The bar is too far forwards

Are you starting with your arms extending away from the body, the bar under your chin and over your toes? According to Lee, this means you’re going to end up with a torso that’s too upright. We should be aiming for a body that’s close to horizontal to signify that the hips are hinged and the glutes and hamstrings are about to be utilised.

Instead: ensure the bar is over your midfoot, underneath your armpits and your shoulders are over the bar.

You lower with your knees first

Once you’ve got the bar up, you need to get it back down with the right form. A common thing that goes wrong at this stage is that people bend their knees and place the weight down, say McGowan and Lee. That not only means you’re squatting the weight, but also that your knees get in the way of the bar, meaning you could risk an injury as you have to awkwardly push the barbell over your knees.

Instead: hinge at the hips by pushing them behind you until the bar reaches your knees, then bend until the bar is at the floor.

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