The Zercher
Squat is a great exercise...and one
that you'll almost NEVER see anybody
doing. It works the legs AND the core
very strongly, because of where you
hold the weight. It originated as a
way to do squats before power racks
were widely available.
Instead
of supporting the weight on your shoulders,
you instead cradle the bar in the crooks
of your elbows. This position puts tremendous
tension on the supporting muscles of
the midsection.
Two of
the reasons you'll almost never see
this exercise being done is that first,
it is extremely tough on the core area
to perform. Most people immediately
decide it's too hard and don't ever
do it again! Second, it's not very comfortable
on the arms. This can be mitigated with
a barbell pad or a towel wrapped around
the bar.
So normally,
you would perform this exercise with
a barbell...either from the floor, with
the bar starting in the rack or on a
bench. I've also done this exercise
with a dumbell (starting from the floor
or a bench).
THIS version
of the exercise is basically the same
as a barbell version only you'll be
using the low-pulley cable stack instead
of a barbell.
This
has a few differences from the barbell
version...
1. You
don't need a rack to do it and you don't
have to start with the bar on the floor.
2. You
also get forward-pulling resistance
with the cable version because of the
angle, which increases tension on the
core area.
So start
by putting a bar attachment on the low
pulley and setting a moderate weight
on the stack (you can increase this
one you get an idea of how much you
can lift). I prefer the straight bar
attachment for this.
Squat
down in front of the pulley then put
the bar in the crooks of your elbows.
Now get
yourself set in the bottom of the squat,
with your arms bent.
Then stand
up! You'll notice that I'm leaning back
a bit as I come up to counter the forward
pulling of the pulley.
Repeat.
If you've
never done Zercher Squats before, this
is an easy way to give it a try and
really feel the benefits of this underused
exercise!
