Legs · Smith Machine
Smith Low Bar Squat
How to do the smith low bar squat, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Smith Machine
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Set the Smith bar low across your rear delts and grip it wide. Unrack it, push your hips back, and squat to at least parallel while keeping your chest up, then drive through your heels to stand.
- 1Your glutes and quads loading as you sit back and down
- 2The bar sitting solid across your rear delts and upper back
- 3Your heels driving the floor away as you stand
Common mistakes
- Letting your knees cave in or chest collapse forward
- Losing tension in your upper back
- Coming up onto your toes out of the bottom
Muscles worked
The smith low bar squat mainly works the quads and glutes, with the hamstrings, lower back, and calves assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Upper AbsMinor
Kovo programs the smith low bar 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.