In this article, we are going to discuss a few common and simple mistakes to avoid when you are doing a barbell back squat.

What Is a Barbell Back squat?

The barbell back squat is a fundamental weight and strength exercise with an increasing focus on the glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings for the lower extremities and entire core muscles. It is achieved by bending your hips back and then lowering your knees to bring down your body as much as you can while maintaining your a somewhat straight spine. The spine and hips should also be aligned, then move the knees out as you move downwards. You have to extend your hips to get back up and keep pushing your knees outwards. If you have not tried it yet, you can check out this comprehensive tutorial for more information on how to do this properly.

Another great advantage of this exercise is that the joints, ligaments, and tendons from around the knee and hips are also strengthened through it.

4 Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Knees being too forward 

To prevent knees coming forward too much and avoid potential knee joint and tendon injuries, the hips must lower straight as you squat. You might endanger yourself when your knees cave inwards when you squat. Ensure that your knees are not heading in the same direction as your feet. When you are dealing with this, the chances are that your lower-body has limited functionality or mobility. Keep in mind to do a complete dynamic warm-up before any workout, to completely loosen up your body. Practicing bodyweight squats with a mini-band around your knees to strengthen your hips and keep your knees in good alignment could be a good idea for you.

2. Rounding the lower back

When you squat, keep a straight back to prevent injury and hurt your spine. It is important never to let your lower back round too much. Always keep a straight, neutral lower back as you move down and rise to keep everything in its right place. Some of the best ways to remedy this are to use a squat move to hold your body straight, and to engage your abs. Maintain a tense in your core muscles during the entire movement to help keep your back in position.

Also, try not to arch your lower back as far as it reaches because it puts a lot of tension on your joints and potentially can hit the wrong muscles. Rather, maintain a neutral straight line on your lower back and hold the position through your squat. 

3. Restricting the range of movement

Several gym-goers do not practice the full range of movement and do not make effective use of the squats. Ensure you squat down to at least where your thighs are approximately parallel to the surface to utilize squats to their complete capability, and if you can go slightly below parallel, try doing that. A very popular method when it comes to squats is the Barbell Back squat, occasionally you should turn to various squats for particular items to focus on.

For several bodybuilders, a mistake is attempting to lift far too much weight. Make sure you use the right weight to enable you to use the perfect position and the full range of movement.

4. Incorrect setup and gear

You will need to use a squat rack if you are doing a Barbell squat. You should also use the safety bars that hold the barbell at the bottom so you can place the barbell on the safety bars if you are unable to lift the weight.

Be sure that the barbell is about chest-height when you place the barbell onto the rack because when it is too high or low, it can be difficult to move due to the weight. Using the proper gear can make a big difference too. Wear thin or sturdy sole footwear so you can shift power from your legs to the surface. Avoid padded shoes that will absorb your force or even make your feet slip around within your shoe.

The squat is one of the most effective exercises you can perform, whatever your goals are for your fitness and body shape. It develops numerous muscles in the body, and burns tons of calories. It increases the power of the lower body, and improvements in fitness go to another level. You don’t only have to be confined to traditional barbell squats, there are many variations such as jump squats, body weight squats, pistol squats to name a few!

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The (Upper) Legs are made up of, in the front, your thigh muscles and quadriceps, and at the back your glutes (your but) and hamstrings.  For this workout we will start with more exercises focusing on the front of the leg.  But don’t worry most of these exercises will still stimulate the hamstrings.

This workout can be done by pretty much anyone, male or female who has a bit of experience in the gym.  For the beginners, you can also do it, just maybe scale back on two or three of the exercises or decrease the amount of sets you do per exercise.  The rep ranges are all between 8 and 20, so nothing too heavy, but you need to choose a weight which will suit you.  Do not try to go too heavy too quickly.  Make sure to use proper form and FULL range of motion in all exercises.  If your range suffers then reduce the weight!  Try not to rest too long between sets, nothing more than 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Download a printable workout log of the Legs Blaster Workout here:

• Editable Word Document: WOW Legs Blaster
• Pdf Document: WOW Legs Blaster

Leg Workout

5 minutes cycling to warm up.

Exercise 1:

• Leg extensions

Sets: 5
Reps: 20, 15, 15, 12, 12
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 2:

• Leg press

• (Feet placed just under shoulder width apart and low on the apparatus.  To target more of the outer quads)

Sets: 6
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 6
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 3:

• Hack Squats/Squats

• (Feet placed shoulder width apart and in the middle of the apparatus)

Sets: 4
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 4:

• One leg front squat on the smith machine.

• (Take one leg, complete the reps and then switch to the other leg)

Sets: 4
Reps: 15, 12, 10, 8
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 5:

• Walking Lunges with dumbbells

Sets: 2
Reps: 10, 10 (each leg)

Exercise 1:

• Stiff legged dead lifts

Sets: 5
Reps: 15, 15, 12, 10, 8
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 2:

• Single leg, leg press

• (With feet positioned as high as you can on the apparatus to really target the glutes.  Be sure to push with the heel of your foot)

Sets: 3
Reps: 15, 12, 10
Increasing weight each set.

Exercise 3:

• Lying leg curls (Last set is a drop set*)

Sets: 6
Reps: 20, 15, 15, 12, 12, *[8,10,15]
Increasing weight each set.

