Barbell Back Squat
The barbell back squat is a strength training exercise that involves placing a barbell across the back while lowering oneself into a squat towards the ground. The exercise works over 256 muscles in one movement and is considered the king of all exercises. The back squat is a compound exercise that targets the lower body muscles, including the quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and lower back.To perform the barbell back squat, one should follow these instructions:
- Place a barbell in a rack just below shoulder-height.
- Dip under the bar to put it behind the neck across the top of the back, and grip the bar with the hands wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Lift the chest up and squeeze the shoulder blades together to keep the straight back throughout the entire movement.
- Stand up to bring the bar off the rack and step backwards, then place the feet so that they are a little wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Sit back into hips and keep the back straight and the chest up, squatting down so the hips are below the knees.
- From the bottom of the squat, press feet into the ground and push hips forward to return to the top of the standing position.
There are several variations of the squat, including the high bar squat and the low bar squat. The high bar squat involves placing the bar high on the trapezius muscle across the top of the shoulders, while the low bar squat involves placing the bar low on the upper back in the back squat position
