Squat
- Barbell
- Compound exercise
- Quads
For the squat, the barbell rests on your upper back; you bend at the hips and knees until your hips reach about knee height, then stand back up. It mainly trains the quads and glutes, with a high bar position putting more on the quads [1].
QuadsGlutes
Drag to pause
- Main muscle
- Quads
- Supporting muscles
- Glutes
- Equipment
- Barbell and squat rack
- Reps
- 6–10 for muscle building
- Sets
- 3
- Rest
- 2:30
- Weight step
- 2.5 kg (5 lb)
How to do it
- 1
The bar sits on your upper back, not on your neck.
- 2
Sit back and down, knees tracking over your toes.
- 3
Go as deep as your back stays neutral and heels stay down.
Tempo of one rep
The figure shows a calm rep of 4.4 s with no bounce at the bottom. Tempo matters less than you’d think for growth; reps lasting 0.5 to 8 s build similar muscle [2].
Common mistakes
- Heels coming up.
It usually means your ankles don’t bend far enough, and your weight shifts onto the balls of your feet [3]. Only go as deep as your heels stay down, and keep the bar over mid-foot.
- Lower back rounding at the bottom.
A rounded lower back raises shear forces on the spine, while overarching raises pressure on the discs [3]. Keep your lower back neutral and only go as deep as it stays that way.
- Hips shooting up first.
Your torso then tips forward and standing up turns into a good morning with nearly straight legs. Shoulders and hips rise together, with the bar staying over mid-foot.
Sets and reps
How Tarvo plans the squat as a compound lift, by goal and experience. Rest is the time between two sets.
| Goal | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Muscle building | 6–10 | 2:30 |
| Strength | 3–6 | 3:00 |
| Both | 5–8 | 2:30 |
| Experience | Sets |
|---|---|
| New to it | 2 |
| Some experience | 3 |
| Experienced | 4 |
How Tarvo progresses your squat
The squat goes up in steps of 2.5 kg (5 lb), one small plate per side. Until you reach the top of your rep range, you add one rep.
Once your first set hits the top of the range and the others are no more than two reps below it, the weight goes up by 2.5 kg (5 lb). Tarvo then works out from your strength how many reps you can do with the new weight.
Your next squat
Enter what you did last time. Tarvo works out your target for the next session with the same rule as in the app.
All on target, with two left. So the same weight, one more rep.
Variations
Questions
How many sets of squats for muscle growth?
Three sets of 6 to 10 reps with 2:30 min rest if you already have some experience. Together with your other leg exercises, Tarvo plans about 12 hard sets for the quads per week, a number in the range that works well [5].
How deep should you squat?
As deep as your lower back stays neutral and your heels stay down. The figure goes until the hips are at or just below knee height, so the thighs are parallel to the floor or a little lower.
Can your knees go past your toes when squatting?
Yes, as long as your heels stay down. Holding your knees back behind your toes shifts more load onto your hips [3].
Sources
- [1]Glassbrook et al. (2017). A review of the biomechanical differences between the high-bar and low-bar back-squat. J Strength Cond Res. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govReview. With a high bar, the torso stays more upright, the knees bend more and the quads work more than with a low bar.
- [2]Schoenfeld, Ogborn, Krieger (2015). Effect of repetition duration during resistance training on muscle hypertrophy. Sports Med. doi 10.1007/s40279-015-0304-0Meta-analysis. Reps lasting 0.5 to 8 seconds built similar muscle; much slower reps built less.
- [3]Schoenfeld (2010). Squatting kinematics and kinetics and their application to exercise performance. J Strength Cond Res 24(12). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govReview of squat biomechanics. Knees track toward the toes, heels rise with limited ankle mobility, a rounded or overarched back loads the spine more; keeping the knees behind the toes loads the hips more (cited there from Fry et al., second-hand).
- [4]Escamilla et al. (2001). Effects of technique variations on knee biomechanics during the squat and leg press. Med Sci Sports Exerc. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govStudy of the squat and leg press. Feet straight or turned out 30 degrees made no difference to muscle activity or knee forces.
- [5]Pelland, Remmert, Robinson, Hinson, Zourdos (2024). The Resistance Training Dose-Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain. SportRxiv (Vorabfassung). sportrxiv.orgMeta-regression of 67 studies. More sets bring more growth with diminishing returns; secondary muscles fit best counted as half.
Keep going
Tarvo sets your next squat target.
From your last session, set by set. You just check them off.
One email when Tarvo launches. Nothing else. Privacy
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