Speed Squats with Barbell

🎯 Quadriceps🏋️ BarbellCompoundCalves (2°)Glutes (2°)Hamstrings (2°)

How to do the speed squats with barbell

  1. This version of the squat uses an empty barbell and moves at a faster pace than the standard squat. This is a good exercise for building speed and conditioning used in running and jumping sports.
  2. Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart with your knees and toes pointed slightly outward.
  3. Drawing your abs in, descend slowly by bending at the knees and hips as if you are sitting down (squatting).
  4. Lower yourself as far as you can control without letting your body shift towards your toes (this will cause you to loose balance).
  5. Pause in the downward position and slowly return upright to the starting position.
  6. Note: Keep your feet firmly planted on the floor throughout this exercise.

Muscles worked

The prime movers are the quadriceps across the front of the thigh, which straighten the knee and, just as importantly, control it on the way back down.

Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the calves control the ankle and hold the heel position; the glutes finish hip extension; the hamstrings assist hip extension and slow the knee down.

Every exercise for:QuadricepsCalvesGlutesHamstrings

How this movement works

Several joints move together, so effort spreads across a chain rather than concentrating in one place. Coordination is part of the difficulty: the movement is only as good as its weakest link, and improving it often means fixing a position somewhere other than the muscle you meant to train.

It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.

What you need

A barbell locks both hands to one bar, so neither side can drift and the load climbs in plate-sized steps. That makes it the simplest way to add weight and the least forgiving thing to bail out of.

Every exercise using:Barbell

These train the quadriceps too, using equipment this one does not:

Related exercises

Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →

ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.