Zercher Squats Can Shake Up Your Leg Day
This is Your Quick Training Tip, a chance to learn how to work smarter in just a few moments so you can get right to your workout.
Everyone squats (or at least everyone should). Whether you’re a marathoner trying to gain a competitive edge, a bodybuilder getting ready for the stage, or an everyday ironman looking to build strength and get shredded, the movement can help you achieve your goals and deserves a place in your weekly routine. Indeed, nothing builds front-of-leg muscle better than loading up a bar or grabbing some heavy dumbbells and going ass to grass. But as with every exercise, you need to regularly switch up the way you perform it to continue seeing results.
That’s where many guys run into trouble. They get good at one squat variation—most often the barbell back squat or front squat—and never stray from it because, well, they’re good at it, and they think jumping into another variation will be uncomfortable and awkward. But the minute you find yourself thinking that is the minute you need to force yourself to try something different, because you’ve just encountered one of the first signs of an impending plateau.
Enter the Zercher squat. Invented in the 1930s by St. Louis strongman Ed Zercher, this advanced front-loaded exercise moves the bar from the tops of the shoulders to the crooks of the elbows. If that sounds slightly masochistic, you’re not wrong (cradling a heavily loaded Olympic bar in your arms isn’t exactly comfortable), but if you can handle it, the benefits are numerous.
Not only does the Zercher squat force you to maintain a more upright torso position—a key point of proper form in almost all squat variations—it also encourages you to drop deeper into the bottom position (i.e., go ass to grass) and increases engagement in the core, biceps, and traps. Plus, being an advanced squat variation, it’s an excellent way for seasoned lifters to both add variety to their routines and challenge themselves with what is for many a brutally novel way to perform a classic exercise.
Your move: If you’re relatively new to strength training and have yet to master the barbell front squat, start there. But if you’ve been lifting for a while and are proficient in both the back and front squat, don’t hesitate to give the Zercher a try.
As mentioned above, it will likely be uncomfortable at first, but your arms will adapt quickly, and the unique challenge to both your lower and upper body can help trigger fresh gains in even the stalest of routines. Start with a lower weight than you might work with typically to master the movement pattern, then level up from there.
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