1Front knee moves inward
What you see: The front knee drifts toward the middle as you stand.
The fix: "Knee out." Push through the whole front foot and squeeze that glute.
Form guides · Legs and hips
The split squat: a lunge that stays put.
Same legs, no stepping. The best way to build one-leg strength before you add movement.
What good looks like.
In a split squat your feet stay in a staggered stance and you lower straight down and up. Because nothing moves but you, it is easier to balance than a lunge and easier to feel which side is weaker. Set the stance once, then own every rep.
- Feet staggered and hip width apart, like standing on two train tracks, not a tightrope.
- Tall torso, "abs tight".
- Lower straight down: the back knee travels toward the floor.
- Front knee tracks over the middle of the front foot.
- Back foot on its toes, back heel stays in line, not flopping out.
- Chin in
- Tall, "abs tight"
- Front knee over the foot
- Back foot set: "turn your back foot in"
The faults a trainer sees most
What goes wrong, and the cue that fixes it.
The cues in quotes are the words Brad Glaser uses with his own clients.
2Back foot turned out
What you see: The back heel flops out and the hips twist.
The fix: "Turn your back foot in" so the heel lines up behind the toes.
3Tightrope stance
What you see: Both feet on one line, so you wobble side to side.
The fix: Move the feet apart sideways to hip width.
4Tipping forward
What you see: The chest drops over the front leg.
The fix: Stay tall, lower the back knee straight down.
Make it easier, make it harder.
Easier
- Hold a wall or a pole.
- A smaller range.
- Bodyweight only.
Harder
- Dumbbells at your sides.
- Rear-foot-elevated split squat, back foot on a bench.
- A pause at the bottom.
Move within a range that feels comfortable, and stop any exercise that hurts. Have a health condition, or been inactive a while? Ask your doctor what is right for you first. VeraForma is coaching, not medicine. It does not diagnose, treat or cure anything, and it does not replace your doctor or physio.
Let your phone check it.
Prop your phone up and train. VeraForma's camera draws the line on your body and names what it sees, with the number it measured.
Free: your reps counted out loud, and the common standing faults shown right on screen, with the fix in your set report. Go Premium and it speaks the fix while you move: "Knees out." "Chest up."
Scan to open it on your phone.
Free: your movement screen, Phase 1 of your programme and all of nutrition.
More form guides
Built by Brad Glaser · NASM Master Trainer · NASM-CPT, CES, PES · 20+ years · has certified 100+ personal trainers.
He owns a personal-training studio in Southern California. The same method he uses standing next to a client, built into the app.
Train it right, free.
Scan to open it on your phone.
Free account, no card. Brad's questions. One squat on camera. Then your results.