Lying Machine Squat
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- A machine
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Lie back in the machine with your back flat against the pad and your feet on the platform.
- Set your feet about shoulder-width apart in the middle of the plate.
- Press the platform out to release the safety catches.
- Lower by bending the knees until they reach about a right angle, or as far as the hips stay down.
- Keep the knees tracking over the feet rather than falling inward.
- Press back out through the whole foot without locking the knees hard.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips curl off the pad at the bottom. That is the range ending; going further rounds the lower back under a loaded platform.
- Placing the feet low on the platform. Low feet push the knees far forward and load them heavily at the bottom; the middle of the plate keeps the shin angle reasonable.
- Locking the knees hard between repetitions. On a loaded sled, a snapped-straight knee is the joint holding the weight rather than the muscle.
- Treating the number as a squat. The back is supported and the trunk does nothing, so the load is not comparable to a barbell squat.