Squat
Zercher squat
Works
Also works
Equipment
How to do it
- Set the bar in the crook of your elbows with arms bent and hands clasped.
- Stand with feet shoulder-width and chest up, holding the bar close to your body.
- Squat down, bending hips and knees while keeping your torso upright.
- Descend until your elbows pass inside your knees or at least to parallel.
- Keep your upper back braced so your torso doesn't collapse forward.
- Rise by extending your legs while keeping the bar fixed in your elbows.
Common mistakes
- Letting the torso collapse forward on the descent
- Rounding the upper back under the front load
- Resting the bar on the wrists instead of the elbow crook
What the evidence says
Over 10 weeks with MRI measurement, full squats grew the gluteus maximus and adductors about three times more than half squats, with the same quadriceps growth. And only the full-squat group got stronger at both depths.
Kubo K, Ikebukuro T, Yata H. «Effects of squat training with different depths on lower limb muscle volumes». European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019;119(9):1933-1942. View the study
Stopping at a quarter squat doesn't spread the stimulus evenly across the quads either: going down to 120° of knee flexion grew it along its whole length (~6%), while stopping at 60° grew it at only 2 of 6 measured sites.
Bloomquist K, Langberg H, Karlsen S, Madsgaard S, Boesen M, Raastad T. «Effect of range of motion in heavy load squatting on muscle and tendon adaptations». European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2013;113(8):2133-2142. View the study
The front squat isn't a watered-down version: it recruits muscle as much as the back squat with lower compressive force at the knee, even though you move less weight.
Gullett JC, Tillman MD, Gutierrez GM, Chow JW. «A Biomechanical Comparison of Back and Front Squats in Healthy Trained Individuals». Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2009;23(1):284-292. View the study
What isn't settled: Nobody has measured where the point of diminishing returns is. The studies compare extremes (full vs half, half vs quarter) over 10 to 12 weeks in people without years of squatting behind them; how much extra depth suits your hips and ankles isn't measured.
Other variations
Log it in two taps
All 340 catalogue exercises are in the app, with their technique and your history. You log the set and Myosin works out volume, records and estimated strength.
