Air squat
Learn the air squat as a beginner: stance, depth, knee position, the faults coaches fix most, and four scaling steps from box squat to full depth.
What the air squat is
The air squat is a bodyweight squat: you stand with feet about shoulder width, sit your hips back and down until your hip crease drops below the top of your knee, then stand all the way up. It trains the legs, hips and trunk to work together and is the base pattern for every loaded squat in CrossFit. A beginner starts by squatting to a box or bench at a height they can control, then lowers the target as mobility and strength improve.
Why it is in class
The air squat is the first movement most people learn in CrossFit because it is the foundation for the back squat, front squat, overhead squat, thruster and wall ball. Every time you get out of a chair, climb out of a car or pick a toddler up off the floor, you are doing a version of it. Training it well builds strong legs and hips, teaches your knees and feet to track together, and asks your trunk to stay upright while the lower body moves. It also shows up inside conditioning workouts in high volume, so learning a clean, repeatable pattern early means you can do many reps without your form drifting. With no load involved, it is the ideal place to learn what a good squat feels like.
Points of performance
What a good rep looks like, from setup to finish.
Set your feet
Stand with your heels about shoulder width apart and your toes turned out slightly, somewhere between straight ahead and about thirty degrees. Spread your weight across the whole foot: big toe, little toe and heel. Grip the floor lightly as if you were trying to spread it apart. This stance carries into every squat variation.
Hips back and down
Start the rep by sending your hips back and bending your knees at the same time, the way you would sit onto a low stool. Keep your chest lifted and your eyes forward. Reaching your arms out in front as you descend helps you counterbalance and stay over the middle of your foot.
Knees track the toes
As you lower, push your knees out so they stay in line with your second and third toes. Your knees can travel forward past your toes, which is normal for most people. What matters is that they do not cave inward toward each other on the way down or the way up.
Hit depth
In a standard CrossFit workout, a squat counts when your hip crease drops below the top of your knee at the bottom. Get there with your heels down and your back holding its natural curve. If you cannot reach that depth yet, your coach will give you a target to squat to.
Stand all the way up
Drive through the whole foot and stand until your hips and knees are fully open at the top. A rep that stops short of full extension does not count in a workout, and finishing every rep builds the habit you need when weight is added later.
Common beginner faults, and the fix
Heels lift
What it looks likeWeight drifts onto the balls of the feet near the bottom, the heels peel off the floor and you tip forward or wobble.
The fixThink about pressing the floor away through your heels and midfoot. Slow the descent so you can feel where your weight sits. A small plate or wedge under the heels can help for a while as ankle mobility improves, and your coach can set that up.
Knees cave in
What it looks likeOn the way up, the knees collapse toward each other, often right as the rep gets hard.
The fixCue knees out, or imagine spreading the floor apart with your feet. A light band around the thighs just above the knees gives you something to push against so you can feel the right position.
Chest drops forward
What it looks likeThe torso folds over the thighs, the back rounds and the squat turns into a bow toward the floor.
The fixKeep your eyes on a spot at head height on the wall in front of you and reach your arms forward. Squatting to a target and pausing there for two seconds teaches you to hold your chest up at the bottom.
Cutting depth
What it looks likeThe rep turns around with the hips still above the knees, usually because the workout is moving fast.
The fixSquat to a box or medicine ball set at the right height so you get feedback on every rep. Slow down until you hit depth every time, then build speed.
Where you start, and where it goes
Every movement in class has a version that fits you today.
Start here
Box squat: sit back to a box, bench or stack of plates, touch lightly without relaxing, and stand up. Holding a post or an upright of the rig with your hands is also fine for balance.
Next step when: You can do 15 controlled reps to the box with heels down, knees tracking out and no rocking to stand up.
Building
Squat to a lower target, or perform air squats with a pause of two to three seconds at the bottom. Goblet squats with a light kettlebell held at the chest also teach an upright torso.
Next step when: You reach full depth without a target and can hold the bottom position calmly with your back neutral.
Full movement
Air squats to full depth, hip crease below the knee, standing tall at the top, at the pace the workout calls for.
Next step when: Your form holds through sets of 20 to 30 unbroken reps and your coach sees no breakdown late in a workout.
Beyond
Add load with the back squat or front squat, or add speed and power with jump squats and tempo work.
Next step when: This is a lifelong rung. The air squat stays in your warmups and workouts no matter how strong you get.
Learning it in your first classes
In your first coached classes, the air squat is usually one of the first movements you will be taught, often in the warmup. Your coach will watch you from the front and from the side: the front view shows whether your knees track over your toes, the side view shows whether your heels stay down and how far your chest tips forward. Expect simple cues and maybe a box behind you. Tell your coach about any knee, hip or back pain, past surgeries, or anything that feels pinchy at the bottom. If something hurts, it is worth checking with a doctor or physical therapist, and your coach can adjust the range while you do.
What your first class at O-SEA CrossFit is like · How On-Ramp teaches the movements
Questions beginners ask
How deep should an air squat be?
A full air squat goes until your hip crease is below the top of your knee, which is the standard in most CrossFit workouts. If you cannot get there yet with your heels down and back neutral, squat to a box at a height you control and lower it over time. Depth comes with practice and mobility work.
Is it bad if my knees go past my toes in a squat?
For most people, knees traveling forward past the toes during an air squat is normal and necessary to reach depth while staying upright. The fault to watch for is knees caving inward. If you feel knee pain when squatting, tell your coach, and check with a doctor or physical therapist if it continues.
How many air squats should a beginner do?
There is no single right number of air squats for a beginner. Start with sets you can complete with clean form, often 10 to 15 reps, and end a set when your depth or knee position starts to slip. In class, your coach will scale the reps in a workout to match where you are.
Why do my heels come up when I squat?
Heels lifting during an air squat usually means your weight has shifted forward or your ankles are tight. Slow down, push through the whole foot and reach your arms forward to counterbalance. A small plate under the heels can help in the short term while you work on ankle mobility with your coach.
Can I do air squats at home?
Yes. The air squat needs no equipment, so it is one of the easiest movements to practice between classes. Use a chair or bench as a depth target, film yourself from the side once in a while, and bring any questions about what you see to your coach at your next class.
Related movements
Learn the air squat with a coach beside you
Every class at O-SEA CrossFit is coached and every movement scales. Your first one is free.