barbell back squat

The Barbell Back Squat is by far the most powerful lower body exercises you can master. This key compound exercise is the foundation of any good leg or lower body workout plan. What makes this exercise so remarkable is that there is literally no limit to how far you can take it.

Performed in the rack, the Barbell Back Squat can be loaded with as much weight as you can safely manage, and unless you’re the worlds strongest man, there will always be space for more plates to be loaded. That makes this one of only a handful of exercises that are quite literally limitless in terms of how far you can take it.

Here we will delve into the fundamentals of this empowering exercise. First we will look at the muscles worked in more detail, then we will demonstrate how to perform the Barbell Back Squat, followed by its benefits, mistakes to avoid, reps and sets, progression techniques and alternative exercises that work similar muscle groups.

Muscles Worked When Performing a Barbell Back Squat

The Barbell Back Squat is an almost full-body compound exercise that targets a wide range of muscle groups, including:

Quads: These front thigh muscles are heavily engaged, mostly during the upward phase of the squat.

Glutes: The glutes come into play as you sit back and push back up from the squat position, driving you back up to an upright position. Your glutes are your largest muscle group and their primary function is to keep you upright.

Hamstrings: The hamstrings, situated on the back of your upper leg, play a supporting role as you squat.

Core: Your core plays a vital role in every single standing exercise you do. With the Barbell Back Squat your core is helping you manage a much heavier load than it is used to, and it supports that load as you squat, as a result, you will get a very efficient core workout here.

Erector Spinae: These muscles that run down your spine support your overall posture during the movement, helping you to maintain good clean and safe reps.

Adductors: The adductor muscles, located in the inner thigh, assist in stabilising the legs and hips as you squat.

Calves: These lower leg muscles are engaged from a secondary perspective and assist in keeping you balanced throughout the squat.

You can use the muscle highlighted image at the top of this page for a visual guide of the muscles worked.

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How to Perform a Barbell Back Squat

Mastering this move is paramount to your weightlifting workouts. Every single lower body or Leg Workout Plan is based around some kind of squat, and the Barbell Back Squat is the most powerful variation you can do. So take the time to learn how to do this properly.

Follow the steps below and remember that practice makes perfect, keep working on this until you have it nailed.

First; if you’re not yet comfortable using the squat rack, start with a lighter barbell that you are able to raise over your head and rest on the back of your shoulders. Do your squats like this until you reach 20 kg’s (45lbs). Then move onto the rack.

Below are the steps for performing your squat in a rack:

1. Rack Setup: To get started, you need a squat rack or a power rack with an empty barbell. The first thing you should do is make sure that the barbell is positioned around shoulder height. Adjust the hooks if you need to. You should also ensure that you have the safety bars in place, here is an article that teaches you about squat rack use.

2. Position Yourself: You should get into position under the bar, ensuring that the bar rests just below your shoulders, not on your neck. Step back and stand with your feet approximately shoulder-width apart. Slightly turn your toes outward if that's more comfortable for you.

3. Grip and Hand Placement: While gripping the bar, keep your elbows tucked in. Place your hands in a comfortable position, using the knurling (the textured part) of the bar to guide your hand placement.

4. Execution: Sit back into your squat, ensuring you maintain a neutral back and keep your chest high throughout the movement. Look straight ahead of you at all times. You should aim to bring your thighs parallel to the ground or lower if your flexibility allows. Then, power back up through your heels and squeeze your glutes at the top.

5. Rack the Bar: After completing your set, safely rack the bar.

6. Squat Depth: It's vital to ensure you reach at least parallel depth during your squat. Depth plays a key role in activating the target muscles effectively. If you can’t go this low to begin with, remove all weight and master depth with no weight first. If you are struggling with that, hold onto something, TRX straps are particularly helpful for this. You should aim to condition your muscles to squat low. Take your time to get this right, the possibilities are endless with this exercise, so it’s worth working and waiting for.

Benefits of the Barbell Back Squat

Queen of Exercises: The Barbell Back Squat is by far one of the most powerful gym exercises, because it targets multiple muscle groups with a lot of weight. If you’re serious about weightlifting, you must master this move.

