Barbell Hack Squat
What Is the Barbell Hack Squat?
Barbell Hack Squat is a compound exercise that primarily targets the quadriceps and also engages the glutes, adductors, spinal erectors and grip. It is an intermediate-level movement in which you lift a barbell from the floor while holding it behind your legs, arms hanging straight and hands just outside the hips.
This is the original hack squat. Strongman and wrestler George Hackenschmidt popularized it in the early 1900s, decades before the sled machine that now shares the name. Because the bar sits behind the body, you stay more upright and bend your knees further than in a Barbell Deadlift, so the quadriceps do most of the work, and no bar rests across your upper back as it does in a Barbell Squat. That makes it a practical quad builder for gyms with a barbell but no Hack Squat machine.
The quadriceps straighten the knees, the glutes and adductors extend the hips, and the spinal erectors keep the back flat against a load hanging behind you, while the traps and forearms carry the bar. Standing with your heels on small plates lets the knees travel further forward and the torso stay more upright, which moves still more of the work onto the quadriceps. Grip often gives out before the legs do, so many lifters use lifting straps for heavier sets.
It usually comes after the main squat or deadlift of the session as a quad accessory, in moderate to higher rep ranges rather than as a maximal lift. It suits lifters who already squat and deadlift with sound technique, because the bar path behind the legs takes practice. If it is too awkward at first, build the same upright, knee-dominant pattern with the Kettlebell Goblet Squat and the Trap Bar Deadlift, where the load is easier to hold.
Muscles Worked
- Rectus Femoris
- Primary
- Vastus Lateralis
- Primary
- Vastus Medialis
- Primary
- Gluteus Maximus
- High
- Adductor Magnus
- Medium
- Erector Spinae
- Medium
- Soleus
- Low
Instructions
- Load a barbell on the floor and stand directly in front of it, facing away, with your heels just ahead of the bar.
- Set your feet about hip-width apart with your toes pointing forward or slightly out.
- Squat down, keeping your chest up, and reach back to grip the bar with an overhand grip, palms facing back and hands just outside your hips.
- Flatten your back, pull your shoulders back and brace your core. Your arms stay straight for the whole set and only hold the bar.
- Drive through your whole foot and straighten your knees and hips together to stand up, keeping the bar close to the back of your legs as it rises.
- Finish standing tall with your hips and knees straight and the bar resting against the back of your upper thighs.
- Lower under control by bending your knees and hips together, sliding the bar down the back of your legs until your thighs are about parallel to the floor.
- Keep your heels down and your back flat at the bottom, then drive straight into the next rep.
Common Mistakes
Rounding the lower back
Letting the spine curve as you reach for the bar or drive up from the bottom moves the load off the legs and onto the lower back.
Turning it into a deadlift
Pushing the hips far back and tipping the chest toward the floor shifts the work from the quadriceps to the glutes and hamstrings.
Letting the bar drift away from the legs
A bar that swings back away from your calves and thighs pulls your balance backward and strains the lower back and shoulders.
Heels lifting off the floor
Rocking onto the toes costs balance and puts more stress on the knees, so keep your whole foot down or raise both heels on small plates.
Pulling with the arms
Bending the elbows to help lift the bar strains the elbows and biceps, so keep your arms straight and let the legs do the lifting.
Cutting the depth short
Loading more than you can lower to parallel turns the set into partial reps that train the quadriceps through only part of their range.
Injuries
Barbell Hack Squat is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The lower back is the most common strain point: the weight hangs from your arms behind you, so your spinal erectors have to hold your back flat as you reach for the bar and rise from the bottom. The knees take high load in the deep, upright bottom position, and the bar can scrape or bruise the back of the calves and hamstrings as it slides up and down.
Start light while you learn the bar path, keep the bar close enough to brush the back of your legs, and wear long pants or socks to protect the skin. Brace before each rep, keep your heels down, and add load only when every rep reaches the same depth with a flat back. Straps take strain off the hands and forearms so the set ends when the legs tire, not the grip.
If holding the bar behind you is too awkward, train the pattern with the Kettlebell Goblet Squat or the Trap Bar Deadlift, or load the quadriceps with your back supported on the Hack Squat machine or the Machine Leg Press. Once the movement is smooth, raise your heels on small plates, add a pause at the bottom or increase the load.
Stop the set if you feel sharp pain in the knee or lower back, pain that radiates down the leg, or numbness or tingling, and have it checked before you load the movement again.
Other Names for the Barbell Hack Squat
The Barbell Hack Squat is also known as:
- Behind-the-Back Deadlift
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: How is the barbell hack squat different from the hack squat machine?
On the Hack Squat machine you push a sled along a fixed track with your back against a pad and the load on your shoulders. The barbell version is a free-weight lift from the floor with the bar held behind your legs, so your back, grip and balance do the work the pad and track do on the machine.
- Q: Should I raise my heels?
It helps if your heels lift or you tip forward before your thighs reach parallel. Small plates or a wedge under the heels let the knees travel further forward and keep the torso more upright, which also puts more of the work on the quadriceps.
- Q: Should I use lifting straps?
On heavier sets, many lifters do, because grip behind the back often fails before the legs. Practice wrapping the straps with a light bar first, since it is awkward to do behind you.
- Q: Does the barbell hack squat take load off the spine compared with a back squat?
Only partly. No bar rests on your upper back, but the weight still hangs from your shoulders and your spinal erectors must hold your back flat against it, much as in a deadlift. If you need to keep load off a sore back, the Machine Leg Press is the better choice.
- Q: Where does it fit in a leg workout?
Most lifters use it after their main squat or deadlift as a quad accessory, for 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps. Heavy sets of 5 work too once the bar path and grip are reliable.