Zercher squats are a version of squats in which the athlete holds the barbell in his hands, or rather, the barbell is located in the elbow bends. The exercise was developed by Edd Zercher, a famous strongman in his time, who tried to increase his strength by working his muscles in an unusual amplitude. Thanks to such specific training, it is possible to achieve not only hypertrophy of the target muscle groups, but also load muscles that usually do not receive load. Do you already know the golden rule of bodybuilding - two muscles are always larger and stronger than one! However, doing back squats only makes sense if you have plateaued in your back squats or deadlifts. Perhaps if you are using a strength training program, you can include these squats on a heavy leg day.
By performing Zercher squats, you can work out different phases of the range of motion of both deadlifts and barbell squats. The fact is that squats with a barbell on your hands can be performed both in a training frame and without it. When the exercise is performed in a frame, you remove the barbell from the racks, therefore, you can take more weight, but when you perform the exercise in a frame and take the barbell from the floor, then due to the increase in amplitude and the risk of not being able to hold the barbell, you are forced to use more moderate weights. In the frame, the upper phases of the amplitude of movement of deadlifts and squats are trained, and outside the frame, accordingly, the lower part is worked out.
Initial position
To begin, place the barbell on racks or place it in a power rack at the level of your upper abdomen.
Stand facing the barbell, bend your elbows and clasp the bar with your forearms so that it lies in the creases of your elbows. You can cross your forearms in front of your chest while holding the bar tightly. Or simply keep your arms bent at the elbows, like hooks.
Immediately pay attention to the symmetrical position of your hands on the bar so that there is no overweight on one side.
Remove the bar from the racks, take a step back (or forward, depending on the structure of the racks). Place your feet shoulder-width apart or wider. Turn your socks slightly to the sides.
Equipment
Zercher squats require a barbell. The exercise can be performed without additional equipment, but there are some rules and devices, the use of which will facilitate the execution process and reduce the risk of injury.
The squat frame has racks, between the transverse intersections of which there is a barbell. The athlete enters the frame, removes the barbell and begins to perform squats. In this case, the rod moves in a vertical position, moving horizontally within the width of the racks. If an athlete accidentally drops the barbell, when it falls, it will fall onto the crossbars between the posts, without touching the athlete at all.
The barbell rack serves as a support during exercise and as a place to store the barbell. Using the stand, you can fix the barbell at different heights. Using a rack, you can not put the barbell on the floor, but perform squats without bending, grabbing the barbell on your elbows directly from the rack.
A towel or soft cloth will help absorb the pressure of the barbell on the tendons and nerves of the elbow. You need to wrap the barbell in fabric. Wrap it quite tightly so that the process of gripping the bar is comfortable.
Zercher squats, exercise technique
Squat down smoothly, keeping your back straight. Lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor or lower. Immediately return to the reverse position. Repeat as many times as necessary and then return the bar to the racks.
Zercher Squats
Zercher Squats
Safety
For convenience, to avoid bruising and unpleasant pain, wrap the barbell with a towel or other fairly dense material that can soften the contact of your hands with the hard barbell. As an option, sleeves are used. This common item of everyday clothing will help alleviate the pressure of the barbell on your arms.
If you have never performed this exercise or decide to sharply increase the weight of the barbell, use the services of a trainer to avoid traumatic situations. He will check the correctness of the exercise, tell you the maximum weight of the barbell, the limit and frequency of squats. The first time you perform Zercher squats, the trainer can support the barbell to eliminate the risk of it falling. The coach can be replaced by a sports friend who is well familiar with this type of squats.
How to use Zercher squats in your training
And in addition, a couple of useful ideas for using this type of squats in various training programs. After all, we usually see them in exercises for strength and muscle mass. But you can do Zercher squats in fat-burning workouts.
Fat burning workouts
Zercher squats can be part of your circuit training. Considering that you have most likely never done them, this will be an additional stimulus for the body to produce growth hormone and catabolic hormones necessary to reduce the fat component.
Circuit training example:
Deadlift 3x12-15 Push-ups 3x12-15 Zercher squats 3x12-15 Lying crunches 3x25-30
Mass-gaining training
Once a week, you can replace your usual squats with a barbell on your shoulders with Zercher squats. This will break up your usual routine, but will allow you to maintain the motor skill of squats - a good technique that is quickly lost if the pauses between workouts are too long (wrote about this here: Muscle training once a week?).
