Zercher Squat

Start

Finish

How to do it

Cradle the bar in the crooks of both elbows against the body, brace the trunk hard, then squat to depth keeping the elbows inside the knees and stand back up.

Muscles worked

Primary: quads · Also works: core, upper back, glutes

Equipment

Barbell, Full gym

Common mistakes

• Letting the arms drift away from the body so the bar pulls you forward
• Skipping a towel or sleeve over the bar, which makes the elbows the limiting factor rather than the legs
• Losing the brace and letting the upper back round at the bottom

Variations

• Pick the bar up from pins at hip height instead of the floor
• Zercher squat to a box

Can't do this one? Swap it for

• Front Squat
• Goblet Squat
• Barbell Back Squat
• Dumbbell Front Squat

Take care: ABROFIT automatically removes this movement for anyone who has flagged a lower back or elbow problem. If that's you, use one of the swaps above and speak to a physio before loading it.

Related exercises

• Barbell Back Squatquads
• Goblet Squatquads
• Bodyweight Squatquads
• Leg Pressquads
• Bulgarian Split Squatquads
• Walking Lungequads