1Knees move inward
What you see: On the way up, one or both knees drift toward each other.
The fix: "Knees out." Push them out over your little toes, and squeeze your glutes as you stand. That is your butt's job, not your knees'.
Form guides · Legs and hips
The squat, done right.
The move a trainer watches first, because it shows how your ankles, knees, hips and back work together.
What good looks like.
A squat trains your thighs, your glutes and your trunk at once, and it is the pattern behind sitting down and standing up from any chair. It is also the most honest movement in the gym: whatever your body is compensating for tends to show up here first.
- Feet about hip to shoulder width, toes turned out a little.
- Knees travel the same way your toes point, and stay no wider than your feet.
- Chest up and chin in, so your head stays stacked on your spine.
- Weight spread across the whole foot, heels down the whole way.
- Go as low as you can while your back stays where it started, then drive up through the floor.
- Head stacked: "chin in"
- Chest up, abs tight
- Knees follow the toes
- Heels stay down
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.
2Knees go wider than the hips
What you see: The opposite habit: knees shoved far outside the feet, often from over-correcting.
The fix: Knees track over your toes, not past them. Out over the foot is the goal, not as wide as possible.
3Lower back arches
What you see: The low back sways and the bum sticks out at the bottom or as you stand.
The fix: "Tuck it." Brace your abs tight and keep your ribs down over your hips.
4Chest drops
What you see: The chest folds toward the knees and the weight slides to your toes.
The fix: "Chest up." Sit back between your heels, and lighten the load until you can hold it.
5Heels lift
What you see: Weight rolls forward and the heels come off the floor.
The fix: Sit back, keep your whole foot down, and squat only as deep as you can with heels flat.
Make it easier, make it harder.
Easier
- Box squat: sit to a bench or chair and stand back up.
- Hold a counter or a suspension strap for balance.
- Shorten the range: go only as deep as you stay in control.
Harder
- Goblet squat: one dumbbell held at your chest.
- Tempo squat: three seconds down, a pause at the bottom.
- Barbell back squat, set up in a rack with the safeties at the right height.
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.