Glutes exercise
Low-Bar Back SquatHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Hamstrings, Lower back
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Advanced
How to do it
How do you do the Low-Bar Back Squat?
- Set the bar low on your back, across the rear shoulders, just under the top of your shoulder blades.
- Grip just outside your shoulders, lift your elbows back and keep your wrists straight.
- Stand with your heels a little wider than your shoulders, toes turned out.
- Push your hips back and lean forward as you squat until your hips are just below your knees.
- Drive your hips straight up and stand tall, keeping the bar over the middle of your feet.
Cues
- Hips back, knees out.
- Eyes on the floor a couple of metres ahead.
- Chest and hips rise together.
Common mistakes
- Letting the bar roll down your back: squeeze your upper back to make a shelf.
- Hips rising faster than your chest out of the bottom.
- Holding the weight with your hands so your wrists bend back.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
The powerlifting low-bar back squat.
Starting position
The bar sits low on the back, across the rear delts just under the bony ridge of the shoulder blades (about 6 cm lower than a high-bar squat), held tight by the upper back. Grip just outside the shoulders, wrists straight in line with the forearms, elbows lifted back behind the bar so the hands don't carry the load. Heels a little wider than the shoulders (about 38 cm heel to heel), toes out 20–25°. Standing tall, the bar is over mid-foot, so the trunk already leans forward slightly (about 10–15°). Neck in line with the trunk, gaze down on the floor about 2 m ahead.
The movement
Break at the hips first and push them back while the knees move forward and out over the toes. The trunk leans further forward than in a high-bar squat so the bar stays over mid-foot all the way; shins stay more upright. Go to just below parallel, then drive the hips straight up, chest and hips rising together, until hips and knees are locked out.
Breathing
Big breath and brace at the top, hold it on the way down and through the bottom, breathe out near the top.
Tempo
2 s down, a brief touch at the bottom (0.15 s), about 1.1 s up, 0.8 s standing.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bar position | across the rear delts, 4 cm below the shoulder line along the spine | 3–7 cm below | |
| Stance, heel to heel | 38 cm (a little wider than the shoulders) | 1.0–1.3 × shoulder width | |
| Toe-out | 22° | 15–30° | |
| Depth: hip crease vs top of the knee | 2–6 cm below | at or below parallel | |
| Trunk from vertical at the bottom | 48° | 45–55° | |
| Shin forward of vertical at the bottom | 25° | 20–30° | |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 120–125° | 110–130° | |
| Bar drift front to back | 0 cm over mid-foot | ≤ 2 cm | |
| Heel lift | 0 cm | 0 cm |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Low-Bar Back Squat is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- ExRx.net, "Barbell Squat" (low-bar notes: bar across the rear delts, more forward lean, hips further back)
- ACE Exercise Library, "Back Squat" (feet, depth, heels down, chest and hips rise together)
- NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed. (2016), ch. 15, back squat
- Glassbrook et al. (2017), "A review of the biomechanical differences between the high-bar and low-bar back-squat", J Strength Cond Res 31(9)