Full-Body Workout: The Barbell Back Squat is a compound exercise that engages multiple muscle groups simultaneously, offering a comprehensive, almost full-body workout.

Strength and Power: This is a proven exercise for building lower body strength and power, making it a fundamental exercise in your leg or lower body workout.

Functional Strength: Beyond aesthetics and strength, the Barbell Back Squat is the kind of exercise that will build you up in ways that make everything physical in your everyday life much easier.

Barbell Back Squat: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Poor Posture: Maintaining proper form, including back alignment, is critical. Avoid rounding your back or leaning too far forward during the squat. Keep your bum out and your chest high from start to finish.

Knee and Ankle Position: Ensure your knees and ankles don't collapse inward during the movement.

Footwear: Squat on a solid surface and wear appropriate footwear, preferably flat-soled shoes or lifting shoes for stability. Avoid gel-bottomed trainers as these do not offer a stable surface for you to squat on. Barefoot is also a good option.

Progression: Don’t get comfortable with this exercise. Use a power rack to safely increase the weight over time. Progressive overload is key to growth.

Reps and Sets

This is a powerful exercise, and the Olympic barbell can seem a little daunting at first, especially if you’re not sure if you’ll be able to squat it. Something to keep in mind is that the wider bar distribution of the weight does feel different to a shorter bar of the same weight, so always start with just the bar first so you can get a feel for it.

The number of reps and sets you perform depends on your current strength with this exercise.

Beginners: Start with simply mastering the move. Keep in mind that if you’re just starting out, 3 reps is a valid set.

To determine how many reps/sets of the Barbell Back Squat you should start with, you first need to figure out how many reps you can comfortably perform. Then add 2, and perform that number of reps for 3 sets.

For example; let’s say you can perform 4 reps comfortably. Add 2 to make 6 reps. Perform those 6 reps 3 times over, allowing yourself sufficient rest inbetween.

Experienced lifters: You know your body and its abilities better than anyone, use your own judgment.

We recommend that you avoid performing more than 12 reps per set. If you’re comfortably performing 12 reps for up to 6 sets, it’s time to make the exercise more challenging.

How to Make the Barbell Back Squat More Challenging

This is already one of the most challenging exercises to master, making it more challenging is simply a matter of increasing the weight on the bar. Another thing you can do is Pause Squats, so pause at the bottom for some seconds before powering back up.

You can also change your stance, whether you start with sumo or conventional, switch to the other, you’ll be surprised how much of a difference your foot position makes to weight distribution. You can get a visual representation of how each variation targets the muscles differently here.

How to Incorporate the Barbell Back Squat into Your Workouts

The Barbell Back Squat is your workout. Everything else you do during that workout comes second to this exercise. Squats belong in your Leg Workout Plan, or as part of a Full Body Workout. It doesn’t matter which workout you add this exercise to, what matters is that you build the rest of your workout plan around your Barbell Back Squat. These are the fundamentals of any good Weightlifting Workout Plan, you always build your workout around one of 3 key compound exercises, and the Barbell Back Squat is on that list.

Always start with the exercise that expends the most energy and uses the most weight, work your way down through barbell exercises, dumbbell exercises, cable/machine exercises and finish up with bodyweight exercises. You can learn more about the importance of exercise order here.

Exercises That Work Similar Muscles to the Barbell Back Squat

The Barbell Back Squat is one of those stand out exercises, it is the Queen of exercises, coming second only to the Deadlift in terms of load and how many muscle groups are targeted simultaneously. With that said, there is a very valid reason for doing other exercises that target similar muscle groups, and that is because those lighter, less intense exercises will help you build on your strength and power so that you can squat even more weight in the rack.

As far as compound exercises go, you should do other squat variations such as; a Front Squat, Dumbbell Sumo Squat, Goblet Squat, Hack Squat. Other exercises that will support your squat power and development include; Lunges, Good Mornings, Deadlifts and if you’re looking for an assisted exercise to squeeze out those last reps, consider the Leg Press Machine.

There are more Leg Exercises at the bottom of this page. Or you can check out our entire exercise database broken down by muscle group here.

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