How Deep Should You Squat? The Truth About Squat Depth and Range of Motion

 

How deep should you squat? Is there a right or wrong answer on squat depth? Is it cheating if you stop above 90 degrees? Are you a terrible human who should never lift if you can’t get below parallel? And more importantly—is it even anatomically possible for you to go lower?

 

If you’ve ever watched yourself in the gym mirror and wondered whether you should be squatting deeper, you’re not alone. This is one of the most common questions I get from clients, and it’s something we address almost daily when giving form feedback in The Lyss Method community. A lot of lifters have squats that hover just above 90 degrees, and the burning question is always: should I be going lower?

 

I’m Dr. Alyssa Olenick, PhD in exercise physiology, and along with Coach Corey Davis, I want to give you a clear, evidence-based answer to this age-old question. But fair warning—the answer might require you to check your ego at the door.

 

The Simple Answer: If You Can Squat Lower, You Should Squat Lower

 

 

Most people who train with us want to build muscle, get stronger, become more flexible and mobile, and live a happier, healthier life. For all of those goals, a longer range of motion is going to be better. You’re never going to regret dropping 10 pounds off your max squat weight and having that strength through a longer range of motion. In fact, that’s going to serve you far better in the long run.

 

Now, let me add my disclaimer as the caveat queen: you’re not a terrible person if you’re not squatting all the way down to the ground like I can. But if the difference between what you’re doing now is stopping slightly above 90 degrees versus getting just at or below parallel, that’s absolutely worth working through.

 

Here’s what most people don’t realize: most people CAN get to at least 90 degrees or lower—if not full range of motion—in some variation of squats. Maybe you’re struggling with a barbell back squat right now, but there are other squat variations you can use in the meantime to improve your mobility and build strength through that fuller range.

 

The Real Problem: It’s Not Your Mobility (It’s Probably Your Load)

 

 

Most people are training in a partial range of motion and they’re strong from mid-range up. But they don’t have the strength in the bottom position—especially when you’re at full depth in your squat and you’re essentially at the end of your available range of motion. At this point, your muscles are as stretched as they can get, and you have a different type of contractile strength requirement than you do in the mid-range where your muscle fibers are strongly overlapping.

 

There might literally be muscles that start getting involved in the deeper range that you’ve never trained before. Your adductors, your glutes—these muscles have been taking a back seat in your partial squats, and now you’re asking them to work.

 

 

Why Squat Depth Matters for Your Goals (Especially If You Want to Build Your Glutes)

 

Let’s talk about why this matters beyond just “going deeper is better.” If you have specific goals—particularly if you want to build muscle or develop your glutes—range of motion becomes even more critical.

 

Not every woman squats specifically to build glutes, but if that IS part of your goal, I have news for you: your glutes aren’t really getting involved in a partial squat that stops at or above parallel. Your glutes don’t truly start engaging until you get below parallel and into that deeper range.

 

 

That extra bit of depth—that portion of the movement below parallel—is what actually makes the exercise useful for glute development. The same principle applies to overall hypertrophy goals. If you want to build muscle, you want to work through that full range of motion to maximize muscle fiber recruitment and growth stimulus.

 

The Two Important Disclaimers About Squat Depth

 

Disclaimer	What This Means
Only go as deep as you can with good form	Don’t sacrifice form for depth. No knee cave, no heel lift, no excessive forward lean. Competent form comes first, then we work on depth.
Consider your specific goals	If you’re training for powerlifting (parallel is the requirement) or a sport that needs explosive quarter squats, train for that. But for most people who want to live better, move better, and build muscle—go as deep as you can.

 

What If Back Squats Just Don’t Work for You?

 

Maybe squatting isn’t your goal. Maybe you hate back squatting. Maybe it’s uncomfortable, or maybe you’ve tried everything and it’s just not clicking for you. That’s okay—you have options.

 

Find some sort of full range of motion squat or knee-bending pattern to train through a complete range. If barbell back squats are off the table for you, maybe you do box squats for strength work. But then take your step-ups, your split squats, or your lunges to a fuller range of motion. Those patterns still count.

 

The point is that strengthening yourself through a full range of motion in your lifts is valuable and beneficial. If your squat is hovering above 90 degrees, it’s worth pulling back that weight, putting aside your ego, and rebuilding your strength from the floor up.

 

Your Action Plan: How to Start Squatting Deeper

 

 

If you’re new to lifting and want guidance on building proper squat form from the ground up, check out our Foundations program at The Lyss Method. We provide detailed form feedback, progressive programming, and coaching to help you develop strong, confident movement patterns that will serve you for years to come.

 

You can also grab our free lifting calculator to help you figure out where to start with your training loads as you rebuild your squat depth.

 

The bottom line is this: if you can go lower, go lower. If you can’t go lower yet, that’s okay—let’s figure out what your limiter is and how we can get you there. Your future self will thank you for putting in the work now to build strength through a complete range of motion.