Chair Squat
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Stand in front of a sturdy chair or bench with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
- Hold your arms out in front of you for balance.
- Push your hips back and squat down under control until your backside touches the seat.
- Touch without sitting, keeping the chest up and the weight through the whole foot.
- Drive back up to standing.
- Use a taller seat if the depth is too much, and a lower one as it gets easier.
Common mistakes
- Dropping onto the seat. Sitting down turns each repetition into a stand-up from a dead position, which is a different and easier movement.
- Reaching back with the hips to find the chair. The hips travel back as part of the squat, not as a search; if you have to reach, the chair is too far behind.
- Letting the knees fall inward. Pushing them out over the middle of the foot is part of the movement rather than a correction made afterwards.
- Staying on the same seat height indefinitely. The height is the progression — a lower seat is a deeper squat, and that is what to change rather than the repetitions.