9 Tips To Improve Your Squat Depth

Squat depth is one of the fundamentals that needs to be on point before you even consider adding weight to your squats. In this article we will provide you with our top tips to improve your squat depth. If you’re an experienced lifter already squatting to good depth, but simply want to work on getting lower, the tips in this article can help you too.

But before we do any of that, it is necessary for you to understand why the depth of your squat is so important.

Tips To Improve Your Squat Depth Contents

Why Improving Squat Depth Matters

The Ideal Squat Depth

What Affects Squat Depth

The One Exception To Squatting Deep

Tips To Improve Your Squat Depth

Improve Your Squat Depth FAQ’s

Lipstick Lifters 30 Day Squat Challenge

Tips To Improve Your Squat Depth Conclusion

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Why Improving Squat Depth Matters

The squat is one of the most powerful exercises in any weightlifting workout plan. It is a movement worth mastering, even if it takes you longer than you care for. Improving your squat depth can help you make remarkable progress in your workouts.

The depth of your squat is largely dependent on your overall mobility, so when you work on improving this, you are improving your overall mobility, which in turn, will help you perform better in a lot of ways, not just in the gym.

One of the most important reasons to squat deep is because it means you are working the full range of motion, you should be doing that with every single exercise. When you work through the full range of motion, you contribute to the overall strength built in your muscles, ligaments and joints, as well as your ability to add mass to your quads, glutes and even hamstrings.

It's worth noting that different squat variations target each muscle group differently, you may find that your depth is impacted by the type of squat that you do. To larn more about this, see; what muscles do squats work.

The Ideal Squat Depth

Defining the ideal depth of the squat is something that is often debated in the fitness industry. Most agree that you should squat to; at least parallel, this is where your thighs are parallel with the floor, forming a 90 degree angle with your knees. Some say you should go just below parallel and others debate “ass to grass”.

Lipstick Lifters say; start with what you can do, and work on improvements from there. What we don’t want to do is discourage anyone who is struggling to get their squat low enough. If you can only squat to a quarter rep for now, do that, because you will never get any lower if you don’t keep working on this.

What Affects Squat Depth

There are a few things that could be affecting your squat depth:

General mobility

Joints and muscles that don’t get used for a prolonged period of time have an impact on our overall mobility. If you are just coming into the squatting game, you may find that your general lower body mobility needs to be improved. This is a pretty good position to be in because it means you can make improvements relatively quickly with some of the tips for improving your squat depth below.

Form

Every exercise is affected by your form, that’s why it’s so important to master the exercise before you load it with any weight. Where your squat depth is concerned, how you execute your squat will have an impact on how deep you can squat.

One very common misconception about squats that does affect depth is that your knees should not pass your toes. This is really bad advice and we will explain why…

Trying to squat low and not allowing your knees to pass your toes is one way to injure yourself, it is simply not natural for most peoples biomechanics. The more you force yourself to maintain this unnatural position, and then add weight to it, the more likely you will face knee, hip and back problems when you squat.

Below are some examples of women squatting to various depths with good form, notice their knee position:

Knee, hip or ankle mobility

Sometimes it can be something as simple as your mobility in any of the above joints that affects your ability to squat deep. This can be tricky to diagnose because sometimes it can be very subtle. However once diagnosed there are some tweaks that you can make to your form, or some accessory exercises you can do to strengthen the affected area.

It’s impossible to cover every potential scenario in this article, but some of the things suggested below can help in these instances.

Injury

If you have suffered any injury that affects your ability to squat deep, you should proceed with caution. For major injuries of the lower joints or back, speak to a physiotherapist who can monitor your mobility in person and advise you.

For those who have age-old niggles that you’re familiar with, you may find some of the tips below helpful for providing you some support when you work on your squat depth.

Ego lifting

Another common block for getting good squat depth is ego lifting. While we are all for encouraging you to lift heavy, you should not be adding any weight to a squat that you’re not comfortably managing without weight to at least parallel.

You will benefit far more from performing the full range of motion without weight, than you will performing a quarter rep with weight.

The One Exception To Squatting Deep

Before we delve into our tips for improving your squat depth, this is worth mentioning in case you come across it..

You may see some people in the gym performing squats that don’t go below parallel. One of two things is happening here; it is either somebody who is inexperienced and unaware that what they are doing isn’t ideal.

Or, it is someone who is very experienced and is deliberately performing what is known as “half reps” or “partial reps”. This is a legitimate bodybuilding technique and the only people who should be using this technique are those who understand why they are using this technique. We covered this in the article; Bodybuilding Exercises For Women.

Regardless of what is happening around you, know that 99% of the time, you should be squatting to good depth.

