The importance of squat technique – how form impacts strength, performance, and injury risk.
Good squat technique isn't optional, it's essential. Learn how form affects strength, mobility, and joint health, as well as how to tailor it to your body for safe and efficient lifting.
03 JULY 2025
The squat might be one of the simplest movements on paper, but under a loaded bar it's a different story. While plenty of lifters focus on adding weight, far fewer pay attention to how their body moves under the bar. Technique flaws, mobility restrictions, and equipment choices all influence how force moves through your body, and ultimately whether you build strength or risk injury.
Good squat form isn't just about tidiness or looking good in the gym. It directly affects how efficiently you produce force, how safely you load your joints, and how well your strength transfers to the real world.
In this article we'll unpack the biomechanics of squat technique, the risks of poor form, why 'good' doesn't always look the same for everyone, and how mobility, footwear, and equipment tweaks like heel wedges can help you move better. We'll finish with practical ways to assess and improve your own technique the next time you’re loading up the bar.
Why good squat form really matters
When it comes to squatting, what you lift matters, but how you lift it matters more. Every joint position and movement influences how force is produced, absorbed, and transferred through the body. Even small deviations in form can lead to big changes in loading and muscle activation patterns.
Poor form doesn't just reduce performance; it increases the risk of injury. Faulty mechanics create compensations - shifting stress to the lower back, hips, and knees. Research has consistently shown that poor mechanics can increase joint loads and muscular imbalances, undermining both strength gains and long-term joint health [1].
Good form ensures effective recruitment of the prime movers while protecting joints and optimising movement economy. It's the difference between a lift that builds resilient, usable strength, and one that eventually causes your body to break down.
Defining ‘good’ squat form – why it can (and should) vary
Ask five coaches to describe the perfect squat and you'll probably get five slightly different answers. The truth is there’s no universal "perfect squat", but there are clear principles that underpin safe and effective technique for most lifters.
At its core, good squat form balances mobility, stability, and control to safely manage load through a full range of motion. Key markers of sound technique include:
- A neutral spine
- Knees tracking in line with the toes
- Weight balanced through the midfoot with the heels down
- Symmetrical movement in descent and ascent
- Full and controlled depth, ideally with hips parallel or below knees.
Correct alignment during squats has regularly been found to reduce compensatory patterns and improve muscle recruitment across the hips, knees, and ankles [2], allowing an athlete to maximise gains and minimise injury risk through consistent, efficient movement.
How anatomy, mobility, and morphology shape your squat
While the fundamentals of good squat form apply to everyone, the way those principles look in practice will inevitably vary from one lifter to another. Structural variations like femur and tibia length, hip socket depth, and ankle range of motion can affect squat mechanics considerably [3] A wide-hipped athlete with long femurs will naturally squat with a different stance and torso position than a mobile lifter with short legs.
This is where embracing individual differences becomes crucial – the key isn't to fight these differences but to work with them. The smartest lifters focus less on chasing textbook positions and more on moving well within their body's available range. Recent research has shown how tailoring stance width, foot angle, and heel elevation to the athlete’s anatomy and mobility can improve squat depth, muscle recruitment, and joint loading [3,4], providing athletes with a practical framework for achieving safe, efficient, and effective lifts within their anatomical capabilities.
The cost of poor squat technique – injuries, imbalances, and limited strength gains
Even small technical faults in a squat can have big consequences. Poor form alters how force is produced, transferred, and tolerated through the body, with compensatory movement patterns shifting stress away from the prime mover muscles towards joints and tissues unequipped to handle heavy loads.
Common faults include:
- Knees collapsing inwards – valgus
- Heels lifting off the floor
- Posterior pelvic tilt at the bottom of the squat – often known as a ‘butt wink’
- Excessive forward lean
- Hips rising faster than shoulders – good morning squat
These positions or breakdowns in movement increase joint shear and compressive forces at the lumbar spine and knees [1], while also disrupting the efficiency of the kinetic chain [5] and elevating injury risk.
