How to do it
- Set the bar across your upper traps or rear delts and unrack with a braced core.
- Sit down and back, keeping the knees tracking over the toes, until the hips break parallel.
- Drive up through the mid-foot, hips and shoulders rising together.
Cues that matter
- Take a big breath into the belly and brace before every rep.
- Screw your feet into the floor to hold the arches.
Common mistakes
- Hips shooting up first, turning the squat into a good morning.
- Knees caving inward under load.
Muscles worked
Primary
- Quads
- All four heads
Also works
- Glutes
- Lower back
- Hamstrings
- Core
Sets and reps
What to do with it depends on what you are training for. These are the ranges MuscleMap uses when it puts Barbell Back Squat in a session, with 150 seconds between sets.
- Strength
- 4–6 reps
- Build muscle
- 6–10 reps
- Endurance
- 12–20 reps
Same muscle, different kit
Movements that train the same part of the quads with different equipment — for a day the barbell is taken, or a gym that does not have one.