The hack squat is a squat variant that targets the whole quad muscle, glutes, and hamstring to an extent. The stance at which you perform this exercise can dictate which muscle is more biased; you can make it more quad-focused or glute-focused.
The hack squat offers a good amount of stability due to the back pad and the fixed moment pattern. It's more stable than a regular squat but still requires much stability to keep the core stable.
With the hack squat, you can push a lot of weight and activate many muscles, but this comes with a cost; the hack squat is a very fatiguing exercise for the whole body. Although fatiguing, it's not a problem because it's a very effective exercise for quad development.
Hack squats come in many variations; some can be fortunate enough to have one at their local gym. If you don't have access to hack squats, some alternatives are just as effective for the quads.
Facts:
- Compound exercise
- Lengthened position
- Very fatiguing
Alternatives:
- Squats
- Smith machine squats
Regular squats are a classic quad exercise that can be even harder because it is not as stable and, therefore, more fatiguing, but still effective. To new lifters, this should be a go-to quad exercise because it will help you build an excellent foundation due to its stability requirements.
The smith machine squats are a more stable version of the regular squats, but it is not as stable as the hack squat and it is more fatiguing and overall harder to perform.