Back Squat Faults, Fixes, and Accessories That Build Strength
A back squat can look solid on the way down and still fall apart at the bottom. If you keep seeing buttwink, hips shooting up, or a squat that never feels as strong as it should, more random volume usually won't fix it.
This breakdown follows the OPEX Behind the Design coaching session with Daniel Persson and Brandon Gallagher, where they walked through common squat faults, why they happen, and how to choose accessories with a purpose. The video is below, and the written takeaways start right after it.
Why squat faults matter for strength and performance
The back squat is more than a leg exercise. It is one of the clearest ways to build lower body strength, expose movement limits, and improve your ability to produce force under load. That is why the coaches framed this session around faults and fixes, not only around adding plates to the bar.
When a squat breaks down, the issue is not always strength in the simple sense. Sometimes the problem is position. Sometimes it is timing. Sometimes the athlete is strong enough in the legs, but cannot express that strength well in a high-skill movement. That distinction matters, because your accessory choices should answer the problem in front of you.
A cleaner squat tends to carry over in a few useful ways:
It helps you express strength with better control.
It supports athletic tasks that need force, balance, and coordination.
It improves basic movement quality for everyday life.
That bigger view also explains why squat faults deserve attention even when they are not painful. A fault does not always mean injury is right around the corner. Still, it can limit depth, change bar path, reduce force output, or make the lift feel unstable.
If you watched OPEX's earlier session on building the back squat, this episode works as the next step. The first conversation focused on why the squat matters. This one focused on removing what gets in the way.
Spotting and understanding butt wink
One of the first faults Brandon brought up was buttwink, the pelvic tuck that often shows up near the bottom of a squat. Most lifters have seen it. Many blame the low back right away. The coaches took a different route and pointed toward the hips.
As you descend, the hip moves through a changing rotation demand. Early in the squat, you are often working through more external rotation. As you get closer to about 90 degrees and beyond, you need access to internal rotation to keep opening space and reach depth well. When that range is limited, or when the body cannot control it well, the pelvis may tuck under into posterior pelvic tilt. That is the shape people call butt wink.
That point is important because it changes the fix. If you assume the problem starts and ends with the lumbar spine, you may miss the real limit. Brandon's take was simple, the body is often searching for depth by moving somewhere else. The pelvis tucks because the hip is not giving enough room.
He also made a useful distinction. Butt wink is common, and it is not an automatic sign that someone will get hurt. Still, it often does not look or feel right, and it can point to a deeper issue with squat expression.
Daniel added another layer. Compared with the bench press, the squat asks much more from the whole body. You have the bar on your back, the floor under your feet, and many joints in between that must coordinate at once. The shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, spine, and rib cage all shape what happens. That is one reason squat coaching can feel more complex. There are more places where the body can solve the problem in a less than ideal way.
Warm-up fixes for internal rotation and alignment
The coaches did not treat the warm-up as filler. They treated it as the first chance to unlock the positions the squat needs. That means raising body temperature, yes, but it also means asking a more useful question: are you missing positions before the main lift starts?
Before you add more squat volume, check whether the body can get into the positions the squat demands.
Brandon placed a lot of value on hip internal rotation work before squatting, and he tied that to the rib cage as well. His point was that poor rib cage position can create downstream problems at the hips and shoulders. If the torso is not organized well, the body may struggle to create the space needed for cleaner movement below.
A smart warm-up for this kind of squat issue can include four focused pieces:
90/90 hip shift or hip roll. In a side-lying position, with support under the rib cage and a foam roller between the legs, the top leg moves through hip rotation. This helps the athlete feel and access the rotational range needed at the hip.
A lying breathing drill. On your back, with feet on a wall and an object squeezed between the knees, you posteriorly tilt the pelvis and reach the arms upward. The goal is to organize the rib cage and create better breathing space in the back of the torso.
Single-leg RDL. This gives you controlled hip flexion and extension while teaching the foot to stay grounded.
Single-leg airplane. This brings in controlled internal and external rotation at the hip while the body manages balance.
Brandon preferred one strong pass through those drills over multiple rushed rounds. That approach keeps the warm-up purposeful. You move from one position to the next, and by the time the bar comes out of the rack, the body has already rehearsed part of the solution.
Choosing accessories with intent
Once the main fault is clear, accessory work gets much easier to organize. The coaches framed accessories in two broad buckets.
One option is an antagonistic choice, where the movement supports the main lift by training the opposite side of the pattern more directly. The RDL after a squat is a good example. The squat asks a lot from the quads and the anterior side of the body, while the RDL shifts more attention to the glutes and hamstrings.
