Since that last post, I have had a few emails asking if I am affiliated with 5/3/1 program in some way. I would just like to take this opportunity to make clear that neither this website nor myself personally have any affiliate connections with EliteFTS or the 5/3/1 eBook. It is simply a great product that I felt needed to be shared with our readers.

Today, I stumbled accross a video of Jim squatting 540lbs (245kgs)  for 7 reps! You can check it out below:

This is an excellent example of squatting with perfect form. Inspirational stuff!

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I recently had the pleasure of reading Jim’s highly popular strength training ebook titled 5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System for Raw Strength. The book is packed full with practical strength training advice, as well as laying out one of the most effective training programs available.

In this post, I am going to give you an insight into some of the advice for squatting Jim provides in the book.

Below is an extract of Jim Wendler’s squat tips from 5/3/1:

Your eyes should be focused. Some people believe you should look straight up when you squat. These people aren’t good to listen to. Your eyes should be directed straight ahead or just slightly downward. Don’t take your eyes off the point you choose. Pick something, and stare at it intently. Even if there’s movement and distractions around this point, they shouldn’t stop your stare. This is how focused you have to be.

Proper bar placement depends on your body type and what’s most comfortable to you. Some people have shoulder problems and can’t carry the bar very low. Others just plain suck at high bar squatting. Place the bar where it allows you to reach depth with good form. It’s just that easy.

I like taking a full grip on the bar, but I used a “thumbs-around” grip for the first half of my squatting life. I don’t see this as a deal-breaker.

Keep your elbows down and try to force them under the bar. This will cause your hips to drive first out of the bottom of the squat. It’ll also keep your chest high and prevent you from squatting with your legs first instead of your back. The first thing to shoot up with many people is their ass. Remedy this by pushing with your hips and keeping your elbows under the bar – or at least trying to.

Descend until the tops of your thighs are parallel to the ground. Go deeper if you’d like, but this is the minimum depth you should shoot for.

When you begin your descent, push your knees out to the sides and your glutes back.

Arch your upper back hard for the entire lift. This will cause your lower back to arch, too.

Grip the bar with the narrowest grip you can manage without hurting your shoulders. This will ensure that you remain tight throughout the lift.

Once you hit parallel, drive your elbows under the bar and explode up.

Before you take the bar out of the rack, fill your diaphragm with air, place the bar on your back, then confidently push it out of the rack with your back and legs. Don’t “wimp” the bar out. I like to do this with a large breath, which I won’t let out until I’m in my stance.

Any more than two or three steps back is a waste of time and energy. Be efficient. I mentally count, “One, Two” when taking the bar out to make sure that I take only two steps out of the rack.

Squeeze the bar hard during the lift. This will keep your entire body tight.

Before the descent, take another breath and go. Keep this air in until you’re about 2/3 of the way back up. Then you can let it out. I’ve taught myself to hold my breath for 3 reps, but this is very difficult and I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone.

Bouncing out of the bottom position (the “hole”) is not a bad thing. Losing your air and tightness when you do so is. Don’t do that.

Your descent should be slow enough to permit you to maintain good form, but it should be fast enough to not waste energy or kill the stretch reflex at the bottom. Many lifters will “dive bomb” their squats. This is a fancy term for dropping very quickly and almost catching the bar in the bottom position before squatting back up. This is okay for advanced lifters who know their bodies and have great technique, but it’s probably unacceptable for about 99% of the rest of the population.

Your toes should be pointed out at about a 30-45 degree angle. This will allow your knees to track correctly.

If you are interested please pick up a copy of 5/3/1 over at the EliteFTS store for only $19.99.

It will be one of the best things you have ever done.

Before unracking the bar take in a deep breath and hold it. This will ensure that your back is braced correctly for the movement. Feel free to breathe in between reps when needed. Holding your breath increases the pressure in your abdominal cavity, supporting the back and preventing the chance of injury.

Sit Back into the Squat

It is essential that you sit back into the squat a the beginning of the movement. It helps to pretend that you are going to sit on a seat. Your hips should be the first thing that bends and moves backwards, not your knees. If you do not start the squat this way you will have no chance of executing a rep properly.

Keep Your Chest Up

Focus on keeping your chest up. This will improve your form by helping to prevent the rounding of your lower back.

Look Straight Ahead

Look directly in front of you. If you look at the floor your balance will shift too far forward. Looking up risks injury to your neck compromises your power.

Keep Your Elbows Back

Ensure that your elbows are pinned back during the squat. This will help keep your upper back tight and prevent the weight off your arms, preventing injury.

