Strength Tip: Barbell Hack Squat vs. Behind the Back Deadlift

I stand corrected. I know I’m supposed to know this stuff backwards and forwards, but I actually misnamed one of my most favorite lifts. I have a tendency to call the Behind the Back Deadlift the Barbell Hack Squat and I am here to set the record straight. They are two totally different movements. The Barbell Hack Squat is a movement to target the VMO (Vastus Medialis Obliqus), the main knee stabilizer and allows for much greater depth in the squat for the heels are supported on an elevated surface such as a slant board, 2×6, or 10# plate. The weight used is significantly less than the deadlift counterpart and the hands are held very close to hips or even in the small of the back. This tends to force the hips forward to force a more quad dominant involvement rather than hip dominant.

The Behind the Back Deadlift is more of a power movement used to build strength in the power lifts, mainly the deadlift and some carryover in the squat. It is a phenomenal accessory movement for the deadlift to teach the body to increase more leg drive and teach one to shoot the hips in the ascent of the movement. I also get some hypertrophic carryover in the thighs as it DOES fire the quads more in lifting the weight. If you don’t shoot the hips at the correct time, the weight will stall and get stuck at the back of the knees. It also teaches some control in the descent phase and induces a more developed eccentric as you cannot just drop the bar to bar floor without some degree of correct bar path, other wise one will end up with some serious contusions of the calf complex.

Try both in you programs. The Hack version is also a great alternative for those gyms without a hack sled. (at least one that is properly designed)

I do have some other cool alternatives to the hack variations for future posts.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 28th, 2010 at 9:40 am and is filed under All things STRENGTH... You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Strength Tip: Barbell Hack Squat vs. Behind the Back Deadlift”

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   March 28th, 2010 at 6:11 pm

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