Barbell squat is one of the most effective exercise/workout for losing weight, building muscle. It can harm your muscles/body if you don’t do it correctly. This exercise is very helpful for your body. If your goals are to build muscle, get stronger, lose weight, get toned and get happier, then this barbell squat exercise/workout will get you all these faster.
How to do Barbell Squat
- Set up the barbell by loading the weight you want to use.
- Set the bar just below your shoulder height.
- Keeping your feet at about shoulder width apart, stand under the bar firmly.
- Keep in mind that you have to rest the bar on the top of your back and not on the back of your neck.
- You can use wide grip while holding the bar for better stability.
- Take the weight off the rack by bending on your knees. Keep your back straight and eyes up.
- Push your body up through the legs and take the weight/barbell off the rack.
- Make sure you are comfortable with the wait, if yes, take a small step back and stabilize yourself.
- Keep your eyes straight and slowly lower your body down. You are not allowed to lean forward as you come down. Make sure that your butt comes out and drop straight down.
- Squat down until your thighs get are parallel to the floor.
- Raise your body back up slowly by pushing through your heels.
- When you stand up, don’t lock your knees.
- Repeat the exercise.
Instructions for Barbell Squat
Even if barbell squat looks simple, many of us making simple mistakes while performing this exercise/workout. Follow these instructions to avoid any harm to your body. Doing exercise perfectly will strengthen your muscles but doing exercise wrong can lead to harm your muscles. Here are the common mistakes everyone does.
1. The most common mistake people do while doing barbell squats is bending the lower back. It’s important to keep back straight when you squat.
2. Always push your body up with the help of your heels and not from the balls of your feet.
3. You should not move your hips up faster than your shoulder. If you are not able to move your body straight up, reduce the weight or keep the rep time slow. Focus on quality rather than quantity (Weight).
4. While doing squats, keep in mind that your knees should not come forward and over your toes. Don’t put your knees in and out. While moving your body slowly down, your hips should drop straight and should not come forward.
5. You should not move your body till you sit down, you should stop lowering your body when your thighs are around parallel to the floor.
6. Your vision should be straight and should not look downwards. As soon as you look down, your back rounds.
