Five Mistakes in Doing Squats and How You Can Fix Them

Whether at home or in a gym, squats are one of the best exercises you can do – that is, if you do them right. We at Clever fit will show you the most frequent squat mistakes and how to fix them.

Standard squats are some of the best exercises for the lower limbs. However, if you do not know how to do them properly, you might rather get injured than become fitter.

Squat mistakes: not having shoulders and back firmed up enough

Without proper tension in your shoulders and back muscles, your entire position will collapse; you will hunch your back, lose control and the risk of injury will increase, apart from the fact that due to this mistake you might be able to lift only lighter weights.

Solution: Move your shoulder blades down and keep them together. This simple change will firm up the centre of your body and your back, preventing your body from losing too much tone. As a result, you will be more stable and able to use more strength.

Your knees caving in

When your knees cave in it is a sign that your outer thighs lack strength. In this way, you contribute to further weakening your muscle balance.

Solution: Distribute the weight evenly on both your feet. When squatting down and back, it is important to push your knees out. You should also make sure that you lose some weight. Excessive body weight is a common cause of knees caving in (knee valgus). Therefore, you should first shape up your body and probably include further exercises into your training plan to be able to tone your thigh muscles.

Knee bend mistakes: your squat is not deep enough

There is a misconception that squats below parallel are bad for your knees. This assertion is wrong. If you do not have problems with your knees, a deep squat is completely healthy and can even strengthen your knees. Deep squats also put more strain on the parts of your buttocks that would otherwise not work at all when you do a high squat.

Solution: With the help of a good technique, get as deep as you can painlessly. The ideal depth will vary from person to person. But overall, you should lower down until your thighs are bent just beneath 90-degrees angle. If your body lets you go even lower, you can do so.

Knee bend mistakes: knees going over your toes

The more your knees go over your toes, the more you strain your knee joints. In combination with heavy weights, this may lead to injuries.

Solution: Try to keep your knees and toes in line. Even it is perfectly all right when your knees go over your toes, the goal should be to get them bending in front of the toes. The right shape ensures that the knee joints are not strained excessively, which subsequently decreases the risk of injury.