I recently received the following question:

I’m still confused how deep one should be aiming to squat while doing a barbell back squat—the internet tells me pretty low, but in the gym I don’t necessarily notice others doing the same depth—are there variations to this?

This an excellent question and a great thing to consider if you’re someone who does any type of squat pattern.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to provide a simple answer that applies to everyone, but I will outline a number of things to consider when you are doing a squat.

For the purposes of this post, I am going to mainly focus on the back squat and variations on a front squat as these are the squat patterns I find most people to be familiar with. As an over generalization, I do find that most people don’t actually work their squats to their full depth. And that’s totally understandable! Adding an external weight to your body like a kettlebell or barbell, squatting to the very bottom of your range of motion, and then standing back up can be super scary.

Here are some things to consider when exploring your depth in a squat:

Body Proportions

I hate to break to you. All of us have different bodies and our bodies have different proportions. Some people have long torsos compared to the length of their arms. Some people have long legs compared to the length of their torsos. These proportions have a big impact on the range of motion one has in their joints.

When examining the depth of your squat, you have to consider the length of your femurs—the upper leg bones—and the depth of your hip sockets.

The average person’s femur is around 25% of their total height. Someone whose femurs are a bit longer than 25% of their height might be reluctant to find a lot of depth in a back squat. Often someone with longer femurs will lean their spine more forward in a back squat to compensate for the length of their femurs. This forward lean can cause someone to feel less stable and might influence how low they go in their squats.

Hip socket depth also plays a big role in the depth of one’s squat. Those with deeper hip sockets might have less range of motion in their squats and those with shallower hip sockets might have more range of motion in their squats.

Both the length of your femurs and the depth of your hip sockets are not things that can be changed. Unless you feel really strongly about it… I’m sure there’s a surgeon out there who will gladly take your money… The good news is that even if you have long femurs and deep hip sockets, there are ways to adapt your squat so that you can increase your range of motion. I’ll get to those suggestions later.

General Flexibility

Folks with limited ankle dorsiflexion, generally tight hips, and minimal thoracic—mid-spine—extension might also have limited range of motion in their squats. Unlike the length of your femurs, these are areas where one could see some changes over time. Adding in stretches for the calves, hamstrings, and inner thighs plus rotational patterns for the spine could help one work through their ankle, hips, and spine limitations in a squat.

A warm up for a workout shouldn’t be long and laborious. If you do struggle with finding depth in your squat, consider doing some light foam rolling of your tight areas and hold stretches for the calves, hamstrings, and inner hips for a just a few breaths before getting into your working sets.

Stance

Where you place your feet can have a huge impact on how deep you can sit in your squats. Folks with longer femurs might benefit from a wider stance. Those with limited range of motion in their hips might benefit from turning their toes more outward. Experimenting and working with a trainer can help you identify a stance that is best for you.

Where you place your feet can also be determined by the areas of your body you’re hoping to activate. That leads us to the next consideration…

Identifying Sensation

One of the most common things you’ll hear me say to my clients during a set is Where do you feel it? When doing any movement pattern, it can be helpful to identify what areas of the body are feeling active and engaged and which areas of the body are experiencing a stretch sensation. I want to point out that this can be a hard thing to identify. About 40% of the time my clients respond with I don’t know. Some of us can feel disconnected to our bodies and it’s tricky to identify exactly where we are experiencing sensation.

Depending on the type of squat you’re doing, there’s a good chance your quadriceps—the muscles on the front of your thighs—and gluteals are doing most of the work. At the bottom of your squat you’re looking for a stretch sensation on the fronts of your thighs and across the back of your glutes. When you stand up from your squat you might feel a firming of your thighs and glutes.

If you’re squatting to a depth where you’re not experiencing those stretch and activation moments, there’s a chance your squat is too shallow. It could also be a sign that your resistance is not heavy enough.

Ways to Adapt a Squat

The barbell back squat is currently my favorite weight lifting exercise in my own fitness journey. I love challenging myself to add more plates to the bar and feel the progress I’m making over time. However, I have to adapt my squats in order to activate the muscles I’m aiming to work.

When I first started doing barbell back squats the only muscles that seemed to be working were my gluteals. Because I also include deadlift variations—hamstring and gluteal focused patterns—in my own programming, I wanted to find ways to activate my quadriceps in my back squat. After some experimentation, I realized I don’t have great dorsiflexion in my ankles. To give me a little assist, I added wedges under feet. This adjustment places my heels higher than my toes. It’s the same concept as wearing lifting shoes. By getting my heels higher I am able to sit lower in my squat. This usually provides me with the proper stretch sensation in my quadriceps at the bottom of my squat.

Another great way to adapt a squat is to try different variations. Folks with longer lemurs might be more inclined to do front squats over back squats as it’s often easier for them to keep their torso lifted when squatting to their maximum depth. On days when my quads just aren’t feeling what I want them to feel in a back squat, I’ll switch to a front squat. I might even work with a narrower stance. It all comes down to experimentation!

I realize having a gym in my own house means I’m not surrounded by other people doing their workouts. I don’t have the added pressure of seeing how low others around me are squatting. I don’t feel the competitive tug within me to push harder because I see others around me pushing hard. (This is not a negative. Sometimes it’s good to be inspired by those around you!) In my own space I give myself the freedom to play and experiment based on what my objectives for that session are. Even if you’re working out in a busy gym, consider giving yourself the freedom to play, experiment, and adapt because we are all truly on our own journey.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a one-size fits all answer for how low you should squat, you might work towards a depth where your hips are in line with or lower than your knees. But, again, it depends on so many factors! If you’re someone who is increasing your resistance over time, you might stick with one weight for a few sessions to just get comfortable with the weight. Then consider increasing the depth of your squat before adding more weight.

If you take away one thing from this post, let it be this: We all have different bodies and we all have different goals. When lifting weight, always consider how your body moves through a specific pattern and consider what your goals are for that specific session.