Chase Hines
Level 5 Valued Member
Thanks for the the level set @Steve Freides.To be sure we're all talking about the same thing:
Zercher _Squat_ is either from a rack, or you deadlift it, set it on your thighs, and then you squat it much the same way as you would if you'd started from the rack.
Zercher _Deadlift_ is bar on the floor, and you bend way down and get the bar in your elbows while it's still on the floor, and stand up with it from the ground.
I agree with @Anna C in that the main benefit of the ZSQ is the squat itself, from upright to squatting and back up again. It's also important to perform it as a hip hinge - sit back into your ZSQ.
The ZDL is another thing entirely. Note, however, that people who demonstrate it starting in a very deep squat can almost always _not_ perform this movement this way. There's a picture of Pavel doing this at Stu McGill's, and if you go to YouTube and look up Zercher Deadlift Steve Freides, you'll find me doing 180 lb x 2 and then singles at 175 and 200 lbs.
-S-
I haven’t even opened the can of worms that is the Zercher DL. TBD on whether or not I explore that movement sometime in the future. Keeping it simple right now & I feel like the ZDL is NOT a simple lift.