*A drop set is where you perform an exercise with a certain weight for a number of reps, and then drop the weight to a lighter weight and perform a few more reps to really exhaust the muscle.  You can drop the weight more than once if you want.

Now be prepared to Limp out of the gym after this workout and be ready to feel the pain tomorrow! Some pain is good, no pain no gain!

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Quick Stats

Name:  Bhekumuzi ‘Muzi’ Maluleke
Age:  21
Height:  1,68m
Competition Weight:  72 kgs
Current weight:  74 kgs 
Current city:  Hatfield, Pretoria
Occupation:  Sports Science Student

How long have you been training consistently for and how did you get into this lifestyle?

I started training in January 2007 when I was in high school, this was a result of a soccer injury to my right knee so resistance training was part of the rehabilitation, however,

“I realized that in resistance training the results are much more under your control, and this increased my self esteem and confidence,”

as such the love of resistance training grew and became much stronger to such a point that I always asked myself about the processes of tissue response to training which lead me to studying Sports Science.

What do you love about it and what keeps you motivated?

One thing I love about Body Building is that you can see how your body responds to different intensities, different calorie intakes and most of all is that, the results are based on the amount of effort you put in.  What motivates me each day at the gym is Mr. Lee Haney, who said “the muscle and the mind has to be one, in order for one repetition is equal to two”.

What competitions have you competed in and your placings?

2008

• Soweto united bodybuilding competition (first competition), 4^th

2009

• under 21 Mr. Physique, 1^st

2010

• under 21 IFBB Gauteng north novice champs, 1^st

2011

• under 21 IFBB Gauteng champs, 1^st
• under 21 USN Rainbow classic, 1^st
•  under 21 Boksburg classic, 1^st
• under 21 WBBF SA Champs, 1^st place and overall juniors winner
• under 70kgs WPF, 1^st place and overall winner
• under 21 IFBB SA CHAMPS, 4^th
• under 21 IFBB Muscle evolution, 4^th

2012

• under 23, IFBB M&M classic, 1^st
• under 23, IFBB H&H classic, 1^st
• under 21, Boksburg Classic, 1^st
• under 23, IFBB Gauteng north champs, 1^st
• under 23, IFBB SA Champs

What are your future plans?

Currently I am building a base of knowledge during my years as a junior and in the next four years I see myself competing in the under 85-90 Kgs senior division, and career wise I am going to practice as an Exercise Physiologist in the field of sports science so that I may also add value to the SA bodybuilding population as a source of information and research some of the misunderstood concepts within the sports and fitness industry.

Take us through an average day of yours:

When I wake up I prepare my first meal of the day, and from there onward I eat every 2.5 hours.  My normal day is as follows:

• Classes from 8:30 am – 13:30 pm in the afternoon (but cardio at 10 am between my classes)
• 1 hour nap between 2-3 pm
• 3 – 5 pm studying
• Gym at 5:30 – 7 pm
• Then 8-12 pm its studying again.

I spend most of my social life by means of internet chat-rooms as I tend to distance myself from those who don’t live a similar lifestyle like mine.

“I solely believe in dedication, discipline and dieting (3 D’S) when it comes to body building.”

Give us a brief description of your philosophy on your diet:

My diet is as follows:

• Meal 1: 1 cup of Oats + 6 egg whites + 1 cup of coffee + animal cut
• Cardio: 30 min
• Meal 2: 1 cup of mashed sweet potato + I can of tuna
• Meal 3: 1 cup of brown rice or 6 baby potatoes + 200 g of chicken breast + animal cut
• Meal 4: 1 cup of mashed sweet potatoes + 1 can of tuna
• Meal 5: 6 egg whites and 2 slice of Rye bread + 1 cup of coffee (30 min before gym)
• Gym.
• Meal 6: 250 g of hake fish + 200 g of mixed vegetables or 200 g of broccoli
• Meal 7: 250 g of hake fish or chicken breast + 200 g of mixed vegetables
• Before bed: 1 teaspoon of natural peanut butter

What supplements do you use if any?  And do you have a favorite brand?

During in-season I only use fat burners as I approach my prep like Shawn Ray, “supplements are an insurance policy, used when you cannot get hold of real food”, and I prefer universal animal cut (it gives me good results and a placebo effect) and when I take a break from it I substitute with muscle-tech hydroxy-cut.

What’s your favorite form of cardio?

Cross-cycling, hand cycling and treadmill incline walking and I do Interval training or repetition training in one of the exercises once a week.

What would you say are the three best exercises you can do?

• Reverse-grip French-curl
• Back-squats
• Hack squats

Which do you prefer and why.  Today’s bodybuilders like Jay Cutler and Phil Heath, or the smaller physiques like Frank Zane.

I prefer current Bodybuilders in terms of physiques, but my favorite bodybuilder is KAI GREENE, his philosophy towards the sports has changed my life, but when it comes to information source I prefer, the old dogs, like Shawn Ray, Ronnie Coleman, and Lee Haney, because these guys demonstrate the importance of the amount of effort you have to put in, in order to be the best you can be.

Favorite Quote:

“Muscle and the mind has to be one, in order for one rep is equal to two” by Lee Haney.

One piece of advice for someone wanting to change their lifestyle and achieve their ideal physique?

Patience is the name of the game; remember that each time you do something your body records it and neural adaptation has to occur first before you can see the physiological changes.

Where can people get hold of you?

Email address: b19maluleke[at]gmail.com

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