Narrow-Stance Hack Squat
Trains the Quads.
- Equipment
- A machine
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Set the machine's shoulder pads and step onto the platform with your back flat against the pad.
- Place your feet close together, roughly hip-width or narrower, 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 the thighs are at least parallel, or as far as the hips stay against the pad.
- Press back up through the whole foot without locking the knees hard.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips curl off the pad at the bottom. A narrow stance runs out of hip range sooner than a wide one, and the lower back rounding under a loaded sled is the point to stop rather than push through.
- Placing the feet narrow and low together. Both push the knee forward; keeping the feet in the middle of the platform keeps the shin angle reasonable.
- Expecting it to build the outer thigh. A narrow stance changes hip position and knee travel; it does not aim the load at one side of the quadriceps.
- Letting the knees drift inward as it gets hard. Narrow feet leave less room for that to happen before the knees touch, and it is the signal to end the set.