North Coast Miller
Level 9 Valued Member
If you use them with something like sandbag you can toss the thing in the air as an explosive component. I don't think it will translate enough to any actual Oly lifts to be directly beneficial, but the bracing at the bottom before you "go" is going to translate to a lot of movements.I'm wondering if the Zercher has any potential applications for Oly-lifting (mainly as an excuse to include them in my program).
I fear that the front squat has pretty much got things covered from that angle, still I'm wondering if there's anything the Zercher does that the front squat doesn't (not counting the additional abdominal training effect, 'breathing behind the shield' and elbow-crease conditioning).
With a heavy enough bag it won't even catch air, but is a very tough lift. My normal approach to shouldering heavier bags is to drag them across my thighs, get both ends in an underhook, and launch to one shoulder as I come up from a squat. That requires even more tension and bracing than just explosively firing the bag in front, and it catches air every time.
In general the only reason I don't do Zerchers more often or as a dedicated lift is it gasses my upper body and I don't really know where to slot it in a push, pull, hinge, squat format. I occasionally use the shoulder-cleaning version opposite getups on my conditioning power/grind days.