HOW TO DO BODYWEIGHT SQUAT
- Stand in a stance you can repeat, toes out only as far as the knees can follow. Whole foot on the floor.
- Brace, then break at the hips and knees together. Sit between the legs. Do not let the chest collapse.
- Hit a depth you will own every rep — hip crease below the knee for most lifters — then stand without the knees caving.
- Reset the breath at the top. If you cannot control the bottom, use a target and rebuild it; do not bounce.
COMMON MISTAKES
- Cutting depth as soon as it gets hard. High-rep bodyweight work turns into a pulse squat. Pick a depth and film a set from the side.
- Heels lifting or knees caving. Shorten the range, widen or narrow the stance, and own the foot. Do not load a pattern that already falls in.
- Logging jump squats or goblet squats here. A jump is a different slug. A dumbbell at the chest is goblet squat. Empty hands stay on this one.
- Rushing under a bar before the pattern is boring. If you cannot sit to depth for 15 quiet reps, the barbell will not teach you. It will just hide the miss.
VARIATIONS
- Dumbbell goblet squat — First loaded squat for most lifters. Same upright pattern, a weight to hold.
- Barbell back squat — The free-bar version once the brace and depth repeat.
- Split squat — Single-leg if one side always bails in the bilateral squat.
- Jump squat — Same start, explosive finish. Log it separately so the bodyweight chart stays a squat, not a jump.
PROGRESSIONS
- Box or target squat to a consistent depth.
- Free bodyweight squat with a three-second descent.
- Goblet squat once you want load without a bar.
- Empty-bar back squat when the pattern is automatic.
PROGRAMMING NOTES
Teaching squat and a high-rep finisher: 3–4 sets of 8–20. Log it. “Just bodyweight” still has a history, and it is how you see that last month’s 20-rep sets became easy. When you pick up a dumbbell, switch to goblet squat so the chart stays honest.
EQUIPMENT ALTERNATIVES
- Dumbbell goblet squat — The usual next step when bodyweight is no longer hard.
- Kettlebell goblet squat — Same hold, different implement. Still not this slug.
- Wall sit — Isometric quad work if a full squat is not available today.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
There is no rep target. When depth, brace, and knee track repeat under fatigue, pick up a goblet or an empty bar. A sloppy 50 does not earn a loaded squat.
