23 Ways To Improve Your Squat

The Air Squat is one of the most important exercises in CrossFit programming. Without building a solid foundation with an excellent air squat, the rest of the exercises you perform will suffer.

As Coach Glassman mentions – how can you expect to overhead squat before your air squat is developed? And how can you expect to snatch without a great overhead squat?

Ok, so you think you have a great air squat…now what?

Keep working on it. Everyone – yes everyone – needs to continue working on their air squats, as it is a skill that takes years to master. It requires diligence in order to maintain good flexibility and hip/shoulder health.

Even if you think you have a solid air squat, go stand up against a wall with your toes and chest pressed up against the wall and slowly lower yourself into a deep squat position (without falling backwards).

Pictured on the right is Instructor Ezekiel Martinez working on his lower back and shoulder flexibility with wall squats before class. Remember, you’re never too advanced to go back and spend time on remedial work on the basics.

Here are 23 ways to improve your air squat – taken from the CrossFit Journal: Squat Clinic. Read these 23 points and next time you are in class – we want you to see you fighting to get into that perfect air squat position. Lazy squatters will be prosecuted.

1. Start with the feet about shoulder width apart and slightly toed out.

2. Keep your head up looking slightly above parallel.

3. Don’t look down at all; ground is in peripheral vision only.

4. Accentuate the normal arch of the lumbar curve and then pull the excess arch out with the abs.

5. Keep the midsection very tight.

6. Send your butt back and down.

7. Your knees track over the line of the foot.

8. Don’t let the knees roll inside the foot.

9. Keep as much pressure on the heels as possible.

10. Stay off of the balls of the feet.

11. Delay the knees forward travel as much as possible.

12. Lift your arms out and up as you descend.

13. Keep your torso elongated.

14. Send hands as far away from your butt as possible.

15. In profile, the ear does not move forward during the squat, it travels

16. Don’t let the squat just sink, but pull yourself down with your hip flexors.

17. Don’t let the lumbar curve surrender as you settle in to the bottom.

18. Stop when the fold of the hip is below the knee – break parallel with the thigh.

19. Squeeze glutes and hamstrings and rise without any leaning forward or shifting of balance.

20. Return on the exact same path as you descended.

21. Use every bit of musculature you can; there is no part of the body uninvolved.

22. On rising, without moving the feet, exert pressure to the outside of your feet as though you were trying to separate the ground beneath you.

23. At the top of the stroke stand as tall as you possibly can.

Credit to The CrossFit Journal: Squat Clinic

Here are pictures of our athletes in training the past couple of days. Can you spot any lazy squats? (We found two)