevant remarks isn’t a very good attempt. Good for you that your are a strength coach at the ‘collegiate’ level. So? Your comments are still irrelevant to the purposes of the article. If the article was entitled-
‘Which squat has the best carryover for collegiate sports? Discuss’
then maybe you’d have something there Allen.
My original response used the words “impressive” and “athletic.” Again, I realize this article is written for powerlifters. My responses continue to be for the readers who are not. And I certainly agree with your last statement. Myself or one of my colleagues will be writing that very article soon. Stay tuned.
Allen, as stated before, your post was completely off topic and pretty pathetic, actually.
The reality of things is you seem to have a Caleb Williams complex because he is the only IPF Junior I am aware of, based on many years in the sport, who has accomplished what you allege. Not to mention I just spent 10 minutes perusing results from IPF Junior Worlds and was unable to find a single lifter named ‘Allen’ in any of the results, nor was I able to find any overlap in the last 10 years of IPF Juniors and persons who had qualified for the Weightifting Nationals that would corroborate your alleged qualifications.
So, basically I am saying you are full of sand. Also, I would state you should be embarrassed for coming over on a site of this caliber and making statements that every skinny underachiever on the planet posts on just about every weight training forum on the planet every day. Go back to teaching grade school gym.
Unfortunately part of my contractual obligation is to avoid public disclosure when discussing topics such as this, so Allen, as you now may have guessed is not my real name. You can certainly attempt to discredit me, but my hope is that you revisit the purpose of my posts.
Unfortunately for power lifting not all organizations are half squats. Throwing around numbers trying to demand respect is pretty sad. And assuming that someone is a skinny underachiever is pretty embarrassing. Every person, whose love is training, should be able to give and receive criticism without getting offended. Good article for people trying get better at Westside style of squatting. Allen thanks for the tips for people looking to perform a more athletic squat. Keep training hard to pursue whatever your goals may be.
I don’t need to revisit the purpose of your posts. Your reply did a great job of clarifying that.
You make asinine statements in response to an article geared towards competitive powerlifters, and don’t even have the stones to use your real name.
My thoughts on the topic are that your alleged qualifications should preclude you from posting something as stupid as this on this site, as opposed to being part of your motivation.
BTW, you probably missed it but I was able to cross reference US Junior World team members from the last 8 years with Weightlifting qualifiers and there was NO overlap regardless of name unless you are Cory Saltzman which I highly doubt because I knew him as a Jr. lifter and his ovrall conduct was different than yours.
Paul,
Get the sand out of your vagina. We get it, you hate it when someone disagrees with someone you long to fondle. I am sure that your research on Allen was sound and you are quite the internet wizard. Thank you for your attempts to discredit someone who uses the comments section to debate the topic at hand, which is: “5 Squat Tips from an All-Time World Record Holder,” not “5 POWERLIFTING Squat Tips from an All-Time World Record Holder.” Keep up the good work. You are an impressive keyboard warrior.
Stop responding to Allen, please. His initial comment was designed to get attention. Why does it seem like every pure powerlifting article on here recently has some Crossfit troll spouting off about how Oly lifting is far superior to what we do? Why read an article about powerlifting and then comment about Oly lifting? Sad how someone can take the time to share their knowledge for free and some ass-hat tries to bash what they have written.
The funny thing is that what you call powerlifting is for me the reason that powerlifting can’t be recognized as a real sport that could have been in the Olympics.
Trippel layer suits, steroids, bad form, unhealthy, (monolift) and the confusingly amount of federations is corrupting powerlifting. IPF is the federation that comes closest to how this sport should be if it wants to be taken serious in my opinion.
Not the right place for this discussion, sorry..
I just wanted to say how lucky I feel to be able to get legitimate and actually helpful advice from someone who is at the top of their game. I can’t think of any other arena, be it in sports, business, engineering, etc. where those in the top of their field willingly volunteer advice and chronicle their work.
Thanks you EliteFTS, and Mr. Carroll, for taking the time to help those of us who wish to get better.
Why does everyone assume olympic style squats are the best? Do you jump with your quads or your PC? Basic knowledge of the human body tells us it is the PC.
It wasnt classified as a powerlifting article. It said “squating tips”. All allen was saying is that the article doesnt apply as much to Oly style of squating. Then people got sensitive.
Great article!
Great article! As far as finding the right stance, I tell athletes to start with a stance where, If you drop a plumbline from the middle of the shoulder joint, that plumbline should fall right inside the heels – that is a relatively wide stance and work for a lot of the athletes I have trained. I typically follow that up with saying that “the optimal stance for you is where, you can as deep as possible with good form”. Note that this guideline work for the powerlifting squat, the optimal stance for the olympic squat is narrower.
Karsten
In the monolift, I think it is perfectly fine to look straight up as suggested.
If you look at the top European lifters in the world….they all look down when they have to walk the weight out, before looking straight ahead, or slightly down to follow a neutral spine alignment.