Bodyweight squat

Type

Strength

Equipment

No equipment

Area

Lower back

Level

Beginner

Starting dose in Remedy

3 sets of 12

How to do it

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly.
2. Sit your hips back and down while keeping your chest tall.
3. Go as low as is comfortable with your weight in the middle of your feet.
4. Push through your feet to stand back up.

Form cues

• Sit the hips back, chest tall, weight in mid-foot.
• Knees track over the toes.

Common mistakes

• Knees caving inward.
• Heels lifting off the floor.
• Dropping fast to the bottom.

Easier and harder versions

• To make it easier: Squat down to a chair and stand back up. Lower the seat height over time.
• Harder: Goblet squat or Split squat

Why it helps a sore back

Strong legs share the work of lifting and standing so the back does less of it. Remedy uses the bodyweight squat before adding a dumbbell.

How Remedy uses it

In the app it is called Bodyweight Squat. Remedy is more likely to pick it if you say your back is bothered by working out or bending or lifting. A typical starting dose is 3 sets of 12, and the program adjusts reps as the weeks go on. Every exercise in the app has a demonstration video.

General fitness information, not medical advice. Stop any exercise that causes sharp pain, or pain, numbness, or tingling spreading down a leg.