Legs · Bodyweight
Squat on a Padded Stool
How to do the squat on a padded stool, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand in front of a padded stool with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower until your glutes touch the stool, then drive through your heels to stand back up tall.
- 1Quads and glutes loading as you sit back to the stool
- 2Heels staying planted as you drive up
- 3Chest tall and core braced through the rep
Common mistakes
- Letting the knees cave inward
- Dropping and bouncing off the stool
- Rounding the back as you lower
Muscles worked
The squat on a padded stool mainly works the quads and glutes, with the hamstrings, lower back, upper abs, and calves assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- CalvesSupport
- AdductorsMinor
Kovo programs the squat on a padded stool 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.