An example of a complex for the thigh muscles (three workouts per week):
Monday
Squats with a barbell on the shoulders 4x15-5 (reverse progression of repetitions as the working weight increases) Lunges with dumbbells in hands 3x8-10 Deadlift or deadlift 3x8-10
Wednesday
Zercher squats 3x8-10 Leg curls in the simulator 3x8-10
Friday
Squats with a barbell on the shoulders 3x8-10 Lunges with dumbbells in hands 3x8-10
Strength training
For two squat workouts per week, replace regular squats in one workout with Zercher squats with slightly more sets, but lighter weight and fewer reps.
What gives? Improving squat technique without overloading the back.
Monday
Squats with a barbell on the shoulders 5x5
Thursday
Zercher squats 6x8-10 (weight 60-70% of the worker in squats).
Take advantage of this wonderful exercise!
How muscles pump
Squats are general physical exercises. By doing Zercher squats, you not only build muscle mass in your quadriceps, glutes, calves, and hamstrings. This multi-joint exercise has a general strengthening effect on the muscles of the whole body, especially for the muscles of the back, abdomen, arms and legs.
Performing Zercher squats helps you target different ranges of motion simultaneously.
Depending on the technology of performing the exercise, the level of load on different muscle groups differs. There are two options:
- on the floor;
- on racks.
Performing on the floor
Initially, Zercher came up with his own exercise with gripping the barbell from the floor. The second option appeared much later, when the exercise gained popularity. The refusal to use the stance was widely discussed among individuals interested in Zercher's athletic achievements. Many said that he does not use the rack because he believes that it makes barbell exercises much easier, and he strived for the most difficult variations of the exercises. Some joked that Zercher simply did not have the money to buy a stand.
The exercise variant invented and used by Zercher still remains popular among bodybuilders. This embodiment is sometimes called the “Zercher thrust”.
The exercise without a rack is performed in the deadlift. Deadlift is characterized by lifting a barbell (dumbbells, weights) directly from the floor. The athlete bends down to take the barbell with a straight back, straightens with it, keeping his back straight. Due to the additional load from the barbell during extension, the lower back and spinal muscles are strengthened. The exercise will involve 3/4 of the muscles of the entire body.
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You can find everything about bending legs while lying down in a machine here: /silovye/s-nogi/zadnyaya-poverhnost-bedra/sgibanie-nog-v-trenazhere-lezha.html.
The load in the deadlift develops the neck and engages the trapezius muscle, located in the upper back, occupying the back of the neck . This property of the exercise is very useful, since separate development of this muscle is quite problematic. To train the trapezius muscle, you need to raise and lower your shoulders while holding weights in your hands.
Another advantage of performing the deadlift exercise is the active development of the back extensors and latissimus dorsi muscles . The mass of the latter, when engaging in bodybuilding, must be increased so that the relief of all muscles looks uniform.
The load is also placed on the long back muscles. In order not to stretch them, you need to prepare the muscles with other general strengthening exercises. During all phases of performing Zercher squats, you cannot jerk. Sudden movements can also cause muscle damage.
By holding a barbell in your hands during bending and extension, the muscles of the forearm and biceps brachii (biceps) are actively developed. One of the features of Zercher squats is the development of not only the leg muscles, but also the active increase in the mass of the arm muscles.
More about squats
Squats: 12 Best Options for Every Occasion How to Do Back Squats Front Squats Front Squats Overhead Squats
Tags: quadriceps knee-dominant exercises glutes muscles squats Ed Zercher
TRAINING COURSES
Ready-made sets of exercises for independent training from the author of the site.
Female version
Due to the fact that Zercher squats are aimed primarily at pumping muscles (increasing them), this strength load is used mainly by men. However, those women who found the patience to do these exercises ended up not only losing weight, but also having very beautiful, firm buttocks.
If we compare squats - full, front, sumo and Zercher, it is the latter that show maximum activity of the gluteal muscles during training. So, if a woman is aiming to enlarge her butt, this exercise will help her achieve this. But one nuance is very important here: representatives of the fair sex must lift the barbell with a wide stance. Classic (for men) squats are inferior in terms of activation of the gluteal muscles and create powerful compressive loads on the spine.
