Ben Pollack Shares The Proper Squat Setup and how to AVOID common squat mistakes. Ben Pollack coaches us on how to properly set up for the squat, squat grip, squat stance, squat form, squat descent, and more squat secrets.
Squat Set Up (Addressing The Bar):
- [ ] Address the bar evenly
- [ ] Line up directly in the middle
- [ ] Take your grip first
- [ ] The narrower the grip the better position you’ll have on your back (shelf)
- [ ] If you lack shoulder mobility your grip will be more wide
- [ ] Find the narrowest you can go without hurting your shoulders
- [ ] Hold onto the bar and pull down (helps engage your lats & keep a flat back)
- [ ] Keep neutral spine
- [ ] Big deep breath in diaphragm
- [ ] Squeeze abs and glutes
- [ ] Pull yourself under the bar
Grip:
- [ ] Make sure you have your whole hand wrapped firmly around the bar
- [ ] Use your hands to help keep you stable
- [ ] If you lack shoulder mobility and can support the bar on your back, you can leverage elbow flexibility
- [ ] Drop pinky and drop thumb under the bar (bar supported entirely on your back - needs to be comfortable)
Bar Positioning:
- [ ] Keep your upper back tight
- [ ] Make sure you can hold the bar in the right position throughout the entire range of motion
- [ ] *Very Important*
- [ ] Find cues that will allow you to engage those muscles easily without thinking about it during the lift
- [ ] Think about pulling the bar apart or bending the bar over your back
- [ ] Ben likes to shrug up and pull down (don’t want tight traps)
Squat Stance:
- [ ] Depends on if you’re more quad dominant or hamstring dominant (posterior chain or quad)
- [ ] How good are you at abducting your hips?
- [ ] Ben takes a narrower stance and pushes his knees forward over his toes (don’t let weight shift to toes)
- [ ] Keep your weight balanced over your mid foot
- [ ] Most people need a little bit of toe flair and probably a shoulder width stance
“The Unrack” is the MOST Important Part Of The Squat (Getting to the descent)
- [ ] Make your unrack as effecient as possible
- [ ] Move as little as you possibly can under the weight
- [ ] Start with feet closer than you would normally (easier time balancing)
- [ ] Slide your dominant foot back until it’s in the center of your body
- [ ] Slide back, step back
- [ ] 3 part motion allows you to unrack heavy weight without losing tightness or balance
- [ ] Head position isn’t as big of a deal as people make it out to be
- [ ] Don’t be looking straight down or straight up
- [ ] Somewhere in between is probably ok
- [ ] Keep your elbows under the bar for the entire lift
- [ ] Your torso is going to follow your elbows
- [ ] Leverages determine whether you’ll push knees forward or sit back
- [ ] If you have a wider stance you’ll most likely push your butt back
Descent
- [ ] Cue that works the best for most people: try to spread the floor apart with your feet
- [ ] Do NOT want your feet to move
- [ ] Quads, Hamstring and Glutes all engaged effectively
- [ ] Hipcircle or band is a great tool if you struggle here
- [ ] Hit depth effectively (when the crease of your hip is below your knee)
- [ ] Do what you can
- [ ] Some people like to bounce their squat (okay if you don’t lose tightness)
- [ ] Stay tight, stay balanced
There’s no one right way for everyone.
Be patient with yourself. Take some time and find what works for you.
Experiment with different stances, different grips, different styles. You will be able to find something that is efficient for you.