How to Perform
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed slightly outward
- Extend your arms forward at shoulder height for balance
- Lower yourself over a count of 3-4 seconds, bending at the hips and knees simultaneously
- Pause at the bottom for 1-2 seconds with your hip crease below your knees
- Rise back up over a count of 3-4 seconds, driving through your whole foot
- Squeeze your glutes at the top and repeat without resting between reps
Form Cues
Do:
- Count out loud or use a metronome to keep the tempo honest
- Maintain a tall chest and neutral spine throughout the entire descent and ascent
- Keep your heels glued to the floor at all times
- Push your knees out over your toes to engage the glutes
Don't:
- Speed up through the sticking point — the tempo must stay constant
- Bounce at the bottom to generate momentum
- Let your torso collapse forward; if it does, slow down further and reduce depth until form is solid
- Hold your breath; exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down
Progressions
When you can complete 3 sets of 12 reps with a strict 4-second down, 2-second pause, 4-second up tempo, progress to the close squat for greater ankle and quad demand, or the eccentric step-down to begin building single-leg strength.
Common Mistakes
- Rushing the descent: The entire benefit of this exercise is time under tension; if you are not counting, you are likely going too fast
- Losing depth at slow speeds: Slower tempos expose mobility limitations; if you cannot reach full depth, work on ankle and hip flexibility separately
- Shifting weight to the toes: The slow tempo makes balance harder; focus on pressing through the mid-foot and heel
- Skipping the pause: The bottom pause eliminates the stretch reflex and forces the muscles to work harder; do not skip it