Barbell SquatMuscles Worked
The barbell back squat works your quads hardest, with the glutes and hamstrings driving your hips, your lower back holding your torso upright and your calves helping you balance. Loading the bar across your upper back lets you train your whole lower body with heavy weight.
PrimaryQuads
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Beginner
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Push
How to do it
- Set the bar in a squat rack just below shoulder height and the safety arms just below your bottom position.
- Step under the bar, rest it on your upper back below your neck, grip it firmly and stand up to unrack it.
- Take two or three steps back and set your feet about shoulder width apart with your toes turned slightly out.
- Take a big breath, brace your core, then bend your hips and knees together to sit down between your heels.
- Go as low as you can while keeping your back flat, ideally until your hip crease drops below your knees.
- Drive through your whole foot to stand up, keeping your chest up and your knees tracking over your toes.
Form tips
- Let your knees travel forward as far as your build needs, as long as they follow the direction your toes point.
- Keep the bar over the middle of your foot the whole way, which keeps you balanced and stops you tipping forward.
- Reset your breath and brace before every rep instead of rushing through the set.
Why it made the list
No. 1 of 13
Best Quad Exercises
King of all exercises. Highest quad activation among compound movements. Also hits glutes, hamstrings, core. Most researched exercise in history.
More quad exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Barbell Squat sets in KasMaker and watch your quads, calves, glutes, hamstrings, and lower back fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
