How to improve your squat

If you struggle with squat strength and getting the right depth, consider using these exercises. They will improve your strength and confidence, particularly in the lower part of the squat.

Exercise 1: Pause Squats:

Step 1: Set the arms to the depth of which you would like to hit.

Step 2: pick a weight that is approximately 60% of your 1RM (rep max), e.g if you do 120kg as your max, try 70kg for this exercise.

Step 3: Squat down to the arms, rest the bar on the arms for a 1 to 2 seconds and then drive it back up. Starting from the hardest point of the movement.

This will help you improve strength and increase your confidence in the lower part of the movement

Exercise 2: Heel elevated squats :

Step 1: Find an elevated surface, can be a platform or a plate. Make sure your heel is elevated, this will help with ankle mobility.

Step 2: Take a dumbbell or plate and hold it in front of you at chin height.

Step 3: Sit back in the movement, try not to lean forwards as you go down. Leaning forward will take tension away from your legs and add it to your lower back, which you don’t want.

This movement is about depth not about weight, you should be able to sit all the way down. Utilise this movement to get comfortable at the bottom of the moment.

Now you can use these 2 exercises to improve your squat ability!

Give them a try and let us know how you can get on. Don’t forget to submit your videos to unlock our ‘Never Skip Leg Day’ t-shirt range.

As a reminder, the weight levels of our t-shirts are:

Bronze:

🥉 Male: 70kg

🥉 Female: 30kg

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🥈 Male: 130kg

🥈 Female: 70kg

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🥇 Male: 220kg

🥇 Female: 120kg

We look forward to seeing how you progress!