Old school hack squats

Your feet should be pointed outward. Then, lift your knees up, and keep them up as you do the exercise. To do them right, make sure you:. You might have some additional questions. A: The lower body these muscles include the calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes , as well as the core. Eventually, it will help with your range of motion. A: It can be much better for your back than other popular exercises like barbell squats. A: In terms of a hack squat vs. A: You can replace back squats with alternative exercises that work the same muscles, such as front squats.

Visit our contact us page to learn more, and be sure to check out our training resources and products to boost your workout! Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. December Intense Chest Workout for Rapid Growth November January How to Stay Fit Over the Holidays Build Muscle Lose Fat If there are any other old style exericses you would recommend.

Thank you, It seem to that we getting into a great rap session after our workouts. You seem to very descriptive in the way you explain the methods of doing these exericses.

I must say I look forward in corresponding with each day. I just want include one more thing today. With all my competing I have become lactose intolerant. How I have discuss with many lifters at the gym and they say that I must slowly introduce milk back into my daily menu. What are your views on this. Hope to hear from you soon wrobbins. As far as lactose intolerance goes, as you get older, generally this depends upon the person, and even their race , you lose the ability to digest milk due to the lactose.

There are many other ways to get calories, and protein, other than using your milk as a source. There are literally thousands of exercises that you can do, and everyone has their favourites, old and new alike.

Generally, the more productive movements are the most complex, and compound movements. SInce they require the stability of so many muscle groups to work in tandem, in the process of completing the exercise, it then comes to follow that any given compound exercise is going to be beneficial for numerous muscle groups at the same time. Here is another one for you: Crucifixion Pullups 1 This can be done with, or without weight perhaps a dumbell held between your ankles 2 Use a pullup bar, or the bar at the very top of the squat rack for this movements I prefer to hang off of the top bar of the squat rack, just for the fact that my feet are not likely to hit the ground upon descent.

At the very top of this movement, it should look at though you were crucifying yourself, with the bar horizontally running across the back of your neck, and your shoulders, and arms, extended outward.

This is much like an iron cross just a little easier though. The hack squat is a great alternative to the traditional free barbell squat for building your leg muscles and lower body strength. Because the weight and your body are supported in the machine, your core muscle activation is lower in the hack squat machine than in a free-weight squat. This includes your abs , obliques , and lower back. Both exercises are great for building your leg muscles and increasing your lower body strength.

The hack squat machine enables you to focus a bit more on the working muscles which might be good for bodybuilding purposes. In comparison, the free squat will give you more practice at muscle coordination and creating stability throughout your body, which might be beneficial for expressing your strength in real-world settings such as strength and power sports.

Because of the stability in the hack squat machine, it might also be easier to learn, especially for persons with compromised balance or mobility such as older individuals, for example. While both exercises are similar in form and training effects, there are some small differences in muscles worked caused mainly by the differences in torso angle and foot placement. Of course, by altering your foot placement in both exercises you can affect which muscle is emphasized, but the points above are the general differences.

One last point: since the leg press typically places a little lower stress on your quads they are a little easier on the knees, which might be valuable if you are having problems with them. A lesser-known variant of the hack squat but that actually shares the same name is the barbell hack squat. This old-school exercise is similar to the barbell deadlift , with the difference that the barbell is placed behind your legs instead of in front of them. This forces you into a more upright position and shifts most of the work onto your quadriceps, unlike the deadlift which is more of a posterior chain exercise.

How does the barbell hack squat compare to the regular barbell back squat?