Keep Your Upper Back Tight

Before placing the bar on your back hold your shoulder blades together as tight as possible. It helps to pretend that you are holding a pencil in between them. A tight upper back creates a solid foundation to place the bar on.

Check Your Grip

A narrow grip will ensure that your upper back is a tight as possible and will help you lock the bar in place. Also, ensure that you use a thumbless grip. A thumbless grip will also help keep the weight of the bar off your arms.

Low Bar Position

A low bar position will give you more leverage over the weight. Place the bar low on the muscles on the back of your shoulders.

In this article we will explain some of the benefits of squatting, as well as guide you through how to use proper squat form.

Benefits of Squatting

One of the biggest misconceptions about the squat is that it is a leg exercise. The squat is in fact a full body exercise. Every muscle in your body is challenged when you squat. The legs and hips push the weight up, the abs and lower back back tense to stabilise your back, and the arms are used to pin the bar onto the back.

• Squats Build Muscle – Squats build muscle throughout your entire body faster than any other exercise. Squatting is a compound exercises that stresses your entire body as a complete unit. The stress put on your body by squats triggers a hormonal release of testosterone in your body. This elevated testosterone aids in producing muscle at a faster rate.
• Squats improve your athleticism – If you want become a better athlete no other exercise will improve your overall athleticism like the squat. Squatting helps you build explosive strength that carries over to most competitive sports.
• Squats reduces injuries – Contrary to popular belief, squats do not cause injury (when performed correctly). Performing squats with proper form actually reduces the chance of injuring oneself. Why? Because squatting improves and maintains hip flexibility. Additionally, squats improve the stability of your knees, when using proper squat form (below parallel).

Why you need proper Squat Form

Quite frankly, most people have no idea how use squat with correct form. In fact, I would estimate that 9/10 people I see squatting in commercial gyms today are doing so with extremely poor from.

This is a problem for 3 reasons.

1. It is dangerous – While squatting with proper form is completely safe, squatting with poor form is extremely dangerous. Incorrect squat technique put a lot of stain on the lower back and knees and can quickly lead to serious injury.
2. You are seriously compromising the benefits of squatting - When you don’t squat with proper form it completely defeats the purpose of squatting in the first place. Increased muscle, elevated testosterone, improved vertical leap – forget about it.
3. You look like a complete idiot - To someone who knows how to squat properly there is nothing more pathetic than someone loading the bar up with a ton of weight than not squatting with proper form. Learn how to control your ego and do it right.

What is a Squat?

So what actually constitutes a proper squat? With the bar placed on your back, sit the hips back while bending the knees until your hips are past parallel with your knees. In its most simple form, that is a squat.

Here is a great video showing a woman at the famous De Franco’s training center performing 5 squat reps with perfect form.

How to Squat

The Squat Setup

• Approach the rack with the bar at approximately mid-chest height.
• Move under the bar and place it on your back. Hold the bar in place with your hands.
• Stand with and even stance. Your feet should be shoulder width apart with your feet facing out at a 30 degree angle.
• Lift the bar out of the rack and take ONLY one step back. Take a big breath. Tense your entire body. Squat.

Squatting Down

• Start from the hips – Bend at your hips and sit back into the squat. Imagine you are sitting down on a seat. The hips joint should always bend before your knees.
• Check your knees – Keep your knees out. Your knee joints should be pointing in the same direction as your feet all the way down. If your knee buckle in it normally means that the weight is too heavy.
• Keep your weight back – Keep your weight distributed towards your heel.
• Go all the way down – You should always aim to squat to at least parallel. Meaning, your hip joint needs to be at least parallel with your hip joint. This is incredibly difficult to judge yourself, even with the aid of a mirror. Ask someone else to assess your depth either in the gym or by video taping.
• Think about squatting up - On the way down think about squatting up. This will help to prepare your brain and make the upward movement easier.

Squatting Up

• Bounce off the bottom – At the bottom position of the squat your hip muscles should be tight – storing energy. Use this energy to help you bounce out of the bottom of the squat. Ensure that you are bouncing off the hips – not the knees.
• Focus on your glutes – When powering up out of the squat concentrate on squeezing your glutes together.
• Drive your hips up – Most of the power for the squat comes from the hips. Drive the hips in an upward motion.

Racking the bar

• Step forward. Ensure that your bar is over the pins before lowering the weight.

That’s It

That’s it. You now know how to squat with proper form. All you need to do now is practice. Stay tuned right here for more articles on squatting.