Stop Demonizing the Back Squat

The Back Squat and Longevity

It’s become increasingly common to hear coaches and influencers in the training-for-longevity space warn against the back squat. They call it risky, unnecessary, or outdated — a leftover from a bygone era of lifting heavy just for the sake of it.

But here’s the irony: those same people still squat. They just do different variations — goblet, belt, front, or safety-bar squats. The pattern doesn’t change, only the packaging. The issue isn’t the movement. It’s how people interpret and apply it.

Don’t Blame the Movement — Blame Ignorance

You don’t demonize an oven because you burned your hand grabbing a pan without mitts. You learn how to use it better next time. The oven didn’t cause the problem — you did.

And then there’s dihydrogen monoxide — a name that sounds deadly until you realize it’s just water. The only reason it seems dangerous is because it’s misunderstood. The same logic applies to the back squat. Fear it all you want, but that fear usually says more about your lack of understanding than about the movement itself.

The barbell is simply a tool for growth. It’s neutral — it doesn’t choose who succeeds or fails. It reveals. If you approach it with ignorance, ego, or neglect, it will expose every gap in your movement and mindset. But if you approach it with patience and respect, it can build one of the strongest, most capable versions of yourself you’ll ever know.

Evaluating the Movement Itself

Let’s evaluate the back squat for what it is — not as a moral debate, but as a biomechanical and athletic movement.

• A full-body coordination test — Every major muscle group is involved — from your feet and hips to your spine and shoulders. It teaches bracing, sequencing, and balance under load.

• A massive systemic driver — The squat challenges the body through deep ranges of motion, stimulating the largest muscle groups and driving adaptation through the nervous, hormonal, and connective systems.

• A cornerstone of movement literacy — Squatting well is a direct reflection of joint health and body control. Struggling with it doesn’t make the movement dangerous — it shows you exactly where your limitations are.

• A fundamental human pattern — Humans have squatted for millennia. It’s a natural, functional posture — one that connects mobility, strength, and balance.

The back squat remains one of the clearest indicators of how well your body can coordinate strength and control through a fundamental movement pattern.

Why People “Can’t Squat”

When people say squats hurt them, the issue usually isn’t the back squat itself— it’s what the squat reveals.

Limiting Factor	Why It Matters	How to Address It
Mobility	Restricts position and forces compensation	Targeted joint prep, mobility drills, controlled tempo
Motor control	Can’t stabilize or coordinate movement under load	Regress the pattern with a different implement to reinforce bracing and balance
Weak connective tissue	Tissues not yet conditioned to handle load	Gradual loading and consistent exposure
Programming errors	Too much, too soon, or poor recovery	Smarter progressions, appropriate rest and variation
Coaching gaps	Poor setup, cueing, or feedback	Quality instruction and movement assessment

You Don’t Have to Back Squat — But You Should Understand Why You Don’t

You don’t have to back squat. If you prefer not to, that’s fine — but you should understand why. Avoidance without understanding is just ignorance with better marketing.

If your goal is to be strong, mobile, and capable, then you owe it to yourself to address the limitations that make the squat difficult. Maybe it’s mobility. Maybe it’s stability. Maybe it’s just that it’s hard. But those challenges are the exact reasons the movement exists. Avoiding the squat doesn’t remove your weak points; it just hides them.

And here’s the part people forget: the barbell is one of the most scalable tools in all of strength training. It can meet a beginner with a fifteen-pound bar and still challenge an advanced athlete lifting over a thousand. There are very few movements used across so many disciplines — from Olympic lifting to field sports to rehabilitation — that carry that kind of scalability. The back squat has that range. Its risk and reward both depend entirely on how you use it.

Takeaway

The back squat isn’t dangerous — it’s diagnostic. It exposes the weak points within the individual: tight hips, limited mobility, lack of control, or neglect for the basics. Those aren’t reasons to avoid it. They’re reasons to improve.

People fear what they don’t understand, and often ignore what they don’t want to confront. Dihydrogen monoxide sounds scary until you learn it’s water. Grabbing a pan bare-handed seems fine until you burn yourself — but the answer isn’t to throw out the oven. It’s to put on the mitts and learn.The same principle applies to training.

Don’t blame the movement. Don’t fear the load. Address your deficiencies, build your competence, and earn the right to move with strength and control.

The back squat isn’t the problem — misunderstanding and neglect are.