Bodyweight Squat
The fundamental squat pattern with nothing but bodyweight — the first leg exercise in any program and a test of clean mechanics.
How to do it
- Stand tall with feet shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly.
- Brace your core, lift your chest and reach your arms straight out in front for balance.
- Sit your hips back and down as if lowering onto a chair, keeping your weight in your heels.
- Descend until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, knees tracking over your toes.
- Keep your chest up and spine neutral throughout the descent — no rounding at the bottom.
- Drive through your heels to stand up, squeezing your glutes hard at the top of the rep.
Key technique cue
Hips back and down, heels flat, knees over the toes — don't let them cave in.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Letting the knees cave in, which weakens the squat and loads the knee joint poorly.
- ✕ Dropping straight down instead of sitting the hips back, which dumps all the work on the knees.
- ✕ Heels coming off the floor at the bottom, which kills balance and cuts glute work.
- ✕ Cutting depth and only half-squatting — robs the movement of glute and quad work.
Benefits
- ✓ Builds the quads, glutes and adductors with no equipment.
- ✓ Teaches the fundamental squat pattern for every loaded variation.
- ✓ Improves lower-body mobility and balance anywhere.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 You are here - Bodyweight Squat
- Band Squat
- Bodyweight Box Squat
- TRX Squat
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Step 2 -
Step 3 -
Step 4
About the exercise
The bodyweight squat is the fundamental lower-body pattern of human movement. Sitting the hips back and down with the chest up, it trains the quads, glutes and adductors through full hip and knee flexion. It's the clearest test of squat mechanics any program can use, and the prerequisite for every loaded squat variation that follows. It belongs in every beginner program, every warm-up and every movement screen. It is the teaching anchor for the whole squat family — from goblet squats to barbell back squats.
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