The other option is a similar pattern with less skill demand. The leg press is a clear example. It keeps the lower body force output, but it strips away much of the balance, bar path, and torso demand that make the back squat hard to execute.
That is where coaching judgment matters. A newer lifter may need the similar pattern because the squat itself is still a skill problem. A more experienced lifter might benefit more from a targeted accessory that fixes a smaller weak point without adding more fatigue to the exact same pattern.
Posterior chain fix for butt wink, the dumbbell RDL
One of Brandon's favorite accessories for this problem was the Romanian deadlift, often with dumbbells. On paper, that may seem odd if the visible problem shows up in the squat. In practice, it makes sense because the RDL can expose and train the foot and hip behavior that often goes wrong in deeper squat positions.
A key coaching cue here is big toe down. In the hinge, many people hit the lower position and let the foot open up or let the big toe drift off the floor. Brandon pointed to that as a useful sign that the athlete is struggling to control the rotational demand at the hip.
For a client working on this issue, the fix is not to load the RDL as heavily as possible right away. The better move is to slow it down and coach the contact point. You can place a small prop under the big toe or use a band to create awareness. Then lower the load and keep the toe planted through the whole hinge.
Brandon liked 8 to 10 reps here, and when the issue was clear he would add a 3-second lowering phase. That tempo gives the athlete time to feel where the foot wants to peel up and where the hip wants to escape the pattern.
This also fits the bigger accessory idea. The squat is more quad-dominant. The RDL gives strong posterior chain work while still helping the athlete clean up a movement quality that can feed back into the squat.
Quad builders for hips shooting up
Another common squat problem is the lifter rising out of the hole with the hips first, then tipping forward and turning the lift into something that looks more like a good morning. Brandon's first thought here was mechanics. Many lifters start the squat by throwing the hips back too early, which shifts the bar away from the strongest stacked position over the middle of the body.
His preferred fix was to teach the knees and hips to unlock together. That change usually means more knee travel and more demand on the quads.
Daniel described this through leverage. In his view, the squat's force demands peak around 90 degrees because the hips and knees have the most leverage there relative to the body's line of balance. If you want more quad contribution, you usually want more forward knee travel. If you want to bias the hips more, like in a low-bar squat, you sit back further and turn the lift into more of a hinge-dominant pattern.
That framework makes accessory selection clearer. If the hips shoot up because the athlete cannot keep the knees involved, the goal is to build the quads and reinforce that pattern. Good options include:
Goblet squats or cyclist squats, which encourage more knee travel and a more upright torso.
Box step-downs, which let the athlete start at the top, drive the knee forward, and feel the same lower body pattern one leg at a time.
Leg extensions and walking lunges, which add direct quad work with either low skill or a gait-based pattern.
Daniel also tied this to sport. Olympic lifters often need very strong quads because they cannot let the hips shoot up too much without losing position under the bar. Powerlifters may use more hip bias on purpose, especially in a low-bar squat. The right fix depends on the style of squat and the demands of the athlete.
Unilateral and machine work for squat progress
Rear foot elevated split squat variations
Both coaches spent time on unilateral work, especially the rear foot elevated split squat. It is one of those movements that keeps proving useful because the pattern stays strong even as the loading strategy changes.
Brandon pointed out that the load position can change the demand at the hip. Hold a dumbbell on the same side as the front foot, and you create a different challenge than if you hold it on the opposite side. Front-rack options create another change. Those shifts can bias how the hip handles rotation without changing the exercise name on paper.
That is useful for a coach because the movement does not need to change every block. The pattern can stay, while the load placement does the fine-tuning.
Daniel also made a strong case for the Smith machine rear foot elevated split squat when pure strength is the goal. In that setup, the machine removes much of the balance demand. Some people see that as a downside. He saw it as the point. If the goal is to hit heavy contractions and drive lower body strength, reducing stability demand can help the athlete push harder.
He used that variation as a serious secondary strength movement, often with lower reps, and found it helpful for breaking through back squat plateaus.
Leg press and isolation machines
The leg press came up for a similar reason. The back squat is a high-skill movement. The leg press is much lower skill. When someone has plenty of lower body strength but cannot show it well in the squat, the leg press can help close that gap.
Brandon gave a simple example. If someone deadlifts much more than they squat, and the squat pattern itself looks decent, there is a good chance the person has more leg strength than the barbell squat is letting them show. In that case, the leg press gives them a way to train raw output without worrying about bar placement, torso position, or full-body coordination to the same degree.
