Movement Tip: The Air Squat

We start our movement series with that most fundamental and ubiquitous of CrossFit movements, the humble air squat, demonstrated here by CrossFit HQ seminar staff member, James Hobart. This is often the very first movement you learn when starting CrossFit, because it forms the base of so many other movements. And while the squat may appear pretty straightforward, as a full body exercise, it actually has a lot of moving parts. So it’s well worth making sure you get all the performance points of the air squat perfect before building up to a weighted barbell front or back squat, which we will be looking at in the coming weeks.

Points Of Performance

• Stand on feet with shoulder width apart
• Hips slightly move back, and descend down
• Hips descend lower than the knees
• Lumbar curve maintained
• Heels stay in contact with the floor all the time
• Bend knees inline with the toes
• Complete at full hip and knee extension