Zercher exercises for women should be performed with a wide stance
To reduce the load, women are allowed to squat on a bench.
Helpful information. Girls whose buttocks and thighs are problematic in terms of excess weight can perform Zercher squats as part of a set of exercises for weight loss. But at the same time, they must also monitor their diet - go on a diet, for example. After all, this exercise will eventually pump up these parts of the body quite strongly, so it’s better to simultaneously relieve them of fat deposits.
Bodyweight squats
In this paragraph I give brief descriptions of the exercises with photos so as not to increase the volume of text. But at the end of the article you will find links to detailed descriptions of almost all squat options.
This is the simplest and most accessible version of squats. It can be used in literally any conditions: at home training, on trips, in a hotel, on a hike and on the beach.
Squats. Initial position.
To perform squats, stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly apart. Tighten your lower back, move your pelvis back and slightly tilt your torso forward, bend your knees and lower yourself as low as possible (as far as your flexibility allows). Then vigorously rise to the starting position.
Benefits and disadvantages of the Zercher squat
Advantages:
- Firstly, the exercise can serve as an excellent alternative to classic squats with a barbell and other leg exercises.
- Secondly, it places a strong emphasis on the quadriceps.
- Squats can be used in circuit training aimed at losing weight.
The disadvantages of Zercher squats include the stress on the knees, spine and elbow joints.
Basic rules and mistakes when performing the exercise
It is extremely important to pay maximum attention to detail in this exercise, otherwise it will be very difficult to do the squats correctly. Regardless of what you perform the exercise with, a barbell, a kettlebell on a bar, a sandbag, or other equipment, it is important to follow the following rules:
- The back should always be straight. The exercise itself will stimulate flexion of the back, given that the weight is pulled forward, so you need to monitor this.
- If you feel pain in your elbows from holding the barbell, use soft attachments, a towel, etc.
- Always keep your neck straight and look straight ahead. Squeezing your shoulder blades together and pushing your chest forward will help you maintain the correct position.
- Squat only until your elbows touch your hips. Further lowering the body down does not make any sense, as it will be accompanied by bending of the back.
- Bring your hands together and clasp your palms tightly with your fingers intertwined. Also press against your body so that the bar touches your stomach. This will help you hold the barbell even better.
Advantages
As Louis Simmons states, the Zercher squat is an excellent exercise for developing squat mechanics, especially for beginners. It increases the recruitment of the thigh muscles, forces the athlete to maintain correct posture throughout the exercise, and allows the athlete to squat deeper than is possible with most classic squats.
By removing the barbell (and therefore the load) from the back, the Zercher squat relieves the athlete of the compressive force acting on the spine. This is a great exercise to replace back squats during deload weeks/cycles, allowing your spine time to recover. Moreover, the mechanics of the exercise itself leads to the fact that the core muscles work additionally.
Because the weight is located in front of you, you will be forced to maintain a more upright posture, which means that more of the load will fall on the front "stabilizers" - for example, your abs. The Zercher squat engages the core muscles responsible for extension and movement much more strongly than the more traditional front and shoulder squats, making it an excellent exercise for developing the glutes and hamstrings.
Finally, the Zercher squat is very closely related to and extremely useful for strongman exercises such as lifting and carrying Atlas stones and rocker carries. But its benefits are not limited to the gym alone. The Zercher squat can also be used to improve general fitness in everyday activities for people such as firefighters or general workers, as well as anyone else who needs to be physically fit and strong - in particular, it is useful for all CrossFitters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXqGpeyVgUE
- CROSSFIT
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- CROSSFIT
- WEIGHTLIFTING
- GYMNASTICS
- EXERCISES
- MOBILITY
- NUTRITION
Are squats bad for your knees?
If a person does not have serious problems with the knee joints initially, then squats are completely harmless. But provided that they are performed correctly (see below - squat technique). Moreover, squats, performed correctly, significantly improve the condition of the knee joints, as there is a balance in the flexibility of the muscles that flex and extend the legs at the knees.
Note! All squats with additional weight require approval from your doctor if you have problems with the spine and joints.
