What muscles does wide squat work?

Wide Squat mainly works your quads and glutes. It also works your adductors and calves.

What equipment do you need for wide squat?

You do not need any equipment for wide squat. You can do it with just your body.

How do you do wide squat?

Here is how to do wide squat. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and turn your toes out to about 45 degrees. This wide stance opens up the hips and brings the inner thighs and glutes more into the movement. Set your chest up tall and pull your shoulders back. Take a breath into your belly and brace your core hard so your spine stays stable through the squat. Grip the floor with your feet and screw them slightly outward to create tension in your hips. This locks your knees on their tracking path before you begin to descend. Begin the wide squat by pushing your hips back and bending your knees at the same time. Keep your knees tracking out over your toes rather than letting them cave inward. Lower under control, taking about two seconds down, keeping your chest up and your weight in your midfoot and heels. Feel the inner thighs and glutes loading as you descend. Continue until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, going deeper if your hips and ankles allow. Keep your torso upright and your knees pushed out at the bottom. Drive up through your heels to return to standing, pushing your knees out and keeping your chest tall. Breathe out through the hardest part of the rise. Squeeze your glutes hard at the top and stand fully tall, then reset your breath for the next rep. As a bodyweight move, wide squats work well in the 12 to 20 rep range for 3 to 4 sets.

What are common mistakes to avoid with wide squat?

When you do wide squat, avoid these common mistakes: letting your knees cave inward; squatting to only a quarter or half depth; rounding your lower back at the bottom.

Is wide squat good for beginners?

Wide Squat is a beginner exercise. It is a good choice if you are new to training.

Wide Squat Exercise - How To Video & Tips

Wide Squat Overview

The wide squat is a bodyweight move for your legs. It works your quads and glutes the most. The quads are the muscles on the front of your thighs. The glutes are your butt muscles. It also works your inner thighs and calves. You stand with your feet wide and your toes turned out. You squat down and stand back up. You need no equipment at all. The wide squat builds strong legs and a strong butt. The wide stance also works your inner thighs more. It helps your hips move well and stay healthy. This is a great beginner move. You can do it anywhere. It fits well as a warm-up or in a leg workout. It teaches good squat form.

What Is The Point of the Wide Squat?

The wide squat exercise targets your quads and glutes while hitting your inner thighs harder than regular squats. It builds lower body strength and improves hip flexibility.

How To Do The Wide Squat

Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and turn your toes out to about 45 degrees. This wide stance opens up the hips and brings the inner thighs and glutes more into the movement.
Set your chest up tall and pull your shoulders back. Take a breath into your belly and brace your core hard so your spine stays stable through the squat.
Grip the floor with your feet and screw them slightly outward to create tension in your hips. This locks your knees on their tracking path before you begin to descend.
Begin the wide squat by pushing your hips back and bending your knees at the same time. Keep your knees tracking out over your toes rather than letting them cave inward.
Lower under control, taking about two seconds down, keeping your chest up and your weight in your midfoot and heels. Feel the inner thighs and glutes loading as you descend.
Continue until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, going deeper if your hips and ankles allow. Keep your torso upright and your knees pushed out at the bottom.
Drive up through your heels to return to standing, pushing your knees out and keeping your chest tall. Breathe out through the hardest part of the rise.
Squeeze your glutes hard at the top and stand fully tall, then reset your breath for the next rep. As a bodyweight move, wide squats work well in the 12 to 20 rep range for 3 to 4 sets.

Wide Squat Form Tips

Set your feet wider than your shoulders. Turn your toes out about 45 degrees.
Push your knees out over your toes. Do not let them cave in.
Push your hips back as you bend your knees. Sit down and back.
Keep your chest up and proud. Do not fold forward.
Keep your feet flat and drive through your heels. Grip the floor with your toes.
Go down until your thighs are level with the floor.
Move slow on the way down. Then stand up with power.
Squeeze your glutes hard at the top. Stand up fully.
Breathe in at the top. Breathe out as you stand up.
Keep your back flat and your belly braced.

