Alongside the leg press, hack squat machines are one of the vital popular pieces of gym equipment. That said, lots of questions also surround the hack squat, reminiscent of proper form, setup, and find out how to load it for specific goals.
Using a hack squat machine can look and even feel odd because it’s a singular movement, but don’t let that keep you from utilizing it. It stands out as the best single exercise you may do to coach your quadriceps.
In this text, we’ll inform you all the pieces that you must know concerning the hack squat. Let’s start.
Table of Contents:
- What Is A Hack Squat Machine?
- Hack Squat Machine: Muscles Worked
- Proper Hack Squat Form
- 3 Best Hack Squat Variations
- How To Program Hack Squats
- Hack Squat Advantages
- FAQs
What Is A Hack Squat Machine?
Before we get into more details on the hack machine, why is it even named “Hack”? It’s a very good query and may make clear what the hack squat is all about.
Within the late 1800s, there was an old-time strongman named George Hackenschmid. George was a highly influential figure in the game and fathered several exercises, including the ground press and the “hack squat.”
He originally created the barbell hack squat to place more stress on his quadriceps muscles while mitigating stress on the lower back. To do that, he began to select up a barbell off the bottom. Nonetheless, he picked it up from behind his back, causing him to take a seat back with an upright torso and minimal hip flexion, putting maximal flexion within the knees.
While very effective, lifting a barbell from behind the back can be very awkward. As such, the barbell hack squat isn’t seen as of late. As a substitute, the hack squat machine removes the barbell’s awkwardness yet provides all the same the advantages.
Hack Squat Machine: Muscles Worked
The hack squat is one in all many compound exercises that trains all of the lower-body muscles. The difference between it and other lower body exercises, reminiscent of the standard squat, lies in the way it targets those muscles.
As mentioned, hack squat machines concentrate on the quadriceps, a bunch of 4 muscles that sit on the anterior of the upper thigh. These muscles are the first knee extensors, making them the fundamental muscles worked within the hack squat.
Your glutes and hamstrings are the opposite major muscle groups worked with hack squats as they’re needed to increase the hips. Though the torso stays straight when the thighs come closer to the chest as you descend right into a squat, you go into hip flexion.
Then, because the legs press the load up, you have to extend the hips to face and lock out the movement.
How To Use Hack Squat Machine: Proper Form
Performing the machine hack squat is kind of easy, and most lifters find it relatively comfortable. While the exercise might be difficult when first trying it, the movement is comparatively easy.
As mentioned, hack squat machines consist of a sled that runs up and down a track on an angle. At the underside of the sled is a platform you stand on so your back is on the sled. At the highest of the sled are shoulder pads that you simply stand under and handle to grab.
How you can Use the Hack Squat Machine:
- Stand together with your feet shoulder-width apart and about one step out. You may turn your toes out barely if comfortable.
- Allow the sled to come back down by flexing your knees while keeping your back tight against the pad.
- Come down until your knee makes a 90-degree angle, after which drive your body up. At the highest, don’t lock out your knees but moderately maintain “soft knees.”
3 Hack Squat Variations
The hack squat done in its original purpose is a incredible exercise. That said, there’s multiple strategy to use the hack squat machine. Below are some awesome hack squat variations to try the following time you need to change things up.
1) Reverse Hack Squat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/up_Ah2Cs9l4
Probably the most common variation of the hack squat is the reverse hack squat. To perform it, turn around and face the sled with the shoulder pads over your shoulders.
When ready, drive the hips back while keeping your shins at the identical angle. You might be essentially performing a hip hinge, making the first movement at your hips moderately than the knees. Because of this, you will hit the glutes and hamstrings more.
To learn more concerning the reverse hack squat, take a look at our dedicated article here: Is The Reverse Hack Squat Really That Effective?
2) Smith Machine Hack Squat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/J3df6XxEr-M
The Smith machine hack squat is just a hack squat done on the Smith machine (surprise!).
We like this version because the Smith machine stabilizes the bar path and makes it easier to lift. As well as, we are able to set the starting position higher, further removing a number of the awkwardness.
For those who just like the sound of constructing major muscle on a Smith machine, take a look at our article: The Ultimate Smith Machine Leg Workouts.
3) Landmine Sumo Deadlift:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/c23fqSmifhE
Landmine exercises are a few of my all-time favorites, and the landmine sumo deadlift isn’t any exception.
The landmine sumo deadlift is an awesome alternative to the hack squat. It keeps the torso upright with significant knee flexion, providing you with the hack squat’s advantages of increased quad activation and reduced lower back stress.
How To Program Hack Squats
Programming the hack squat is comparatively easy to do. Because it’s a big, compound lower body exercise, it would be a primary accessory movement.
For those who’re attempting to determine what training day to place them on, there are a couple of options. For one, you may obviously do them on leg day as your fundamental squat pattern.
