Barbell Back Squat
Also called: squat, high bar back squat, low bar back squat
The king of lower-body training — a knee-and-hip bend under a barbell that builds quads, glutes and a spine that can carry things.
Technique
How to do it
- 1
Set the bar on your upper traps (high bar) or rear delts (low bar); grip just outside shoulders.
- 2
Unrack, take two steps back, feet shoulder-width, toes slightly out.
- 3
Big breath into your belt line, brace, then sit down and slightly back.
- 4
Descend until your hip crease passes below your kneecap.
- 5
Drive the floor away, exhale through the sticking point, stand tall.
Cue bank
Two cues, picked by context
Internal cues for growth work at moderate loads; external cues when the bar is heavy. The app switches automatically.
“Feel the whole thigh load like a spring as you sit in.”
“Push the floor away from you.”
Common faults
What Harry Spotter watches for
These faults come from the planned form-analysis rubric for this exercise. Live detection arrives with the vision integration.
Cutting depth
Shortens the range that does the growing and inflates the numbers.
Fix: Pause squats at honest depth; drop 10% load until parallel is routine.
Knees caving inward
Valgus collapse leaks force and stresses the knee under load.
Fix: Band above the knees on warm-ups; cue “spread the floor.”
Lower back rounding under load
If your lower-back position changes unexpectedly under a heavy load, stop the set.
Fix: Stop the set. Re-brace, reduce load, and rebuild hinge mechanics.
Standards
How strong is your barbell back squat?
Your Back Squat level (e1RM 117 kg, 1.56× bodyweight)
Intermediate
Advanced at 150 kg e1RM
Heuristic community-standards multipliers — a motivation yardstick, not a scientific claim. e1RM computed with the same engine the app uses (Epley).
Substitutions