How to do a squat with good form
Do a squat by standing with feet about shoulder width apart and toes turned out a little, then sending your hips back and down as if sitting onto a chair behind you. Keep your chest up, your weight across the whole foot and your knees tracking over your toes. Go only as low as you can while your heels stay down, then stand by pushing the floor away.
Why it matters: Sitting down and standing up is the movement you use most, and a good squat keeps it easy for decades.
Steps
- Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and your toes turned out slightly.
- Put a sturdy chair behind you the first few times, so you have a target and a safety net.
- Breathe in, brace your stomach gently, and send your hips back and down.
- Let your knees bend in the direction your toes point, without caving inward.
- Keep your chest lifted and your weight spread across heels, big toes and little toes.
- Stop at the depth where your heels are still flat and your back is still long.
- Push the floor away through your whole foot to stand, and breathe out as you rise.
Stop and call a professional if
- a knee or hip hurts sharply during the movement rather than feeling worked: stop and see your clinician or a physical therapist
- you are pregnant, gave birth in the last year, or have a heart, joint, bone or pelvic floor condition: ask your clinician or a physical therapist which movements suit you first
- you feel chest pain or pressure, faintness or breathlessness far beyond the effort: stop and call your local emergency number, 911 in the US
Questions to ask the professional
- Is there a depth or stance width that suits my hips and knees?
- Would holding a counter or using a higher chair help me practice the shape?
Common mistakes
- Letting the knees fall inward as you stand up.
- Rising onto the toes because the heels lifted at the bottom.
- Dropping the chest so far forward that the lower back rounds.
- Chasing depth before the shape at a shallower depth feels steady.
Teach this to someone
A one page sheet for showing a friend, a teenager or a parent: what to say, what to show, and one question to check it landed.
Teach: How to do a squat with good form
What to say
Do a squat by standing with feet about shoulder width apart and toes turned out a little, then sending your hips back and down as if sitting onto a chair behind you. Keep your chest up, your weight across the whole foot and your knees tracking over your toes. Go only as low as you can while your heels stay down, then stand by pushing the floor away.
What to show
- Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and your toes turned out slightly.
- Put a sturdy chair behind you the first few times, so you have a target and a safety net.
- Breathe in, brace your stomach gently, and send your hips back and down.
- Let your knees bend in the direction your toes point, without caving inward.
- Keep your chest lifted and your weight spread across heels, big toes and little toes.
- Stop at the depth where your heels are still flat and your back is still long.
- Push the floor away through your whole foot to stand, and breathe out as you rise.
Where it stops
Stop and call a professional if a knee or hip hurts sharply during the movement rather than feeling worked: stop and see your clinician or a physical therapist.
Check question
Which way should your knees travel as you lower?
Answer: In line with your toes. Knees that follow the toes keep the load spread through the hip, knee and ankle.
Your checklist
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Quick quiz
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Related skills
Sources
- US national physical activity guidelines for adults, 2nd edition, 2018. Reviewed September 28, 2026.
- Certified exercise professional guidance on movement form, 2025. Reviewed September 28, 2026.
Written in our own words from the sources above. It is general information, not advice for your situation; where a professional, your doctor or your lease says something different, follow them.
Last reviewed . First published .