Squat with the Hips & Knees Together - Don’t Lead with the Hips

Please share & subscribe! When back or front squatting for weightlifting, the primary goal is maintaining an upright posture all the way through the motion. In other words, we’re trying to avoid any more forward leaning of the trunk than is necessary. In order to do this, the hips need to move as directly downward as balance and proportions allow, rather than being pushed backward as is typical of squats outside the sport of weightlifting. This requires bending the hips and knees together rather than leading with the hips as you initiate the squat. In a proper squat, the hips will move backward and the knees will move forward to only the extent necessary to complete the motion between sitting and standing. There is no need to break the hips first and sit back to initiate a squat, and doing so tends to encourage lifters to sit farther back with the hips than they otherwise would. The resulting greater forward inclination of the trunk means a