Hack Squat
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- A machine
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Set the machine's shoulder pads to your height and step onto the platform with your back flat against the pad.
- Place your feet about shoulder-width apart in the middle of the platform.
- Push up slightly to release the safety handles.
- Lower by bending the knees, keeping your whole back against the pad.
- Go down until your thighs are at least parallel with the platform, or deeper if the back stays flat against the pad.
- Press back up through the whole foot without locking the knees hard at the top.
Common mistakes
- Placing the feet low on the platform. Low feet push the knees far forward and load them heavily at the bottom; a position around the middle keeps the shin angle closer to a free squat.
- Letting the hips roll off the pad at the bottom. The pad supports the back precisely so the spine does not have to; when the hips curl under, that support ends at the point the load is highest.
- Loading it against a barbell squat number. The pad takes out the balance and the trunk, so the number here is not comparable — and the number here is not the point of the machine.
- Locking out hard between repetitions. On a machine that holds the weight above you, a snapped-straight knee is the joint stopping the load rather than the muscle.