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Barbell Newbie Experience of a Zercher Squat with Unloaded Olympic Bar

Antti said:
I think this is something where the zercher shines compared to other squats. It's also something that's typically unspoken of in these discussions.
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good point.
Antti said:
For myself, I do both ME and accessory. Always 1-3 reps. ME can be rare, or not. At most 3-6 weeks / 1-2 blocks.
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with zercher as accessory, what do you try to accomplish?
 
bluejeff said:
Here we are with that elitist mobility :)


. . .though I had much the same thought!


I am by no means proficient or super strong in the front squat, though it has become my go-to squat. It just feels better for me than back squats; there's something about the placement of the load and... the shoulder position.

I always hear people talking about front squats taxing the upper back and I simply don't understand. If you want your elbows to drive forward and up, you spread your shoulder blades apart, wrapping them around the ribcage (which would mean lengthening the rhomboids and mid traps, not contracting them). That alone got me from a semi-uncomfortable front rack position that required multiple sets of front rack mobility drills to one that I can do with hardly any "mobility warmup." So....I guess I don't understand where the "upper back work" in front squats comes from. I feel almost zero work in my upper back, because I am not trying to squeeze anything up there.

Unless by upper back you mean "upper traps" or something? I don't know what I'm missing. Maybe I just haven't gotten to a point where it's heavy enough to cause something up there to kick on?
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Lift heavier.

You'll get it. ;)
 
Hung said:
with zercher as accessory, what do you try to accomplish?
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Some times it is there to familiarize the movement for future ME work. This would more important the less advanced you are. I'm a fan of doing this in general.

The extra depth is useful, especially if the competition squat is just to parallel or the trainees struggles with it. It's always a sound idea to build strength just outside the normal movement pattern, both for safety and performance.

The extra depth could be beneficial for hypertrophy work but I don't use the zercher for that. But I don't mind if it happens.

I find it that the zercher is good for doing hard squats. Straining in the zercher is easier than with other varieties.

The zercher is obviously good for the upper body, holding the position isometrically.

Last, variety in itself is often good.
 
watchnerd said:
Another semi-hot take:

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I was very fascinated by the examples he discusses at the end about the caps of motion.

I am apparently lucky in the zercher squat, because if I get my elbows in the right spot, my arms and bar can never meet my thighs, and my bottom travel becomes maximal, at the bottom, where my thighs close to my calves and the tops of my thighs close to the bottom of my belly, just like a kettlebell front squat, or otherwise. I suppose this ability to take my hips all the way down into the hole with a very upright torso correlates directly with the quad growth I saw in that cycle.

I have a relatively long torso, and relatively shorter arms and legs. so, lucky me.

verily, anthropometry is the terrain upon which the war is waged.
 
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@Adachi, where he talks about the Z squat having to stop when the bar hits his thighs, it looks like he never quite reaches that point - most of his reps show space below the bar.

The whole range of motion discussion needs to include whether your treat your Z squat like a hip hinge or more vertically. His Z squat is pretty vertical. Since I DL the bar to my thighs first, I have to hinge in order to grab it or I'd have to have much longer arms and/or a shorter torso.

-S-
 

Barbell - Can Zercher Squats do it all?

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...
www.strongfirst.com

A thread from few years ago. (If I remember correctly there's some heated comments back then)
 
I started doing Zerchers out of necessity. I don't have a rack. Started doing Zerchers right from the floor, but now I have the bar boosted onto two plyoboxes (24" off the floor). I'll dip down, breathe in and brace, lift the bar up and step back into starting position.

I had reach (my limit) on double kettlebell front squats, using 32k and 28k bells. My next step up would have been 32k/36k, but cleaning those two bells was not smooth. The Zercher allows me to work with much higher loads, all while really hitting the core (as mentioned throughout this thread).

I'm programmed Zerchers in different programs. Reload, PTTP, BuiltStrong BTS3 and BTS4. Typically I'll program with them immediately before or after barbell overhead press, utilizing the same plyo boxes to boost the bar up.

My results from doing Zerchers has been a huge increase in 'bear hug' or 'anaconda' strength. There has been some upper back and quad hypertrophy, depending on volume. If I've programmed heavier Zerchers (>80% 1RM), I'll usually take it easy on any core/ab work afterworks as Zerchers hit those hard. Also, from a safety aspect; I workout alone in my garage. Knowing that I can dump the bar if need be, is a positive point.

I have yet to experiment with any other Zercher movement (load carry, reverse lunges, etc.), just regular squats.
 
silveraw said:
Don't forget its a practice, not a theory. You gotta do it to get good at it, no amount of cues or videos will help improve it if you aren't practicing it.
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Understood, but I've started a trial of 6 - 10 treatments of spinal decompression (every Tuesday!) so it will likely be only S&S for awhile until I figure out what improvements are happening. Based on the thread though I think I'm going to start Zercher's (perhaps on blocks or some type of rack if I can rob a sporting good store) with just the bar before attempting the deadlift.
 
Denys Carthusian said:
Understood, but I've started a trial of 6 - 10 treatments of spinal decompression (every Tuesday!) so it will likely be only S&S for awhile until I figure out what improvements are happening. Based on the thread though I think I'm going to start Zercher's (perhaps on blocks or some type of rack if I can rob a sporting good store) with just the bar before attempting the deadlift.
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Do you do hangs, knee raises, HLRs, or the like on squat/deadlift days? might help with spine compression issues.
 
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