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Barbell Can Zercher Squats do it all?

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Geoff Neupert said:
Was it worth it?
  • Psychologically it was a nice break from FSQ and BSQ.
  • I put on about 15 pounds in 18 weeks.
  • My pulls felt strong, but slow.
  • But my numbers were only maintained, and didn't improve.
  • For me, once again I proved, my body needs a very narrow range of specialized movements to push up my Oly numbers.
Hope that sheds some insight for you.
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For weightlifting sport specific-purposes, it would seem like:

1. Psychological break matters a lot.

Especially if I'm beat up from heavy cleans, I really am not in the mood to do front squats.

So I can back squat on those days, but I'm pretty much past the gaining much from HBSQ these days as, at age 51, grind strength isn't the limiting factor -- it's speed, power, and mobility.

A mental break might be nice, though.

2. Novel stimulus

As they say, it's always what you're not doing that makes a difference.

But....

A loaded carry is an even more novel stimulus than yet another squat variety.

I've been pleasantly surprised at the ability of heavy farmer's walk to improve my pulls and heavy waiter walks to improve my jerk.
 
Something I’ve noticed from practicing ZS for the last 4 months or so, is that if I really concentrate on “squeezing” my upper body, and holding the bar to my stomach, I get a lot of tension in my chest and lats. I can feel my lats and back thickening up a little because of it.
I’m not very heavy so I’m using equivalent to my body weight for light and medium days(more reps), and +20lbs(and more sets) on heavy days. Hopefully I’ll keep inching that weight up.
 
In light of this thread, and my current budget related decision not to have a rack, I'll be using the zercher for my current cycle of training.

I have just started a cycle of zercher squats. And I will see how this goes. It will be programmed similarly to PTTP. I am using a linear increase of 10 lbs per session. And currently, am feeling some slight discomfort with the bar in my elbow at around 165 lbs. But the form feels confident, tight and stable. I'm currently practicing hips down variation, and my quads are growing rapidly after the first week of zercher only weight increases.

I've found that being less attentive to my form during the movement actually seems to allow my form to be biased towards the hips back approach. It seems like the hips back version is easier for my current musculature, and build... With the notable growth in my quads, My pants and shorts are all fitting snugly, already; making it hard to get into and out of the car. So, I'll be limiting my reps, per PTTP, after using 3x5 protocol at first. This is decided After a few weeks of trading between deadlift and zercher, to practice and gauge the effect and experience.

A thought on the discomfort at my elbow pit : fwiw , no one seems to complain too much about any pain from hook grip, and that was very uncomfortable at 335 1rm test for me . You either do it, Or you do switch grip. For now clasping hands avoids knurling for me which is enough to keep on going for now.

There is an exception to PTTP for now. I do not have the free space to feel comfortable with the side press, without knocking things over. So for now I will be using kettlebells for the press. The 40k, and the 32k.
 
What style are you guys using the most? I've been focused on the arms outside of my legs style pulling from the pins for awhile now. They are definitely harder for me. Doing 400lbs+ on this style will be a huge task for me, but I am progressing slowly. From the other day...
 
Chase Hines said:
Love this thread so much.
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Wow I'm late to this party haha.

Question Chase (this may have been answered, but I am still in the process of reading through the pages - it's like a book haha):

What other benefits have you been noticing from the Zercher? Eg better diaphragmatic control, improved squat depth, additonal muscle mass (of so, where), other lifts you are finding improving?

That's a few questions I know, but its interesting. The reason I ask is from a simplicity standpoint.

A few months back and with family, work, coaching being full on (all good, just busy) I essentially just did loaded dead bugs and prone paddles everyday. Now even this can be too much .... but a lot of other things just became easy.
My wife commented on my overall shape, my ability to breathe under load/fatigue was good and tasks ar home eg gardening were easy....eg moving 600+kg's one day in gardening (compost, stone chips etc). All of this was done in essentially a Zercher carry position and I was surprised at how easy it was.

I put it down to loaded gait pattern work where the diaphragm was loaded to high degree on regular basis.

Thanks Chase

Richard
 
Ricky01 said:
Wow I'm late to this party haha.

Question Chase (this may have been answered, but I am still in the process of reading through the pages - it's like a book haha):

What other benefits have you been noticing from the Zercher? Eg better diaphragmatic control, improved squat depth, additonal muscle mass (of so, where), other lifts you are finding improving?

That's a few questions I know, but its interesting. The reason I ask is from a simplicity standpoint.

A few months back and with family, work, coaching being full on (all good, just busy) I essentially just did loaded dead bugs and prone paddles everyday. Now even this can be too much .... but a lot of other things just became easy.
My wife commented on my overall shape, my ability to breathe under load/fatigue was good and tasks ar home eg gardening were easy....eg moving 600+kg's one day in gardening (compost, stone chips etc). All of this was done in essentially a Zercher carry position and I was surprised at how easy it was.

