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Kneeling Squat

advanced · squat

Kneeling Squat

Setup

Set the bar in the squat rack at shoulder height for your tall-kneeling position and put a thick pad under both knees. Drop the rack's safety pins about one hole below the lowest point the bar reaches (when your glutes touch your heels), so the bar always has something to land on if your hips will not come up. Kneel under the bar, rest it across the rear of your shoulders and pull your shoulder blades together firmly.

Execution

  1. Lift the bar off the rack using only your upper body, with both knees still resting on the pad.
  2. Inhale, brace your core, and lower your hips back toward your heels under control.
  3. Lower until your glutes are close to your heels, keeping your back flat the whole way down.
  4. Exhale and squeeze your glutes, driving your hips forward to raise your body back to a tall kneeling position.
  5. If your hips will not come up, sit all the way down onto your heels, let the bar settle onto the safety pins and slide forward out from under it; never twist away or throw the bar over your head.
  6. At the end of the set, guide the bar back onto the rack with your upper body under control, without standing up to rack it.

Breathing

Inhale as you lower your hips, exhale as you drive them back up. Do not hold your breath at the bottom; if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or you are pregnant, avoid this loaded kneeling exercise.

Quick cues

  • Knees stay on the pad the whole set.
  • Hips travel straight back to the heels.
  • Squeeze the glutes to drive the hips up.
  • Back flat, no rounding.
  • Safety pins just below the lowest point.

Common faults

  • Fault: Leaning the whole torso forward to rise instead of driving the hips

    Fix: Focus on squeezing the glutes and driving the hips forward to rise.

  • Fault: The lower back rounding at the bottom

    Fix: Brace the core before lowering and reduce the range if the back still rounds.

  • Fault: Popping up to standing at the end of the set

    Fix: Always return the bar to the rack while still kneeling, without standing up suddenly.

  • Fault: The knees aching from a lack of padding

    Fix: Use a thicker pad, or fold the mat double under the knees, before starting.

Equipment

barbell, squat_rack

Muscle groups

glutes, core, legs, back