Squat · Barbell, Rack

Barbell Back Squat

The barbell back squat is a squat with the bar on your upper back, taken to at least parallel. It is a foundational lower-body strength lift for quads, glutes, and full-body bracing, suited to anyone who can squat to depth comfortably.

Primary
Quads
Secondary
Glutes, Hamstrings
Starting rep range
6–10 reps
Target effort
2 reps in reserve
Progression
2.5 kg jumps

Muscles worked

The quads extend the knees and do much of the work, while the glutes and adductors extend the hips out of the bottom. The hamstrings act more as stabilizers than prime movers here.

How to set up

  1. Set the bar in a rack at about mid-chest height.
  2. Step under and place the bar on your upper traps (high bar) or rear delts (low bar).
  3. Grip the bar firmly, pull your elbows down, and stand up to unrack.
  4. Take two or three steps back and set feet about shoulder width, toes slightly out.
  5. Take a big breath and brace your core.

How to do each rep

  1. Sit down between your hips, pushing knees out in line with your toes.
  2. Keep your chest up and the bar over mid-foot.
  3. Descend until your hip crease is at or below the top of your knee.
  4. Drive up through the whole foot, keeping the same torso angle out of the bottom.
  5. Exhale at the top and re-brace before the next rep.

Common barbell back squat mistakes

Knees caving in

Push your knees out over your toes, especially as you start to stand up.

Hips shooting up first

Drive your chest and hips up together; reduce load if your torso keeps folding over.

Cutting depth

Use a weight that lets you reach parallel, and film from the side to check.

Sets, reps, and progression

Surpass starts the barbell back squat at 6–10 reps with about 2 reps in reserve. As a compound lift it usually belongs early in the session, when you are fresh.

Add 5-10 lb per session as a beginner, then move to weekly progress with sets of 3-8. Always squat inside a rack with safety pins set just below your bottom position.

Know what to lift next time

Surpass shows what you lifted last time beside a target for this set, and adjusts it from your reps and RIR. Free on iPhone, no account needed.

Track it free in Surpass

Barbell Back Squat alternatives

These train the same main muscles. Swap when the equipment is busy, something hurts, or progress has stalled for several weeks.

Belt Squat MachineQuads · Plate-loaded machineBodyweight SquatQuads · BodyweightGoblet SquatQuads · DumbbellsHack Squat MachineQuads · Plate-loaded machineHammer Strength Leg PressQuads · Plate-loaded machineHammer Strength V-SquatQuads · Plate-loaded machine

Programs that use it

Push Pull Legs (6-Day PPL)6 days a week · intermediateUpper/Lower Split (4 Days)4 days a week · beginner3-Day Full Body Workout3 days a week · beginnerArnold Split (6 Days)6 days a week · advanced5-Day Bro Split5 days a week · intermediatePPL + Upper/Lower Hybrid (5 Days)5 days a week · intermediate

Calculators

Squat Next Set CalculatorSquat Warm-Up CalculatorSquat 1RM CalculatorSquat Strength Level CalculatorSquat Alternatives

Questions

How deep should you squat?

At least to parallel, where your hip crease reaches the top of your knee, is a good standard. Going deeper is fine if you can keep a neutral back and heels down.

High bar vs low bar squat?

High bar keeps the torso more upright and hits the quads more. Low bar lets most people lift a bit more weight and uses more hip; both are valid.