What is the difference between an Anderson squat and a box squat?

In a Barbell Box Squat the bar stays on your back the whole time: you lower it yourself, sit briefly on a box and stand back up. In the Anderson squat the bar rests on the safety bars at the bottom and each rep starts with the lift, so there is no lowering phase leading into the drive.

Is an Anderson squat the same as a pin squat?

The two names are often used interchangeably, but many coaches separate them. A pin squat usually starts from the top, with the bar lowered until it touches the pins before you stand up, while the Anderson squat starts on the pins with no descent before the first rep.

How much weight should I use?

Start well below your regular squat working weight and add load only while you can get under the bar in a strong position and drive it up without the hips rising first. From safety bars at or below parallel most lifters handle somewhat less than in their normal squat, while bars set well above parallel allow heavier loads because the range is shorter.

How high should I set the safety bars?

Set them where you stall in your regular squat, which for most lifters is at or just below parallel. Higher bars train lockout strength over a shorter range, and very low bars make it hard to brace and get under the weight.

Is there a bench press version of this exercise?

Yes. The Barbell Pin Press applies the same dead-start idea to the bench press, with each rep starting from a bar resting on pins in a power rack.

Barbell Anderson Squat

What Is the Barbell Anderson Squat?

Barbell Anderson Squat is a compound exercise that primarily targets the quads and glutes and also engages the adductors, lower back and core. It is an advanced-level movement in which every rep starts from a dead stop, with the barbell resting on the safety bars of a power rack at the bottom of the squat. Instead of lowering the weight first, you set up under the bar in the bottom position and stand it up, so the lifting phase comes before the lowering phase.

Because the bar settles on the safety bars between reps, nothing leads into the drive. In a normal squat the descent stores elastic energy and primes the legs and hips to reverse direction, and that bounce out of the bottom helps you lift more. Starting from a dead stop takes that help away, so the muscles have to produce force from a standstill. Coaches use the exercise to build starting strength out of the hole and to work a specific sticking point, since the height of the safety bars sets exactly where each rep begins.

The movement is named after Paul Anderson, the 1956 Olympic heavyweight weightlifting champion, who squatted from a bar set on supports and lowered the starting height as he got stronger. Today it is an accessory lift for powerlifters, weightlifters and other strength athletes, usually done after the main squat work in low-rep sets. It supplements full squats rather than replacing them, because strength built from one starting height carries over mostly to that part of the range.

With the safety bars at or just below parallel, the start is hardest for the quads, glutes and adductors, while the lower back and trunk have to hold the torso angle from the first inch. Raising the bars shortens the range and allows heavier loads for lockout strength, and lowering them makes the start much harder and puts more of the work on the hips. Holding the bar in a front rack instead of on the upper back turns it into a front squat version that shifts more of the effort to the quads.

It suits lifters who already squat with consistent technique and a stable bottom position and who stall coming out of the hole. Newer lifters get more from building the Barbell Squat and the Barbell Box Squat first, because getting under a dead weight in the bottom position takes bracing and positioning that regular squatting teaches.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Gluteus Maximus: Primary
Vastus Lateralis: Primary
Vastus Medialis: Primary
Adductor Magnus: High
Rectus Femoris: High
Erector Spinae: Medium
Biceps Femoris: Low
Rectus Abdominis: Low
Semitendinosus: Low
Soleus: Low

Instructions

Set the safety bars of a power rack so the barbell rests on them with your thighs about parallel to the floor when you squat under it, then load the bar on the safety bars.
Squat down under the bar and place it across your upper traps, gripping it with your hands outside shoulder width.
Set your feet about shoulder width apart with your toes turned slightly out, and settle your hips and knees into the bottom position of your normal squat.
Pull your elbows down to pin the bar to your back, take a deep breath into your belly and brace your trunk hard.
Press up into the bar to take the slack out without lifting it, keeping your chest up and your back flat.
Drive your feet into the floor and push the bar up off the safety bars, extending your knees and hips together so your chest and hips rise at the same rate.
Stand all the way up until your knees and hips are fully extended.
Squat back down under control along the same path until the bar rests fully on the safety bars.
Let the bar come to a complete stop, reset your breath and brace, and start the next rep from the bottom.

Common Mistakes

Safety bars at the wrong height
Bars set too high leave you half-standing or on your toes to get under the bar, while bars set too low put you in a position you cannot brace or drive from.
Pushing before bracing
Driving into the bar before taking a breath and building full-body tension lets the bar jerk off the safety bars and pulls the lower back out of position.
Hips rising first
Letting the hips shoot up ahead of the chest turns the start into a good morning and shifts the load onto the lower back.
Bouncing off the safety bars
Dropping the bar onto the safety bars and rebounding straight into the next rep brings back the stretch reflex the exercise is meant to remove.
Knees caving in
Letting the knees drift inward as the bar leaves the safety bars strains the knees and wastes force, so keep them tracking over the toes.
Not finishing the rep
Stopping short of full hip and knee extension at the top cuts the rep and makes it harder to control the bar back down.

Injuries

Barbell Anderson Squat is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The main strain points are the lower back, which has to hold its position from the first moment the bar leaves the safety bars, and the knees, which drive a heavy load out of a deep bend with no momentum to help. The usual cause of trouble is a start in which the hips rise before the chest or the lower back rounds as you push into the bar.

Use a sturdy power rack with the safety bars level and locked in place, and set them at a height where you can get under the bar with a braced trunk and flat feet. Warm up with regular squats, start lighter than your normal squat working weight, and take a full breath and brace before every rep. Lower the bar back onto the safety bars under control rather than dropping it, and keep your hands on the bar well clear of the safety bars so they never get pinched.

If the dead start is too demanding, raise the safety bars to shorten the range, or build the bottom position with the Barbell Box Squat or the Kettlebell Goblet Box Squat. To progress, lower the safety bars gradually or add load in small steps while the start stays smooth.

Stop the set if you feel sharp pain in the lower back, knees or hips, or if your lower back rounds and you cannot correct it. Lifters with acute lower back pain or unstable knees should leave this exercise out until a clinician clears them for heavy squatting.

Overview

Primary Focus: Quads and glutes
Equipment: Barbell
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Advanced

Alternative Exercises

Other Names for the Barbell Anderson Squat

The Barbell Anderson Squat is also known as:

Bottom-Up Squat

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the difference between an Anderson squat and a box squat?: In a Barbell Box Squat the bar stays on your back the whole time: you lower it yourself, sit briefly on a box and stand back up. In the Anderson squat the bar rests on the safety bars at the bottom and each rep starts with the lift, so there is no lowering phase leading into the drive.
Q: Is an Anderson squat the same as a pin squat?: The two names are often used interchangeably, but many coaches separate them. A pin squat usually starts from the top, with the bar lowered until it touches the pins before you stand up, while the Anderson squat starts on the pins with no descent before the first rep.
Q: How much weight should I use?: Start well below your regular squat working weight and add load only while you can get under the bar in a strong position and drive it up without the hips rising first. From safety bars at or below parallel most lifters handle somewhat less than in their normal squat, while bars set well above parallel allow heavier loads because the range is shorter.
Q: How high should I set the safety bars?: Set them where you stall in your regular squat, which for most lifters is at or just below parallel. Higher bars train lockout strength over a shorter range, and very low bars make it hard to brace and get under the weight.
Q: Is there a bench press version of this exercise?: Yes. The Barbell Pin Press applies the same dead-start idea to the bench press, with each rep starting from a bar resting on pins in a power rack.