3 Exercises to Help Increase Your Squat

Weak hips and glutes are a common issue in beginner’s, as they are muscles that are not heavily utilized in normal day to day life. However, it can also be a weak and undertrained area for experienced lifters. Below are some of my favorite accessory movements to help strengthen these areas.

1. Speed Squats- Adding these in consistently has helped me tremendously, it is a quick way to add extra volume into your programming, and allows you to work on form and accelerating out of the hole. You can choose various forms of accommodating resistance, I prefer to use Westside Barbell doubled Red Minis. I program speed squats in three week waves.

      Week 1: 12x2 Band Weight + Bar Weight = 75%of total max

                  Week 2: 10x2 Band Weight + Bar Weight =80% of total max

                  Week 3: 8x2 Band Weight + Bar Weight = 85%of total max

2. Weighted Walking Lunges- When I do lunges for distance I feel that it really targets my quads, but when I add heavy weight, it shifts the emphasis to my glutes and hamstrings. I try to focus on pulling myself up each step. I will program these as a main accessory movement, for three weeks at a time, typically for 4 sets of 6 steps each leg.

3. Wide Belt Squats- This has been by far the best accessory for strengthening the bottom end of my squat. I use a 12” box to make sure I have consistent depth, controlling the rep until I reach the box, then powering out of the hole, externally rotating, and squeezing the glutes and quads at the top of the movement. I alternate this movement in three week waves as well, switching it in for the weighted walking lunges.