Quads exercise
Wide-Stance Barbell SquatHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Hamstrings
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Wide-Stance Barbell Squat?
- Set the bar high on your upper back and grip it just outside your shoulders.
- Stand with your heels well outside your shoulders, toes turned out.
- Push your hips back and down, driving your knees out over your toes.
- Squat until your thighs are level with the floor.
- Drive up through your whole foot, keeping your knees out, and stand tall.
Cues
- Knees out over the toes.
- Chest up, bar over mid-foot.
- Push the floor apart as you stand.
Common mistakes
- Letting the knees cave in as you stand up.
- Turning the toes out further than the knees can follow.
- Cutting the depth short.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
A high-bar back squat with the feet well outside the shoulders and the toes turned out, so the knees travel out over the toes rather than forward.
Starting position
Bar high on the upper back, resting on the traps (not the neck), grip just outside the shoulders, elbows under or a little behind the bar. Heels about 1.6 × shoulder width apart, toes turned out about 30°. Stand tall, brace, gaze ahead.
The movement
Sit the hips back and down while pushing the knees out in line with the toes. Keep the chest up and the bar over mid-foot. Squat until the hip crease is level with or just below the top of the knee, then drive up through the whole foot, knees still out, 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 | 1.6 × shoulder width | 1.4–1.8 × | |
| Toe-out | 30° | 25–35° | |
| Knee direction vs toe direction (seen from above) | within 2° | within 8°; never inside the toes | |
| Depth: hip crease vs top of the knee | 2–4 cm below | 0–5 cm below | |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 110° | 100–120° | |
| Shin forward of vertical at the bottom (side view) | 12–14° | 8–20° (the knees go out more than forward) | |
| Trunk from vertical at the bottom | 44–46° | 38–48° | |
| 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 Wide-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" (wide stance: toes outward; knees point the same way as the feet; thighs 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 (wide stance about 169% of shoulder width; wider stances flex the hip more with the thighs more horizontal; trunk angle no different)