The coaches also liked machine work later in the session, especially after heavy squats. That ordering makes sense because fatigue is already high, and the goal shifts toward local muscular work with less mental demand.
Common end-of-session options included:
Leg extensions, often for 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps, and sometimes as high as 20 reps.
Hamstring curls, whether prone, seated, or standing.
Adduction and abduction work, especially when those tissues are not getting much isolated attention elsewhere.
Walking lunges fit the plan too, though Brandon preferred them earlier than machine work because they still require more balance and active stabilization.
One simple point tied all of this together. Stability often improves when strength improves. If a client cannot control the squat well, building strong legs in lower-skill settings can solve more than people expect.
How to program squat volume across sessions and weeks
Per-session volume depends on the lifter
The coaches did not chase one perfect number for everyone. They tied volume to the athlete in front of them and to the intensity of the main work.
For newer lifters, Brandon liked the idea of getting 20 to 40 solid reps of squat work in a session. That could mean 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps, with enough practice to feel the movement, manage some fatigue, and build tolerance. The goal is not to crush them. The goal is to get enough exposure to learn and adapt.
For advanced lifters, the number gets smaller fast. Once someone can create high force in the squat, those efforts cost more. A hard session at 90 to 95 percent does not leave much room for lots of extra work in the same pattern. In that case, 5 to 15 hard reps in the main lift might be plenty, depending on the phase and the athlete.
That difference also changes accessory choice. After a heavy squat session, a leg press might add too much fatigue for one athlete, while an RDL or a machine curl might fit better. Another athlete may need the extra lower-skill leg output because the main squat work is more like practice than true strength expression.
If progress stalls, Brandon's first instinct was not to add more. He would often reduce volume, clean up the pattern, and let recovery do its job.
Weekly volume works better when you plan horizontally
Daniel shared a practical framework for weekly volume. He often starts around 10 to 20 total sets per pattern across the week, then adjusts based on goal, training age, and sport demands. For a squat pattern, that might begin closer to 10 or 12 sets and build upward over time.
He also preferred splitting that work across the week instead of piling it into one session. Two sessions of five or six squat-related sets usually work better than one huge day of ten sets. The quality tends to stay higher, and recovery is easier to manage.
This is also where sport and life matter. CrossFit athletes and hybrid athletes often need lower accessory volume because they still have to spend training stress on sport work. Powerlifters and bodybuilders can push closer to the higher end because their training week is built around those lifts and related patterns.
Schedule matters too. If a client has an unpredictable week and only knows they can train three or four times, full-body sessions often make more sense than rigid splits. That way, if training days land back to back, no single pattern gets hammered too hard on one day.
Daniel also recommended planning the week in a horizontal way. Instead of designing Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday in isolation, write out the whole squat pattern and its accessories first. Then spread those pieces across the week while tracking total sets and spinal load. That helps you make smart calls, like choosing leg extensions after a hard squat day instead of adding another squat-style movement that loads the spine.
Brandon mentioned Prilepin's chart as a useful starting framework for sets and reps by intensity. It is not a rule book, but it can help newer coaches build a first draft before adjusting to the person in front of them.
Resources from OPEX
If you want to keep following this coaching style and see how program design gets built in real time, these are the main resources mentioned around the session.
ResourceWhy it matters CoachRx free trial
Explore the coaching software used to organize and refine program design. OPEX Method Mentorship
Join the mentorship pathway for coaches who want deeper skill in individual design. Brandon Gallagher on Instagram
Follow Brandon's coaching ideas, podcast clips, and training content. Daniel Persson on Instagram
Follow Daniel's work on strength, coaching, and design principles.
The session also mentioned Brandon's podcast conversation with Daniel, where they talked about coaching freedom, presence, and precision. OPEX also shared recent CoachRx updates, plus a new Fullscript partnership for coaches who want to add a supplement dispensary inside their business model.
A better squat usually starts before the bar leaves the rack
The strongest idea in this whole discussion is simple. Accessory work should answer a question. If you know whether the squat problem is missing position, weak quads, poor force output, or too much skill demand, the next exercise becomes much easier to choose.
That is why the best fixes in this session were not flashy. They were targeted. A better warm-up, a more honest RDL, a split squat loaded with intent, or a leg press used at the right time can move the squat forward faster than piling on more random work.
If your squat keeps stalling, clean up the position first, then pick the accessory that solves the real limit.
Connect with the coaches
Brandon Gallagher:Brandon’s Instagram (@bgperform_)
Daniel Persson:Daniel’s Instagram (@danielcapersson)
Join us live on Tuesdays mornings 11:30am EST on the OPEX YouTube Channel
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