I put it down to loaded gait pattern work where the diaphragm was loaded to high degree on regular basis.

Thanks Chase

Richard
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I’d say this to keep it simple -

Things Zerchers Have Improved > Things That Have Not

I notice benefits or improvements on all sorts of different things in my daily life.

Some are more noticeable that others.
  1. Gained 10 LBS
  2. Dropped BF %
  3. KB Press shot up a bell size with minimal volume
  4. Now really good at picking up weird stuff
  5. Now really good at carrying weird stuff
  6. Deadlift goes up but I don’t deadlift
  7. All other squats (back & front) are up but I don’t do them
  8. Posture issues went away even though I still spend 8 hours a day on screens
 
Chase Hines said:
I’d say this to keep it simple -

Things Zerchers Have Improved > Things That Have Not

I notice benefits or improvements on all sorts of different things in my daily life.

Some are more noticeable that others.
  1. Gained 10 LBS
  2. Dropped BF %
  3. KB Press shot up a bell size with minimal volume
  4. Now really good at picking up weird stuff
  5. Now really good at carrying weird stuff
  6. Deadlift goes up but I don’t deadlift
  7. All other squats (back & front) are up but I don’t do them
  8. Posture issues went away even though I still spend 8 hours a day on screens
Click to expand...

So, its been kind of beneficial?!
 
Hi All!

Looking for some best practice/experience shares.

So…I want to formally ad Z Carries to my programming.

I’ve done them for awhile but never as part of my programming. More of just something I thrown in from time to time.

Here’s my question -

Would I be better off doing them before or after Z Squats? Could there be some benefit in doing them first?

I feel like they could be an outstanding warm up for Z Squats BUT this would essentially put the movement I’m most focused on (z squats) last in my sessions after quite a bit of other stuff ( KB C&P, KB Carries, KB TGU).

Context - I’ll be carrying much less than I’m squatting.

Thoughts anyone?
 
I've always liked to do my carries the very last in the session. They can be pretty fatiguing in general.

I like the zercher carry. I do wonder if it would end up being too much with the zercher squat in rotation as well.
 
Had a crack at the Zercher deadlift the other day. Worked up to 95kg/209lbs (definitely more than I can Zercher squat). It felt surprisingly good! The only noteable soreness I felt the following day was in my biceps.


​


(In case you were wondering, those are knee sleeves around my ankles, not weird, thick neoprene socks).

​
 
Chase Hines said:
Anybody developed bald spots on their mid thigh from doing Z Lifts off the floor? Lol. There is a spot on both legs where I rest the bar that hair does not grow anymore.
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i think this probably happens to most guys doing zerchers? mine grew back when i cycled back to fsq or sq.
 
Hey all - can I get a form check? This is 145 pounds, 3rd set of 5. I just started trying these. I would have guessed my depth was much lower that it looks like there. I will lower the safety bars next time as my intent was not to be bottoming out.

I can capture another angle on Monday if requested.

So far I’m really digging these, although I am worried about bruising building up, as I tend to bruise easily anyway. But my initial reaction is that these are pretty satisfying.

youtube.com

Zercher 145 lbs

youtube.com youtube.com
 
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oukeith1 said:
can I get a form check? This is 145 pounds, 3rd set of 5.
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Looks fine. I'd video from 45 degrees to the front. IMO, no need for safeties - just dump it if you need to.

And I always prefer the old-fashioned method - deadlift it, rest it on your thighs, and do your Z's from there. When you're done, stand up with it again then lower it like you would a DL.

-S-
 
Chase Hines said:
This is a really interesting question that I’m excited to see feedback on.

I’ll start by framing it up -

The Zercher Squat, Zercher Carry, KB C&P & KB Carry Variation have made up 99% of my training over the past 18 months.

All the KB & carry stuff has really been GPP. I’m really not pushing the intensity. Just really solid consistent work.

The Zercher Squat is the only movement I’ve really focused on increasing. When I started 18 months ago 185 was brutal. Now I’m pretty comfortable with 275-315.

I’ve deadlifted less than 5 times in the last 18 months but in each of those DL sessions I’ve PR’d.

Here’s my question -

Can the Zercher Squat replace the DL?
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I like this. Am bringing up my safety bar box squat off a 12 inch box. Do it twice a week and only focusing on deadlifts/rack pulls more for speed and grip strength and to keep the groove once a week. Kind of goes along with what I am expecting.
 
Steve Freides said:
Looks fine. I'd video from 45 degrees to the front. IMO, no need for safeties - just dump it if you need to.

And I always prefer the old-fashioned method - deadlift it, rest it on your thighs, and do your Z's from there. When you're done, stand up with it again then lower it like you would a DL.

-S-
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I’m wondering if you or anyone else can provide me with a quality step-by-step guide to zercher lifts.

I have some questions on technique and want to make sure I am doing them correctly.
 
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