5 Proven Technique Tips to Improve Your Squat and Hit New PRs

Are you struggling to add weight to your squat? Do you feel unstable when attempting heavier loads? As a former world record holder with a 567-pound squat at 132 pounds bodyweight, I’ve spent years refining squat technique—both for myself and the countless lifters I’ve coached. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll share my top five technical fixes that can immediately improve your squat performance and help you hit new personal records.

You can see all the technical ques and tips visually with the video that goes along with this article.

Why Technique Matters for Squatting Heavy

Before diving into the specific techniques, it’s important to understand that squatting heavy weight isn’t just about raw strength. Optimal mechanics allow for efficient force transfer from the ground through your body and into the barbell. When your technique is dialed in, you can lift more weight with the same amount of strength.

As I’ve coached athletes from beginner lifters to elite powerlifters, I’ve consistently identified these five areas as the most common limiting factors. The good news? Each can be improved with focused attention and practice.

Technique Fix #1: Master Breathing and Bracing

The foundation of a strong squat starts with proper breathing and bracing. This creates what we call “intra-abdominal pressure”—essentially turning your torso into a rigid cylinder that can transfer force efficiently.

Common Mistakes with Breathing

The most frequent issue I see is chest breathing instead of abdominal breathing. When lifters take a breath, they elevate their shoulders, extend their mid-back, and flare their chest. This creates a misalignment between the rib cage and pelvis, reducing stability.

Think of your torso like a soda can—rigid and strong when properly aligned, but easily crushed when compromised. When you breathe into your chest and extend your spine, you’re essentially creating an open “scissor” at the front of your body, reducing stability.

How to Breathe and Brace Properly

Follow these steps to create maximum stability:

1. Take a 360-degree breath – Place your hands around your sides and take a deep breath through your nose, feeling expansion not just in your front but all around your torso—sides, back, and front.
2. Engage your core – After taking the breath, actively contract your abdominal muscles to create even more pressure and rigidity.
3. Maintain position under load – When you unrack the barbell, maintain this brace throughout the movement. If the bar is bobbing up and down during your breath, that’s a sign of poor bracing.

A proper breathing sequence under the bar looks like this:

• Set up under the bar
• Take a deep nasal breath, expanding your abdomen in all directions
• Brace your core muscles
• Unrack the weight
• Perform the squat while maintaining tension
• Exhale only after re-racking or completing the rep

This single technique fix can immediately add pounds to your squat by improving force transfer and stability.

Technique Fix #2: Create Upper Back Tightness

The next critical element is establishing proper upper back tightness, regardless of whether you prefer high-bar or low-bar squatting. This creates a solid foundation for the barbell and connects to your braced midsection.

Two Essential Cues for Upper Back Tightness

1. “Break the bar across your back” – Actively pull down on the bar as if performing a lat pulldown. This activates your lats and creates tension across your upper back.
2. “Pull your shoulder blades together and down” – Don’t just squeeze your shoulder blades together; also pull them downward to engage more of your upper back musculature.

For some lifters, I recommend a third cue: squeeze the bar while pulling your elbows down and forward. This can help lifters who struggle to maintain upper back tightness when their elbows flare outward during the squat.

What Proper Upper Back Setup Feels Like

When set correctly:

• Your lats should feel engaged
• The bar should feel “locked in” to your back
• Your elbows should be in a position that supports back tightness (not flaring upward)
• There should be minimal movement of the bar relative to your body

The combination of proper breathing, bracing, and upper back tightness creates a rigid unit from your pelvis to the barbell. This rigid structure allows force to transfer efficiently from your legs to the bar when you drive up from the bottom position.

Technique Fix #3: Improve Hip and Ankle Mobility

Many squat problems stem from insufficient mobility in the hips and ankles. While extreme flexibility isn’t necessary, adequate mobility allows you to maintain optimal positions throughout the squat.

Signs of Mobility Limitations

Watch for these indicators of mobility issues:

• Heels lifting off the floor during descent
• Excessive forward lean
• Knees caving inward
• Inability to reach proper depth
• Lower back rounding at the bottom

Practical Mobility Solutions

Incorporate these mobility activities before squatting:

1. Hip flexor mobilizations – Loosen tight hip flexors that can restrict depth
2. Hamstring mobilizations – Improve posterior chain flexibility
3. Hip switches – Enhance internal and external hip rotation
4. Ankle mobilization – Improve dorsiflexion by elevating your foot on a bench

Pre-Squat Mobility Strategy

A highly effective strategy is to perform front squats before back squats. The anterior load naturally helps you achieve greater depth and trains a more upright position, preparing your body for back squats.

