squat

The hack squat is a lower-body exercise involving a hack squat machine. It’s a go-to exercise for many gym-goers because it trains your entire lower body without stressing your knees and back as much as other free-weight squatting exercises. What’s more, it helps you develop lower-body...

How to Do the Landmine Squat for Stronger Legs The landmine squat is a unique exercise that builds serious strength in your legs while protecting your lower back. By changing the path of the resistance it allows you to squat deeper than a traditional back squat. Set Up the Landmine Squat Load...

Split Squat: Benefits 1. It trains your entire lower body. The split squat trains your entire lower body, including your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. It also mimics movements we make in everyday life (e.g., climbing stairs, stepping over objects, and running). Hence, the split squat...

1. Zercher Carry Zercher carries are a good alternative for those who want to emphasize postural strength. To program them into your workout routine, add them to the end of a leg or lower-body workout and try to cover a set distance or complete a set number of steps. 2. Zercher Split Squat...

What Is the Zercher Squat? The Zercher squat is a barbell exercise that primarily trains your lower body and back. To perform it, hold a barbell in the crooks of your elbows, and while keeping an upright torso, squat down until the bar touches your knees, then stand back up. It gets its name...

…And How to Fix Them The King of Messed-Up Exercises Whether or not the squat is the “king of all exercises” can be debated, but one thing is certain: The back squat is the most commonly screwed-up exercise on the planet. Here are the 11 most common ways lifters mess it up. 1. Lack of...

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW... To build the deadlift, prioritize the squat for 6 weeks while not pulling heavy at all. Powerlifter Dan Green's number one deadlift tip is to regularly perform the stiff-leg deadlift. Mike Tuchscherer recommends building the deadlift by pausing at the bottom of...

There are some movements so foundational to your life that you might not think much of how you do them. Taking a walk, bending down to pick up something up off the ground, or stepping up onto a flight of stairs—all of these activities likely became rote to you a long time ago. But once you put...

No one talks about their one rep max for a dumbbell bench press and row. And why would they? Because boosting unilateral strength numbers is unheard of. If you ask a lifter how much they squat, bench, and deadlift, those numbers roll off the tongue. Ask them how long they have been married and...

By Bret Contreras There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and some meathead on Facebook advising a lifter to “just squat” when he sees a picture or video of a woman performing a glute exercise he isn’t familiar with. I refer to these meatheads as “just squat” bros. Is their advice...

Over the past few weeks I’ve heard the “Magic 30%” number tossed around on two different occasions in terms of the training load that maximizes power production, so I figured it was time to write an article on this topic. The theory is that we should train athletes with explosive movements at...

YOU HAVE TO WORK TO KNOW WHAT WORKS Most lifters float aimlessly in and out of gyms without a plan, goal, or strategy. Most haven’t experimented nearly enough with their training in order to have the slightest clue as to what works best for them. They stick to the same routine year round...

Here’s what you need to know… Do leg presses while wearing Olympic shoes to really target the quads. Position the hands on the outside of the dumbbells when curling. It creates an insane burn in the biceps while saving the elbows and forearms. If dips hurt your shoulders, do band dips where you...

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW... There is no "best training program" for everyone. What works great for others in the gym may work terribly for you. Likewise, what has worked very well for you may not do jack for someone else. You must develop the confidence to abandon the training programs that...

Silly weekend warriors. Everybody knows that squats are superior to leg presses right? They're harder to do, require more coordination, and just rate higher on the exercise badass scale than something that resembles a plate-loaded La-Z-Boy recliner. Don't these douchebags read Testosterone ...

Here are 7 reasons why you should squat deep: 1. SQUATTING DEEP INCREASES GLUTE ACTIVITY In 2002, Caterisano et al. investigated squat depth and EMG activity of the quads, hams, and glutes. While quad and ham activity didn't change, glute max activity increased with increasing depth. I should...

The gym can be an intimidating place. Besides the grunting and the weights dropping, there is a secret code of conduct that is totally foreign to any newcomer on what to do and not to do. These rules of etiquette aren’t just for newbies! I see a lot of “veterans” who completely disregard them...

The leg press gets a lot of love and hate. On the advantage side is the fixed range of motion, and your stable trunk takes core stability out of the equation. These two factors allow lifters to move massive weights. The fixed ROM and increased stability are a godsend for lifters who suffer from...

There is no more feared word in the gym vernacular than Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat (RFESS). The mere mention of it on the gym floor brings dirty looks from gymgoers and horror stories of taking the stairs after RFESS day. Neither is pretty, and it is best to speak this word with soft tones...

There are not many more satisfying things in the gym than pulling a heavy barbell deadlift from the floor. It’s you versus the barbell, and you win. The regular barbell deadlift is not the greatest exercise to build muscle due to a lack of eccentric contraction, but it sets the table for muscle...