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7 Common Squat Mistakes and How to Fix Them

A powerful full body compound exercise, squatting will significantly increase your mental toughness, build muscle and fortify your tendons and ligaments, moving you much closer to completing your CrossFit goals.

You need a rack, a bar and weight to squat. Also, the addition of knee sleeves can be a great way to add confidence to your mindset, support the natural movements of your body and prevent injury. With anatomically shaped designs that don’t restrict movement, this additional edge can often be a strong factor in taking your PRs to the next level!

 

A video posted by Rehband (@rehband) on

Despite all these benefits, the squat is often still done badly, throughout CrossFit and weightlifting. This is a problem because holding a heavy weight on your back can be very bad for you if you don’t move it properly. Here are 7 common squat mistakes that occur all the time, and how they can be fixed.

7. SHALLOW SQUATS

Just by the fact that you are reading this article shows that you are committed to paying attention to lifting technique and correcting any Squat mistakes. You want to achieve more than the average Joe or Jane, and so you make sure that your squats are deep. This is why shallow Squats are first on the list because they are so common!

‘The squat will make you strong: Simple as that.’

But in CrossFit; with cleans, snatches and clean & jerks being so widely used; a strong catching or rack position is vital. To perform these lifts well, you need the strength and mobility to support the weight during this part of the movement. Squatting low, right down to this position, will prepare you for the necessary depth required from these other lifts. It will also increase the stress of the squat, making it more beneficial in the long run, and allow your body to practice standing up out of the ‘hole’.

SOLUTION:

  1. Don’t aim for parallel, go lower. Go as low as possible. As we discussed above, not only will this help your strength gains from the squat itself, but it will prepare your body for various parts of other lifts such as the clean or snatch.
  2. Shallow squats often occur if the athlete does not feel sure that they have the strength to bring the weight back up from the base of the movement. Knee sleeves can be useful here, as they give you confidence to go low and add strength to your natural movement. This gives you the psychological boost to attack each squat with everything you have!
rich froning crossfit corrects squat mistakesSource: Rehband
Rich Froning powering through the exercise

Image Sources

  • rich-froning-front-squat-crossfit-box: Rehband

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