Additionally, spend time in the bottom squat position before loading heavy:

• Squat down to the bottom position
• Shift side to side, feeling full foot pressure
• Rock your hips gently to explore end ranges of motion

These simple mobility preparations can dramatically improve your squat position, allowing for greater depth and better force production.

Technique Fix #4: Optimize Knee Tracking and Foot Pressure

How your knees track and feet interact with the floor significantly impacts squat performance. While individual biomechanics influence squat style, certain principles apply universally.

Understanding Individual Biomechanics

Your ideal squat pattern depends partly on your anatomy:

• Longer femurs typically result in a more hip-dominant, hinged-back squat pattern
• Shorter femurs often allow for a more upright, quad-dominant squat with more forward knee travel

Neither is inherently wrong—work with your structure rather than against it.

Foot Pressure and Knee Position

The key to optimal knee tracking is proper foot pressure:

1. Maintain the tripod foot position – Weight should be distributed between your heel, big toe, and little toe
2. “Spread the floor” – Apply pressure through the middle of your foot outward, creating tension in your hips
3. Avoid foot collapse – If your arch collapses inward, you’ll lose stability and power

When foot pressure is correct, some degree of knee movement is acceptable. Complete avoidance of forward knee travel or slight medial knee movement isn’t necessarily problematic if your foot pressure remains stable and controlled.

The focus should be on:

• Maintaining whole-foot contact with the ground
• Actively creating outward pressure through the feet
• Keeping the knees tracking in a position that aligns with your hip structure

This approach maximizes force transfer from the ground up while keeping your joints in safe, strong positions.

Technique Fix #5: Perfect Your Setup and Walkout

Even with excellent technique in the previous areas, a poor setup and walkout can undermine your squat. Efficiency in getting the bar into position preserves energy for the actual lift.

The “Step-Step-Wiggle-Wiggle” Method

I learned this simple but effective walkout sequence from Harry Selcow, and it’s been invaluable:

1. Unrack with feet under hips
2. Take one step back
3. Take a second step back
4. Adjust one foot for width
5. Adjust the second foot for width
6. Rebreathe, reset, and squat

This method minimizes unnecessary movement, saving energy for the actual lift. When you’re handling near-maximal weights, every bit of wasted movement reduces your performance potential.

Benefits of an Efficient Walkout

A disciplined walkout routine:

• Conserves energy
• Creates consistency between attempts
• Establishes a focused mindset
• Allows for proper positioning before the descent

By making your walkout methodical and automatic, you’ll set yourself up for successful heavy attempts when it matters most.

Implementing These Technique Improvements

Now that you understand the five key technical elements, how do you incorporate them into your training?

If You Have Multiple Issues

If you identify several technique problems, focus on them in this order of importance:

1. Breathing and bracing – This typically creates a cascade of improvements in other areas
2. Upper back tightness – Once bracing is solid, focus here
3. Hip and ankle mobility – Address this on training and off days
4. Foot pressure and knee tracking – Refine these after the foundation is set
5. Setup and walkout – Make this automatic through consistent practice

Programming for Technique Development

To optimize technique acquisition:

1. Practice every rep – Even with just the bar, execute perfect technique on every repetition to build the neural pathways
2. Increase frequency with dynamic effort method – Consider adding a day of lighter squat work (40-60% of 1RM) focusing solely on technique. The benefit here is getting more practice with setups and walkouts. For example:
   • Instead of 3 sets of 8 reps (3 setups)
   • Do 10-12 sets of 2-3 reps (10-12 setups and walkouts)

This approach provides more opportunities to practice the critical setup phase without excessive fatigue.

Conclusion: Putting It All Together

By systematically addressing these five technical elements—breathing and bracing, upper back tightness, mobility, foot pressure, and walkout efficiency—you can make significant improvements to your squat performance.

Remember that technical improvements often yield faster results than simply trying to get stronger with flawed mechanics. Take the time to rebuild your squat from the ground up, focusing on one element at a time until it becomes second nature.

Whether you’re a competitive powerlifter or simply want to build strength efficiently, these proven techniques will help you lift more weight with greater safety and confidence. Commit to the process, be patient with technical development, and watch your squat numbers climb to new heights.

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