This exercise is not for the faint of heart...it's a Zercher Squat done starting from the floor.

And if you train at home without the benefit of a power  rack or squat rack (also the case in some gyms), you  KNOW how tough it is to find effective leg exercises...I  promse you, THIS exercise is going to help you work  your legs HARD.

It's truly the definition of "old school" leg training... because it's literally how squats used to be done before the advent of racks!

If you're not familiar with a Zercher Squat, it's where you  hold the barbell in the crook of your arms out in front of  you (arms bent and locked around the bar) instead holding it on your back or shoulders (like back or front squats).

It's excellent for developing not only legs but great core  strength as well. It's brutal just on it's own.

These days, it's most often done using a rack, so all you have to do is get under the bar in the rack and start the exercise.

THIS version of the Zercher Squat is basically the same thing except you're NOT in a rack- you have to get the bar off the floor, get it into the crooks of your arms THEN do the exercise. 

Try it with light weight the first time you do it so you get an idea of how to get the bar into position.

I like to use a bar pad for this one, to help take pressure off the forearms when doing the exercise (honestly, it's one of the few good uses I have for that thing!). If you don't have a pad, you can also use a towel wrapped around the bar for padding.

Load up a bar. It doesn't matter if you're only using 10 lb plates or 45 lb plates here with this execution...I suggest starting light the first time you do this even if you're a strong squatter. 

Stand in front of it with your feet out wide..equal to or a little wider than your normal squat stance.

Bend down and grab the bar with an overhand grip (on both hands), just outside your knees. It's not quite as wide as a snatch-grip deadlift but still fairly wide. Deadlift the bar up to the top.



Now squat down with the bar resting completely on your thighs, down by your knees.



Get your right arm under the bar while maintaining a grip on the bar with your left. Then get your other arm under the bar. You always want to maintain solid control over the bar while getting into position.



At this point, make VERY sure that your forearms are fully supinated into a palms-up position. This is important for proper loading of the forearms because this position ensures that the load is placed over BOTH bones of the forearm (radius and ulna) rather than just one. 

If your hands are in a neutral/hammer grip, the bar will not set comfortably (relatively speaking, of course!) in the crooks of your arms.

Now the fun part...standing up! 

First, make sure to pull the bar in as close to your body as you can. The closer it is to you, the more effective the exercise will be. If it's too far away, you'll put a lot of torque on the lower back.

Solidify your core as TIGHT as you can get it. Make sure you have an arch in your lower back, i.e. stick your butt out. Then PUSH.



Come all the way up to the full standing position and hold for a few seconds. You'll really feel this one in the core from start to finish.

Now come back down. If you're using a lighter weight for higher to moderate reps, stop just short of putting the bar back down on your thighs so you can keep tension on.

When using heavier weight (I've got 225 lbs on the bar for this demo), I actually set the bar back down on my thighs between the reps for a brief rest and to reset my body position for maximum power and safety.

When you've completed your set, rest the bar on your thighs, then take one arm out from under the bar then grab on and remove the other arm from under the bar. 

Grip in the deadlift grip you started with, stand up, then set the bar back down on the floor, essentially just reversing what you did to get the bar into position to start
with.



That's the Zercher Squat done off the floor!

It's an excellent exercise for working your legs (and core) with very limited equipment. It's completely scalable to  whatever training level you're at and VERY effective for performing a DEEP squat exercise to strongly target  the glutes as well. I won't say it's pretty, though.

If you'd like to see the full video of this exercise in action, I posted it to my YouTube channel here as well.

Want more 5 awesome leg exercises like this? Click here.

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EZ Curl Bar Zercher Carries

I also like to do these with an EZ curl bar, especially when I'm doing Zercher Carries. I find the bends in the bar work great to keep the bar from rolling forward, especially with heavier loads.

I actually set the ends of the bar on the rails of my power rack at the start and finish, since I don't have squat stands (yet).

You can watch the video of this carry here...I've got 300 lbs on the bar.

It is one of the BEST loaded carry variations you can do.

I've got 6 more killer core exercises like this here.

Enjoy!

Nick Nilsson
The Mad Scientist of Muscle

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