9 Mistakes You're Making When Doing Squats

Want a gym-honed booty? Then my dear, you must squat. There's no question that squatting is one of the best compound weight lifting exercises for growing your glutes (although shout out to hip thrusters and deadlifts, they're also your leg day bae).

But getting your form right, especially when lifting heavy, is absolutely key to activating your glutes properly and avoiding injury. So we enlisted Myprotein fitness expert Charlotte Campbell to explain the top 10 common mistakes we can all easily make when squatting.

NB: If you're TOTALLY new to the exercise, enlist the help of a personal trainer to check your form before hitting the squat rack hard.

1.Being Shallow

Keeping squats shallow short changes you out of a proper leg and glutes workout. Just because you've started to feel the burn doesn't mean you've reached your limit.

Charlotte advises aiming to keep thighs parallel to the floor - 'this will ensure you have used all muscles are engaged'.

2. Knee Overhang

Letting your knees go too far forward in a squat on a regular basis is not good for the joints. Don't allow your knees to go beyond where your toes end. Charlotte says you're better off using a mirror, or putting your toes up against the wall, to make sure you are sitting back enough. And to pump up your workout, place a resistance band just above the knee to prevent your knees rolling inwards.

3. Curving Forward

When sitting back in a squat, you can feel tempting to lean forward. However, rounding your back is no good for squats at all, you should keep your back straight. This is especially important if you add weights to your squat as you'll put unnecessary pressure on your neck and spine. Charlotte's tip? 'Puffing out your chest and keeping your shoulders in line will improve your form and prevent injury'.

4. Lifting Your Heels

Some people get into a bad habit of letting their heels lift as the lower down. This puts more strain on your joints and knees, rather than maximising your workout. To do a perfect squat, Charlotte says you should be lowering your weight into your heels, not away from them.

5. Wandering Eyes

Stay focused. Eyes should be straight ahead. 'If you're in front of a mirror, meet your own gaze throughout. Looking around will stop you're spine from being locked into a strong position', Charlotte advises.

6. Placing Your Feet Incorrectly

If you're tall, you'll probably find edging your feet more towards shoulder width is beneficial. However, this could be jeopardising your balance. According to Charlotte, feet should be placed between hip- shoulder distance apart. This gives you the optimum foundation to squat.

7. Ignoring the Abs

While squats build and tone your glutes and legs, you shouldn't ignore your core. Charlotte's tip for core strength while squatting is to 'tighten and engage your stomach muscles as you lower down. Not only will this give those muscles an extra workout it will also benefit you when adding weights. The more muscles engaged in the lift, the more power you'll have'

8. Not Pushing Yourself

You need to use weights to progress your squat. Once you feel like you've mastered the "air" squat, or weightless squat, try it with holding light dumbbells in each hand. Alternatively, you could try it with a barbell across your upper back in an overhand grip.

But never let yourself do lazy or bad form squats. 'Either do squats properly or not at all' says Charlotte. It's the only way your muscle memory will ensure that you get it right even when you've challenged yourself with a new weight'

9. Not Using Other Exercises to Progress

It may sounds obvious, but all your exercises are connected to your overall strength and ability. When we hear about Leg Day or group our exercises into their muscle group benefits, it's easy to forget that they all interlink and create an overarching benefit.

Charlotte says 'The more you do core exercises, the deeper you'll be able to hold your squat. In addition, working your ankles and hips will also help you perfect your posture while squatting'