Squat Form Essentials: Stance, Depth and Knee Tracking

The squat is called the king of movements, yet most people make the same mistakes the first time: knees caving in, weight drifting back, depth cut short. The good news — all of them can be fixed with a few checkpoints.

Stance: shoulder-width, toes out 15–30 degrees

There is no single "correct" stance, but a reliable starting point is feet shoulder-width apart with toes turned slightly out. Too narrow and your center of gravity drifts backward; too wide and the adductors take over while the quads get shortchanged.

Once you've found your stance, do three bodyweight squats and check that your weight stays over the middle of your feet — not pitched forward onto your toes, not rocked back onto your heels.

Depth: at least parallel

Cutting depth is the most common form of cheating. Aim to get the top of your thighs at least parallel to the floor (a "parallel squat"). If your mobility allows, you can keep descending until the hips drop below the knees (an "ass-to-grass" squat) — as long as your lower back doesn't round into the dreaded "butt wink."

KOA's 3D motion tracking flags your depth in real time and gives you a depth-consistency score after every set.

Knee tracking: keep knees pointed at your toes

Knee valgus (caving inward) is the highest-risk squat error, especially under load. The fix: as you descend, actively push your knees out toward your toes while screwing your feet into the floor.

If your knee path won't stabilize, drop the weight by 30% and spend two weeks rebuilding the pattern before adding it back.

The three most common mistakes

First, heels lifting off the floor — usually ankle mobility or weight too far forward; temporarily fix it by standing on small weight plates. Second, excessive lower-back arch — brace your core, don't crank your spine. Third, bouncing out of the bottom — the rebound hides your real starting strength. Learn to pause for a full second at the bottom first.

Practice squats with KOA

Open the KOA mini program, pick squat training mode, and the camera tracks your knee angles and descent path, cueing range and trajectory in real time. Review the data after each set and carry the feedback into the next one.