Quads exercise
Narrow-Stance Barbell SquatHow to do it, with form in numbers
How to do it
How do you do the Narrow-Stance Barbell Squat?
- Set the bar high on your upper back and grip it just outside your shoulders.
- Stand with your heels about hip-width apart, toes almost straight ahead.
- Bend your knees forward over your toes and sit your hips straight down, chest up.
- Squat until your thighs are level with the floor, heels flat.
- Drive up through your whole foot and stand tall.
Cues
- Knees forward over the toes, heels down.
- Chest tall, bar over mid-foot.
- Sit straight down between your heels.
Common mistakes
- Heels lifting at the bottom: go only as deep as your ankles allow with heels flat.
- Knees wobbling in or out.
- Leaning forward and letting the bar drift over the toes.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
A high-bar back squat with the heels about hip-width apart and the toes nearly straight ahead, so the knees travel further forward and the quads do more of the work.
Starting position
Bar high on the upper back, resting on the traps (not the neck), grip just outside the shoulders. Heels about hip-width apart (0.6–0.7 × shoulder width), toes turned out only 5–10°. Stand tall, brace, gaze ahead.
The movement
Bend the knees forward over the toes while the hips sit down between the heels, chest up, bar over mid-foot, heels flat. Squat until the hip crease is level with or just below the top of the knee, then drive up through the whole foot to stand tall.
Breathing
Big breath and brace at the top, hold it down and through the bottom, breathe out near the top.
Tempo
About 1.8 s down, a brief touch at the bottom, about 1.2 s up, a short pause standing.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stance, heel to heel | 0.62 × shoulder width (about hip-width) | 0.5–0.75 × | |
| Toe-out | 7° | 0–12° | |
| Knee direction vs toe direction | within 4° | within 8° | |
| Depth: hip crease vs top of the knee | 1–2 cm below | 0–4 cm below | |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 131° | 120–135° | |
| Shin forward of vertical at the bottom | 38–39° | 32–40° (heels stay down) | |
| Trunk from vertical at the bottom | 32–33° | 25–40° | |
| 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 Narrow-Stance Barbell 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" (bar on the upper back, knees point the same way as the feet, heels down, thighs to or just past parallel)
- ACE Exercise Library, "Back Squat" (heels down, chest and hips rise together)
- NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed. (2016), ch. 15, back squat
- Escamilla et al. (2001), "A three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of the squat during varying stance widths", Med Sci Sports Exerc 33(6): 984–998 (narrower stances flex the knee more and the hip less; trunk angle no different across stances)
