Legs · Bodyweight
Bodyweight Half Squat
How to do the bodyweight half squat, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand tall with feet about shoulder-width apart and arms reaching forward for balance. Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower only halfway down, then drive through your heels to stand back up.
- 1Quads and glutes loading as you sit back to the halfway point
- 2Weight staying balanced over your midfoot and heels
- 3Chest tall and core braced through the whole rep
Common mistakes
- Letting your knees cave inward as you descend
- Rounding your back or dropping your chest forward
- Bouncing out of the bottom instead of controlling the turnaround
Muscles worked
The bodyweight half squat mainly works the quads, with the glutes, lower back, hamstrings, and calves assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Upper AbsMinor
- Lower AbsMinor
- AdductorsMinor
Kovo programs the bodyweight half squat for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More quads exercises
- How to do the resistance band squat
- How to do the resistance band squat to press
- How to do the resistance band thruster
- How to do the resistance band squat walk
- How to do the barbell squat
- How to do the barbell bulgarian split squat
Last reviewed June 2026.