Beyond injury risk, poor form leaks force and reduces efficiency. You'll waste energy fighting compensations rather than producing clean and controlled power – limiting both your strength gains and long-term progression.
The influence of mobility, footwear, and equipment on squat form
Good squat technique doesn't happen in isolation. Mobility restrictions, footwear choices, and equipment use all directly affect joint angles, muscle recruitment, and force distribution. Ankle dorsiflexion, the movement that brings the top of your foot closer to your shin, is one of the biggest limiting factors in squat depth and posture. Restricted range here often causes the heels to lift, excessive forward lean, or the knees to track poorly, while tight hips restrict depth and lead to posterior pelvic tilt.
Heel elevation devices like Stonarke’s Ultraform Lift and certain lifting shoes offer a practical solution for athletes managing mobility deficits or seeking to optimise squat mechanics, allowing for improved squat depth and reduced compensatory movement patterns [6] as well as affecting force distribution and muscle activation [7].
Mobility, footwear, and equipment shouldn’t be an afterthought – they are essential components of safe, effective, and efficient squatting. If your technique feels restricted or inconsistent, addressing your mobility limitations and reassessing your equipment choices is often the fastest way to clean up your squat and reduce injury risk.
How to assess and improve your squat technique
Optimising squat technique isn't just about correcting mistakes, it's about refining your mechanics to maximise strength, movement economy, and injury resilience.
The first step is assessment. Record yourself from multiple angles and look for movement faults - especially around depth, posture, and knee tracking. Identifying where your form breaks down makes it easier to address the root cause, as even minor technical errors can increase joint forces and reduce force transfer efficiency [1].
Mobility work is a smart starting point for most issues, especially around the ankles, hips, and thoracic spine. Limited range in these areas can quickly derail squat mechanics. If mobility restrictions persist, perhaps due to anatomical individuality, consider using tools like heel elevation devices or wedges alongside biomechanical adjustments in stance width or foot angle to improve kinematics and muscle activation.
Finally, try to supplement your loaded training with positional drills: tempo squats build controlled movement, goblet squats to focus on posture, and box squats to achieve consistent depth. The smartest lifters don't just chase load, they chase flawless movement execution before loading the bar.
Conclusion – why better squat form equals better results
Squat technique isn't a detail, it's the foundation. Every joint angle, movement sequence, and positional adjustment changes how force moves through your body, affecting both performance and injury risk.
The research is clear - good form improves muscle recruitment, optimises load distribution, and reduces compensatory strain. But what that looks like will vary based on your structure, mobility, and equipment choices.
Next time you load the bar, take a minute to check your form, assess your mobility, and make the smart adjustments that'll keep you lifting for years to come. It's not about being perfect, it's about moving well, consistently.
References
[1] Hartmann, H, Wirth, K, & Klusemann, M.J. (2013). Analysis of the load on the knee joint and vertebral column with changes in squatting depth and weight load. Sports Medicine, 43(10), 993–1008.
[2] Stone, M.H, Hornsby, G, et al. (2024). The use of free weight squats in sports: A narrative review—Squatting movements, adaptation, and sports performance. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 38(8), 1494–1508.
[3] Duan, L, Fekete, G, et al. (2025). The influence of different heel heights on squatting stability: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. Advances in the Biomechanics of Sports, 15(5), 2471.
[4] Graber, K.A, Halverstadt, A.L, & Gill, S.V. (2023). The effect of trunk and shank position on the hip-to-knee moment ratio in a bilateral squat. Physical Therapy in Sport, 61, 102–107.
[5] Papadakis, Z, Stamatis, A, et al. (2024). Addressing biomechanical errors in the back squat for older adults: A clinical perspective for maintaining neutral spine and knee alignment. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 9(4), 224.
[6] Sriwarno, A.B, Shimomura, Y, & Iwanaga, K. (2008). The effects of heel elevation on postural adjustment and activity of lower-extremity muscles during deep squatting-to-standing movement in normal subjects. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 20(1), 31–38.
[7] Pangan, A.M, & Leineweber, M. (2021). Footwear and elevated heel influence on barbell back squat: A review. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 143(9), 090801.