Common Mistakes to Avoid for the Wide Squat

Letting your knees cave inward. When the knees collapse toward each other, the tracking goes wrong and stress builds on the knee joint, and the glutes and inner thighs stop working. Consciously push your knees out over your toes and grip the floor to keep them stacked.
Squatting to only a quarter or half depth. Cutting the range short trains strength in a tiny window and skips the deep hip and thigh work that makes squats worthwhile. Descend to at least parallel, going deeper if your mobility allows, on every rep.
Rounding your lower back at the bottom. Letting the spine curl under as you sink down loads the discs and can tweak your back. Brace your core and keep a flat, neutral spine from the top of the rep to the bottom.
Rising up onto your toes. Shifting your weight forward onto the balls of your feet throws off your balance and takes the glutes out of the drive. Keep your weight in your midfoot and heels and push the floor away as you rise.
Setting your toes straight ahead with a wide stance. A wide stance with forward-pointing toes cramps the hips and forces the knees to cave. Turn your toes out to about 45 degrees so your knees can track over them.
Leaning your torso too far forward. Pitching forward dumps the load onto your lower back and takes it off the legs and glutes. Keep your chest up and squat straight down between your feet with an upright torso.
Rushing the descent. Dropping fast into the bottom wastes the eccentric and can bounce you out of a safe position. Control a roughly two second lowering so you stay tight and own the bottom of the squat.
Not bracing your core. A soft trunk lets your torso collapse forward and your back round under the movement. Take a breath and brace before each rep so your spine stays supported.
Failing to push the knees out on the way up. Letting the knees drift in as you drive up puts them in a weak, risky position and reduces glute drive. Actively spread the knees out as you stand to keep them tracking and the glutes firing.
Holding your breath across several reps. Never resetting your breath leaves you light-headed during a set of squats. Breathe out near the top of each rep and take a fresh breath before you descend again.
Not going deep enough to feel the glutes and inner thighs. Stopping high robs the wide stance of its main benefit, which is extra glute and adductor work. Sink to at least parallel so those muscles get a real stretch and contraction.

Wide Squat Workout Tips

Turn your toes out to about 45 degrees. Matching your toe angle to your wide stance lets your knees track over your toes and opens the hips, which is what makes this variation hit the glutes and inner thighs.
Push your knees out on the way down and up. Cueing the knees out keeps them tracking safely and recruits the glutes and adductors, which is the key to getting the most from the wide stance.
Sink to at least parallel or deeper. A full range is where the glutes and inner thighs really stretch and work, so chase depth rather than grinding out shallow partials.
Brace your core before every rep. A tight trunk keeps your spine safe and your torso upright, which lets your legs and glutes do the work instead of your lower back.
Use a controlled two second descent. Owning the way down keeps tension on the legs and glutes and lets you stay tight, which builds more muscle than dropping fast.
Squeeze your glutes hard at the top. Finishing each rep with a strong glute squeeze reinforces full hip extension and gets more out of the movement.
Program it as a bodyweight staple or warm-up. Wide squats are great for building lower-body endurance, grooving squat depth, and warming up the hips before heavier work.
Live in the 12 to 20 rep range for 3 to 4 sets. As a bodyweight move, higher reps drive the burn and muscle endurance, so chase quality reps and a deep range.
Grip the floor with your feet. Screwing your feet into the ground creates tension up the legs and helps keep your knees tracking out and your balance solid.
Add load when bodyweight gets easy. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell at your chest to keep progressing once your bodyweight sets feel light, since overload keeps the legs growing.
Chase the mind-muscle connection in your glutes. Think about the glutes and inner thighs driving you out of the bottom, since feeling the target muscles work is a reliable way to build them.
Try tempo or paused reps for more challenge. A pause at the bottom kills the bounce and forces your muscles to do all the work off the deepest point of the squat.
Keep your weight in your heels and midfoot. Staying back on your feet keeps the glutes in the drive and stops you from tipping forward onto your toes.
Warm up your hips and ankles first. A few gentle bodyweight squats and some mobility work help you reach depth cleanly and keep your heels planted through the movement.
Do not sacrifice depth for speed. Rushing to hit a rep number usually means shallow squats, so slow down and make each rep reach a full, honest range.
Keep your chest tall and torso upright. Good posture keeps the load on your legs and glutes and off your lower back, which is what the wide squat is meant to train.