Controlled-ROM Goblet Squat

How to perform the Controlled-ROM Goblet Squat

1. Hold a dumbbell vertically against your chest with both hands cupped beneath the top head and the elbows tucked inside your knees.
2. Position a box or bench at the depth you have been cleared for, so the range is defined by an object rather than by feel.
3. Sit back and down with the chest tall until you touch the box lightly, without settling your weight onto it.
4. Drive through the whole foot to stand, keeping the knees tracking over the toes and the torso upright the entire way up.
5. Repeat for the prescribed 10 to 15 reps, and lower the box only when the cleared depth itself changes.

Suggested working range: 10–15 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Common mistakes

• •Dropping onto the box and bouncing off it rather than touching it and controlling the turnaround.
• •Sinking past the box on the reps that feel good, which is precisely the depth the limit exists to prevent.
• •Letting the chest pitch forward so the hips take load a range-limited squat is trying to keep off them.
• •Adding weight before the cleared depth is comfortable, so the range shortens under load instead of staying honest.

Variations & alternatives

Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or the main lift has stalled.

Barbell Back Squat

Quads · Barbell

Leg Press

Quads · Machine

Bulgarian Split Squat

Quads · Dumbbell

Goblet Squat

Quads · Dumbbell

Leg Extension

Quads · Machine