A good rep starts with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly turned out, and the bar set across your upper back before you drop. On the way down, your hips go back and down, your chest stays up, and your knees track with your toes until your thighs reach parallel or just below.
You should feel your weight in your heels and your core stay tight the whole way. The stand-up should come from driving through the heels, with the hips and knees extending together. If the chest collapses, the knees cave, or the heels come up, the rep has lost shape.
Set your stance and bar position
Start with your feet about shoulder-width apart and turn your toes out slightly. That gives you room to sit down without forcing the rep open into a wider, looser stance.
Set the bar across your upper back on your traps or rear delts and keep it there before you descend. It should feel secure and settled, not perched high or shifting as you move.
Brace before you descend
Brace before you drop. That tension is what keeps your torso from folding as you sit back and down.
When the brace is solid, your chest stays set and the bar feels anchored to your upper back. When it is not, the first part of the rep gets soft and your trunk gives way before you reach the bottom.
How to lower under control
Lower smoothly so the descent stays tight and predictable. You should feel the bar stay over your midfoot instead of drifting forward or wobbling as you sink.
Under control here means no drop at the bottom and no collapse through the trunk. If the lowering phase gets loose, the whole rep usually turns into a fight to recover the bar on the way back up.
How deep to go
The useful bottom is the point where your thighs reach parallel to the floor or just below it, without the bar drifting forward or your torso folding to chase depth. At the right depth, you still look tight: knees stay lined up with your toes, your weight stays in your heels, and the bar settles over the middle of the rep instead of tipping you onto your toes.
Cutting the rep short usually shows up the same way on video every time. The hips stop early, the chest stays high but the thighs never quite get there, and the rebound back up starts from too high to use the full leg drive. Going deeper should not mean collapsing. If the bottom position makes your knees cave in, your chest drop hard, or the bar path shift forward, you are not owning the depth yet.
Drive up without losing position
Drive up by keeping your weight in your heels and your knees lined up with your toes. As you stand, your hips and knees should extend together instead of the chest dropping or the hips shooting up first.
You should feel the load in your quads and glutes as the bar rises smoothly back to lockout. If the knees cave or the weight rolls forward, the rep will usually lose balance before you finish standing.
Common errors and what they look like on video
On video, the main thing to watch is whether each rep looks the same from start to finish. A clean rep stays balanced and repeatable; the faults show up when one side moves first, the torso folds, or the bar looks unstable across your upper back.
Watch for these breakdowns:
- Knees caving in: your thighs stop tracking with your toes.
- Shallow depth: the hips stop high before the thighs reach parallel.
- Chest dropping: the torso tips too far forward on the way down.
- Loose upper back: the bar looks unstable across the traps or rear delts.
- Uneven reps: one side rises first, or the same squat looks different rep to rep.
How Corect scores this lift from phone video
Corect can analyse this movement from a phone video and score its form. The score is based on the positions it can see in the rep: barbell placement across your upper back, stance width, toe angle, chest position, knee tracking, heel pressure, and the bar path on the way down and up.
When those positions drift, the score drops and the output points to the part of the rep that changed. That gives you feedback you can use on the next set instead of guessing what went wrong.
Barbell Back Squat: the movement, step by step
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly turned out.
- Hold the barbell across your upper back, resting it on your traps or rear delts.
- Engage your core and keep your chest up as you begin to lower your body down.
- Bend at the knees and hips, pushing your hips back and down as if sitting into a chair.
- Lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the ground or slightly below.
- Keep your knees in line with your toes and your weight in your heels.
- Drive through your heels to stand back up, extending your hips and knees.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Common questions
How should I set up for a barbell back squat?
Start with your feet about shoulder-width apart and turn your toes out slightly. Set the bar across your upper back on your traps or rear delts and keep it settled before you descend.
How deep should a back squat go?
The useful bottom is where your thighs reach parallel to the floor or just below it. Going deeper should not mean collapsing the knees, chest, or bar path.
What are the main back squat mistakes to watch for on video?
Watch for knees caving in, shallow depth, chest dropping, a loose upper back, and uneven reps. Those breakdowns show up when the rep stops looking balanced and repeatable.
How does Corect score this lift from phone video?
Corect scores the movement from positions it can see in the rep, including barbell placement, stance width, toe angle, chest position, knee tracking, heel pressure, and bar path. When those positions drift, the score drops and the output points to the part of the rep that changed.
The hardest part of fixing any of this is that you cannot see yourself mid-rep. Corect reads your form from a phone video and shows you what actually happened on each rep of your barbell back squat — depth, bar path, where the breakdown starts. Try it free.
