Exercise guide · Legs & Glutes

Barbell Zercher Squat

The Zercher squat places the bar in the crooks of the elbows, challenging the quads, glutes, trunk, and hamstrings while encouraging an upright torso. Careful bar placement and full-body bracing are essential.

Targets: Quads
Equipment: Barbell
Type: Compound

Step by step

How to do the Barbell Zercher Squat

Set the bar in a rack around waist height and place it securely in the crooks of both elbows.
Clasp the hands, lift the chest, brace the trunk, and stand up to clear the hooks.
Step back into a stable squat stance with the bar held close to the body.
Sit down between the hips, keeping the torso upright and knees tracking over the feet.
Drive through the whole foot to stand tall, then return the bar to the rack under control.

Form cues

Bar tight to the body
Brace in all directions
Sit between the hips
Drive the floor away

Common mistakes

Holding the bar on the forearms instead of the elbow crooks
Allowing the torso or elbows to collapse forward
Letting the knees cave inward
Rising with the hips faster than the chest

Muscles worked

Primary

Quads

Secondary

Glutes, Core and Hamstrings

Safety: Start light and use a rack with safeties. Pad the bar if needed, keep the wrists and hands relaxed, and stop for sharp elbow, arm, back, hip, or knee pain.

Alternatives

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