Squat hack

Squatting is a fundamental part of our natural movement. We do it from being babies. Then we grow up, and we start doing it in the gym too. No wonder there are so many variations and modifications. The hack squat is a variation that relies on a piece of gym machinery to perform. So, when there are so many squats to be doing. What is the hack squat? How do you do it? And is it worth it? The hack squat is done on a piece of gym equipment. The leg press involves pushing the weight plate away from you from an angled seated position.

The hack squat involves standing on the plate, leaning back onto the pads at an angle, with the weight placed on top of you by positioning yourself under the shoulder pads. The weight is then pushed in the concentric phase of the squat.

Hackenschmidt did make it popular by using the exercise during his training in the early s. The hack squat is a muscle-building exercise that primarily targets the quadricep muscles, which are the large leg muscles surrounding the thighs. It also works the hamstring muscles, which are located in the thigh area, and the gluteal muscles, which make up the buttocks. The exercise closely resembles dead-lift exercises in which weight is lifted from the ground using an underhanded grip.

In a dead lift, the weight will be lifted in front of the body. This type of squat is lifted from the ground behind the body while using an overhand grip. These may seem like small details, but they completely change the emphasis of the move.

Depending on your goals, these little adjustments can be terrific, or not worth a second of your time. Most of the big changes in squats come down to where the weight is rested. The front squat and back squat vary so much because of the few inches in different placement on the body; the back squat places the load behind the shoulders changing the torso angle required to keep them directly above your hips.

The front squat shifts the weight slightly in front of the shoulders, allowing for a fully upright torso to keep the weight above the hips, and a very tight core. The hack squat, meanwhile, has the weight placed directly on the shoulders. With the weight directly on top of the shoulder, your upper body has less responsibility and challenge keeping it directly over your center of gravity. On the one hand, this means less unnecessary stress to the total body, so you focus on leg movement more.

On the other hand, it removes the upper body stability demands you face in a free-weight squat. Front squats, meanwhile, often hammer the quads, because their upright position can force your lower legs to stay perpendicular to the ground.

That can help you attack your quads, but even then, there are ways to take stress off your quads. The hack squat forces upright positioning because of the placement of weight. There is no realistic way to lean forward with the upper body while maintaining the attachment on your shoulder. This insures your quads are key drivers in the push up. The combination of placement on the shoulders and more upright posture also means you have less stress through the shoulder joint.

Front squats and back squats require you to stay focused on upper body positioning to control the free bar. When hack squatting, a machine is handling the stabilization, so you can focus fully on what your lower body does. Myofascial release tools are used to help reduce tension and soothe sore muscles.

See which mysofascial release tools our expert hand-picked as the…. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M. Benefits Skip this if Hack vs. Is there anyone who should skip it? How is it different from a traditional barbell squat? How do you do it? Share on Pinterest. How can you add this to your routine? What are the most common mistakes to watch for? What variations can you try? What if you want to use barbells?