Back Squat – Getting The Correct Stance

Get your stance right and you'll get low while staying tight!

Once you’ve gotten the bar situated on your upper back, you’re going to unrack it and step back into your squatting stance.

Why Is Your Squat Stance So Important?

There’s a lot of reasons … I’ll just say that until I got pancaked underneath a weight that I thought I could easily do … I didn’t think it was all that important!

I figured as long as I could stand back up, it was the correct stance! But like everything with the squat … it’s a learning process.

Basically, everyone agrees that:

• Your Feet — should point slightly out.
• Your Stance — should be wider than shoulder width (how much so, is what you’ll have to figure out!)

Other than that though, I’ve found your stance is actually a very personal thing …

Everyone’s Stance Is Different

Again, because everyone’s body shape is different, you’ll have to experiment to figure out what works for you. I just read a short article by top powerlifter Jim Wendler and he has a good method for finding the correct distance apart for your feet:

“1. Get into an athletic stance: For most people this is very easy. Most have played a sport and almost every sport position is the same. If you played volleyball, get into a position as if you were ready to receive a serve. If you played baseball or softball, get into the same stance as you would as a shortstop. If you played football, the stance of a middle linebacker will suffice. All of these positions are the same; butt and hips are pushed slightly back, knees are bent, lower back is arched, head is up, weight is evenly distributed on the feet, upper back is pulled together, toes are slightly pointed out and the mid-section is tight. Notice that each of these positions are slightly wider than shoulder width; if you are any narrower in any of these sports than you will compromise lateral speed and will be pushed over. Also, I hope that I played against you as were surely on your ass and back most of the game.

2. From this position, place your weight on your toes, pivot on them and move your heels out. After this, redistribute your weight on your heels, pivot on your heels and turn your toes back to the original angle. If you have any rhythm at all then this will look similar to a dance move. This will take your stance a bit wider than normal and put you into an ideal squat position. With some experimentation, you will find that you may have to go back to the original stance or even go wider; whatever the case begin with this and experiment. Everyone will have a slightly different stance.

3. Place your hands on your thighs and side them down to just above your knees. This position should be the same as if you were taking a breather between wind-sprints or something similar. This is a very basic position. No one takes a breather between sprints or in a basketball game with their weight on their toes. They will grab their shorts, push their glutes back, rest their upper body on their hands and drop their head. Sound familiar? If you have any trouble picturing this position then take a look at football players in a huddle or a basketball player during free-throws. They look almost the same. From this position, simply raise your head, arch your upper and lower back and place your hands as if they were on a barbell. This is the exact position you want to be in when you perform a squat.

4. At this point, your hips and glutes should be pushed back, your lower and upper back is arched, head straight ahead, bodyweight on your heels and your mid-section is held tight. If you are not in this position, repeat the first 3 steps and make sure you are in this position.”

That’s a good tip I wish I had starting out. You might want to try those four steps.

Wide, But Not Too Wide & Definitely Not Too Narrow

In figuring out your stance, you’ll want to keep in mind that the wider your feet — generally — the more posterior chain involvement you’ll get from your body. And “posterior” is the name of the game when it comes to squatting heavy stuff.

Again, it’ll take some experimenting, and …

Your Body Size Will Again Have A Lot To Do With It.

For now, I won’t talk about equipment, because I’ve never used a suit. So I’m ill-qualified to talk about it. So the biggest factor you’ll find raw with your stance width is your size. Generally, the smaller you are, the closer your feet will have to be and the bigger you are the wider they’ll be.

For example, a smaller lifter, like this 123 pound gal, Fawn Friday, will have their feet a lot more narrow (it almost looks like an olympic squat, but it’s necessary because her smaller frame will need the bar a bit higher on the back because of less upper back muscle and her feet a little more narrow):

If you're smaller, you'll need a more narrow stance, just make sure you don't compromise the "sitting back" action of the squat ...

And this hulking mass of a man (don’t have his name) squats really wide (although I’ll admit, the width is probably a lot more to do with his suit than his size, but the point is valid):

If you're bigger, you can probably go wider with your stance (not as wide as this most likely, unless you're wearing gear, but still).

Experiment Till You Get It!

Like I said, you’ll have to experiment, but once you’ve found the right width for your feet — you’ll thank yourself. You’ll be able to go deep without feeling like you’re leaning too far forward … or losing power … and hopefully you won’t pancake yourself under a measly little weight like I did.