As one Redditor asks in response to substituting the hack squat for a standard barbell squat:
“What are your goals? If it’s purely hypertrophy, yes the hack squat is a superbly acceptable substitute. For lots of people it might be a better option as a result of individual biomechanics, injury history, the extra stability it provides, etc.” (source)
You may also mix them with an upper-body push for a more anterior, total-body session. Or, you could possibly even use them as a quad finisher for muscular endurance training.
On average, most individuals load the hack squat within the muscle hypertrophy range of 75-85% 1RM. You may go barely heavier or lighter based in your goals, but it’s best to avoid 95%-100% exertion. The knees might be under immense pressure during maximal lifts and PR attempts.
3 Best Hack Squat Advantages
It is advisable to program the hack squat into your regime for a lot of reasons. Listed below are a few of our favourite advantages.
1) Focuses On The Quads:
As mentioned, every lower body compound exercise will train your quads, but many lower body exercises are literally posterior dominant. For instance, even the deadlift has quadriceps activation, nevertheless it’s primarily a hamstrings and glute exercise.
There’s nothing incorrect with posterior chain exercises, but it’s best to include some quad-dominant exercises to have a well-rounded program.
2) Takes Stress Off The Back:
The back squat is the king of lower body exercises, but it might place lots of stress on the lower back, even when performed appropriately. On some training days, this could actually be the limiting think about your training. On other days, chances are you’ll just be experiencing lower back issues.
If all you had in your arsenal were back squat, you would possibly call it a day. Nonetheless, when other squat variations can be found, you may press on with training. Studies have shown that the torso experiences significantly less stress through the hack squat.
3) Optimizes Lower Body Strength:
The human leg is insanely strong if all of the muscles work together.
You may have three fundamental muscles that work in unison to generate maximal amounts of strength: the glutes, the hamstrings, and the quadriceps. Nonetheless, identical to a sequence, they’re only strong as their weakest link. In other words, a weak muscle will limit your total lower body strength.
As mentioned above, many lower body compound exercises are likely to focus more on the posterior muscles, however the hack squat prioritizes the quadriceps. It’s one in all the few compound exercises that does so.
As such, spending a while on hack squat machines will strengthen the quadriceps and accomplish that in a compound exercise, making it more transferrable to real-life strength.
Adding the Hack Squat Machine to Your Home Gym
With advantages like these, adding a hack squat machine to your private home gym is a worthwhile investment, particularly when you ceaselessly go for home workouts.
Your only option to maximise your private home gym equipment’s efficiency and usefulness is to buy a combo machine, just like the Force USA 45-Degree Leg Press/Hack Squat Combo. It’s a fantastic piece of machinery that may immediately double your options and optimize your leg training.
Featuring a 45-degree leg press, you will give you the chance to do hack squats, leg presses, calf raises, forward thrusts, and more. The 26 x 22″ foot plate lets you change your foot position to focus on various leg muscles during your training. Finally, it comes with 4 weight plate holders, 4 band pegs, and a lifetime structural warranty.
FAQs
We all know you will have much more questions, so let’s take a minute and answer them here.
How heavy is the hack squat machine without weight?
Most hack squat machines have empty sleds that weigh around 110-130lbs.
Why are hack squats so hard?
Hack squats are notoriously difficult for several reasons, reminiscent of weak quadriceps or just being an unfamiliar movement.
Do hack squats work glutes?
Yes! Although we discuss it s a quadriceps movement, the glutes are utilized in nearly every lower body movement pattern, including the hack squat.
Are hack squats bad for knees?
No variety of squat is inherently bad, however the hack squat can be bad for the knees when you use improper form.
Is a hack squat as effective as a squat?
Each exercises are very effective at constructing overall leg strength. Traditional back squats are likely to favor the posterior muscles, reminiscent of the hamstrings, while the hack squat favors the quadriceps.
Which is best, leg press or hack squat?
Your individual training goals will dictate what’s best. That said, if we had to select one, it could be the leg press machine. Considered one of the fundamental aspects is which you could perform many various versions of leg presses to maximise the muscles used. You may also buy one in all the combo machines to get the very best of each worlds.
A Summary Of Machine Hack Squats
The hack squat is undoubtedly the most effective exercises you will have to construct leg muscles. After reading this text, it’s best to now be armed with all the pieces that you must actually start using the hack squat machine as an alternative of just observing it and wondering what it does.
Plus, when you furthermore mght consider that it is a compound exercise that enables big loads, you see that it is also just as able to constructing serious leg strength as some other lower body movement. In actual fact, I’d go so far as to say that no workout program ought to be without the hack squat machine.
For more great exercises that work your lower body in the identical way as a hack squat machine, take a look at these 8 Best Hack Squat Alternatives. Taken with adding a leg press/hack squat combo to your private home gym? Listed below are the ten Best Leg Press Machines!
References:
- Clark, David R.; Lambert, Michael I.; Hunter, Angus M.. Trunk Muscle Activation within the Back and Hack Squat on the Same Relative Loads. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 33(); July 2019. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002144
- Deniz, E., & Ulas, Y.H. (2019). Evaluation of Muscle Activities During Different Squat Variations Using Electromyography Signals.