Tips To Improve Your Squat Depth

Whether you're an absolute beginner trying to get your first low squat, or you’re an experienced lifter trying to get your loaded squats ass to grass, these tips can help!

Bodyweight squats come first

Mastering the depth of your squat with bodyweight alone is the very first thing you should do. If you cannot go low enough with just bodyweight for multiple reps, try some of these tips.

Hold onto something

You can grab a short bar or pole, even a broom stick will work. Just hold it in one or two hands (use 2 sticks if you need), as stability for your squat. You can also use a door frame, or hold onto the side of most gym machines. TRX straps are also great for holding onto as you focus on squat depth.

Turn your toes and knees out slightly

For some people this just feels more natural and that’s fine. Feet facing forward is good too, find what feels good for you.

Widen or narrow your foot position

There are 2 main foot positions; conventional and sumo. Conventional is a foot position around shoulder width apart with feet facing forward and sumo is wider than shoulder width with feet turned out. Anything in between that you feel comfortable with is good.

Make sure you’re wearing the right shoes

Don’t squat in gel bottom trainers, you need a flat solid rubber sole, or a pair of lifters that have a slightly raised heel.

If you don’t have either of those, take your shoes off entirely and squat barefoot. This will help to keep your feet firmly planted into the ground for stability as you squat.

Tweak your form

You should sit back into your squat keeping your back neutral, head and shoulders facing straight out in front of you.

Make sure your foot and upper body position is maintained throughout. You should only be moving your hip and knee joints through the power of your muscles. Don’t try to push forward on your knees or overly push back on your hips.

Perform box squats

Squatting down onto a box can feel a little safer for some people, knowing you have the box to simply sit back on if absolutely necessary can help a lot. This is also a good technique if you struggle to squat for reps. Allow yourself to just sit down and stand up until you can start to go for reps where your bum just touches the box before you come straight back up.

Put some baby plates under your heels

This helps when struggling with ankle stability as well as maintaining good upper body form. Beginners struggling to get the correct form should use this method.

Do accessory exercises

Accessory exercises help to strengthen the smaller connecting soft tissues which in turn will help you perform your squats with better form. Which accessory exercises you perform depends entirely on where you find your weaknesses. For example, if you find you have an issue with your hip flexors, you should find other smaller exercises that strengthen your hip flexors.

From a more general point of view, introducing exercises like the leg press, leg extension, leg curl are all great for improving your squat form. Any exercise that works your lower body, assisted or with much less weight than your squat will help.

Improve Your Squat Depth FAQ’s

How important is it to improve squat depth?

Getting your squat to at least parallel is imperative, if you’re really struggling, go to see a physiotherapist who may be able to help you. It could be that your biomechanics just aren’t cut out for squats, but in many cases it’s just a matter of needing guided practice.

How do I know which of the above tips will help me?

You need to establish what your blocks are, use the gym mirrors to monitor your form and look for anything that seems off. Pay attention to your body and feel anything that might feel off, is there a niggle in any of your joints, muscles, back? These are all early warning signs that something is off. Address the target area before you proceed.

Another good tip is to record your reps, then you have something to watch back.

What if my knees pass my toes too much?

They can’t, as mentioned above, the idea that your knees shouldn’t pass your toes is false and somewhat dangerous advice. Allow your body to move in the way that feels most natural for you, don’t try to force yourself into any uncomfortable and rigid positions because some inexperienced trainer told you to. You are a person, not a textbook.

When should I start adding weight to my squat?

You should start to add weight to your squat when you are performing 10 sets of 3 reps of bodyweight squats to any reasonable depth as described in this article with ease.

How do I start adding weight?

It’s a good idea to start with light weights, don’t go straight into the rack. Use a low weight fixed barbell across your shoulders, or a dumbbell or kettlebell held in rack position.

Can I use the smith machine for squats?

Some people do, it’s not ideal as the smith machine will force you into a more rigid position and doesn’t allow for your overall development of your squat form. If you do choose to use the smith machine, use it sparingly and not for all of your squats.

Lipstick Lifters 30 Day Squat Challenge

If you're looking for a squat challenge with a strength twist, this is it. Lipstick Lifters 30 day squat challenge will see you increase the weight you squat by up to 30kg.

You can start from bodyweight squats, or you can start wherever you are now in terms of your squat weight and apply the same formula to increase that amount by 30kg.

Tips To Improve Your Squat Depth Conclusion

Squat depth is one of the most important things you need to master in weightlifting. While it might take some work on your part, it’s worthwhile work that shouldn’t be skimped on. There are various techniques, as outlined in this article that can help you. If you’re struggling with your squat depth, take the time to monitor your form and feel your body as you squat to try and identify where your weakness might be.

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