Is the Zercher hold bad for your elbows?

Asked by: Becky Marin

Are Zercher squats bad for your arms?

The risks of performing the Zercher squat are bicep tears if the barbell doesn’t stay close to your body and damage to your quads if you drop the barbell forward by not being able to maintain an upright posture.

Are Zercher squats bad for you?

The Zercher squat is a squat style that can build serious upper back strength, thoracic spine integrity, and increase quadriceps and glute development.

What do zercher holds work?

“The Zercher carry works a whole bunch of different muscles, but mainly it focuses on your trunk, which has to stay stable while you walk so that the weight you’re carrying doesn’t tip to one side. You also get some work for your forearms, biceps, shoulders – mainly the anterior deltoid – and pecs.”

Are zercher shrugs good?

Zercher Shrugs



This is an excellent way to build your traps and upper-body musculature as a whole. It’s also an incredible exercise for building a strong core. These two shoulder workouts will build your traps to protect the neck and help you function through life and your sport.

What is the point of a zercher squat?

Zercher squats can increase your upper back strength.



By activating muscles throughout your upper back and shoulders, the Zercher squat promotes muscle hypertrophy and postural strength more than a standard bodyweight squat.

What is the world’s heaviest squat?

1,036 pounds

Russian powerhouse Andrey Malanichev utterly crushed the world record for the highest unequipped squat on Saturday, racking up more than half a ton—470 kg, or 1,036 pounds, to be exact.

Why do zombies squat?

Paused Zombie Squat



The pause at the bottom forces you to stay tight, ensures that your movement is locked in, and builds confidence. This variation can also be used as a tool for teaching a good bar position and upright torso during the front squat.

Why is it called zercher?

The Zercher squat is named after its creator Ed Zercher, a strongman and power lifter from the 1930s. Apparently Zercher’s home gym resembled a junkyard more than a workout area, and was filled with toys such as anvils, wrecking balls and other assorted pieces of machinery.

What is a sissy squat?

A sissy squat is a quadricep targeting exercise that focuses on leaning backwards and bending from the knee to achieve the bottom of the position, rather than hinging from the hips and sitting down like in a traditional squat.

Do Zercher squats build traps?

Of course, the Zercher squat is being done as a lower body exercise, but it has the benefit of hitting the traps hard on a different day.

Who was Ed zercher?

Ed Zercher was one of the strongest men in America during the height of his weightlifting career in the 1930s and 40s. He was known for his no-nonsense attitude towards lifting, which was reflected in his gym.

How do you do a zercher deadlift?

Take a deadlift position and bring it back on the floor that's one full cycle of a rep. So it looks like this till my knee sleeves. Make it more comfortable. So then lift the barbell.

Are Zercher deadlifts good?

The Zercher deadlift is a deadlift variation that requires the barbell to be held in the crooks of the elbows. It places more work on the upper back muscles. This unique deadlift exercise is especially beneficial for combat sport athletes, wrestlers, and strongmen and strongwomen.

Did Steve Reeves do deadlifts?

Hercules Unchained



The Reeves deadlift is an old school exercise developed over six decades ago by one of the most famous bodybuilders of all time, Steve Reeves. Reeves was known for having an incredible V-taper and massive upper back that was so visually stunning that he was cast as Hercules in several films.

What is a good deadlift zercher?

The average Zercher Deadlift weight for a male lifter is 224 lb (1RM). This makes you Intermediate on Strength Level and is a very impressive lift. What is a good Zercher Deadlift? Male beginners should aim to lift 104 lb (1RM) which is still impressive compared to the general population.

How heavy should I go with zercher squat?

The average Zercher Squat weight for a male lifter is 251 lb (1RM). This makes you Intermediate on Strength Level and is a very impressive lift. What is a good Zercher Squat? Male beginners should aim to lift 108 lb (1RM) which is still impressive compared to the general population.

Are Zercher squats harder?

The Zercher squat requires the lifter to wedge the barbell in the crooks of their elbows using a half-bicep-curl position, placing the bar close to the lifter’s sternum. It is much harder on the arms to hold the barbell in place while squatting when compared with the front squat.

Are Jefferson deadlifts easier?

It’s one of the few asymmetrical and anti-rotational movements that allow serious weight to be lifted, it fits neatly into powerlifting and strength training plans, it’s easy on the back, and it allows for some variety in the old squat, dead, bench rotation.

What is a Dorian deadlift?

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The push off the floor is initiated by leg drive. Then as the bar gets to around knee height and the hamstrings have completed their part of the job, the rhomboids, lats, and traps work isometrically to hold position as the lockout is completed.

What is a Bulgarian deadlift?

Using your left leg only and keeping your lower back in its natural arch, straighten your knee and stand back up with the bar (as in a normal deadlift) [2]. Then lower your body and the bar back to the floor- that’s one rep. Begin your second rep from that position.