Strength exercise

# Bodyweight squat

A controlled squat with no load. It builds leg and hip strength for getting up from chairs, the floor, and the car.

Also called: air squat, squat for beginners

- **Type:** Strength

- **Equipment:** No equipment

- **Area:** Lower back

- **Level:** Beginner

- **Starting dose in Remedy:** 3 sets of 12

## How to do it

- Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly.
- Sit your hips back and down while keeping your chest tall.
- Go as low as is comfortable with your weight in the middle of your feet.
- 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](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/goblet-squat) or [Split squat](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/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.

## More strength exercises

[Strength

### Goblet squat

A squat holding one dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest.
Band or dumbbells · Intermediate](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/goblet-squat)
[Strength

### Split squat

A squat in a staggered stance, one foot forward and one back.
No equipment · Intermediate](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/split-squat)
[Strength

### Leg press

A machine press for the legs.
Gym · Advanced](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/leg-press)

## Guides that use it
[Guide
### Lower back pain exercises
The kinds of exercise that help a sore lower back, with a simple routine to start.Read the guide](https://remedyrecoveries.com/guides/lower-back-pain-exercises)[Guide
### Back routine with no equipment
What a home routine for a sore back needs, using only the floor.Read the guide](https://remedyrecoveries.com/guides/back-exercises-no-equipment)

[More exercise guides](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/)

## Get a back program you can actually keep

Free to download on the App Store. Answer a few questions and your first session is ready in minutes.

[](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/remedy-back-pain-relief/id6813745106)[Read the guides](https://remedyrecoveries.com/guides/)

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Source: https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/bodyweight-squat
Remedy is a fitness and wellness app, not medical care.