Frankenstein Squat

advanced · squat

Setup

Set the bar at chest height in a squat rack and keep the load genuinely light, because this is a technique drill and not a grinder. Step under it, rest it in the groove between your front shoulders and collarbones, stand up to lift it off the hooks and take two steps back out of the rack. Let your arms hang straight out in front at shoulder height without gripping the bar at all: your shoulders push forward into a shelf that holds it, the bar lightly touching your throat.

Execution

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, brace your core, and keep your arms held straight out at shoulder height the whole set.
Inhale and bend your knees and hips to sit down between your legs, keeping the torso upright.
Sit down until the back of your thighs touch your calves, letting the correct shoulder shelf hold the bar in place on its own.
Exhale, push the whole foot into the floor with the pressure through the mid-foot, and extend the knees and hips to stand back up; the heels stay down.
If you cannot stand up or the bar starts sliding off your shoulders, end that rep at once: leave your arms where they are, let the bar drop forward to the floor and step back, instead of fighting to hold it or grabbing for it.

Breathing

Inhale as you sit down, exhale as you stand up. If you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or are pregnant, do not hold your breath: exhale as you stand and keep the load very light, this is a technique drill.

Quick cues

Arms just hang there, don't grip the bar.
Push the shoulders forward to make the shelf.
Torso stays vertical on the way down.
Sit until the thigh touches the calf.
If the bar falls, let it go, don't grab for it.

Common faults

Fault: The shoulders not pushed forward enough, the bar rolling off the throat shelf
Fix: Drop to a very light bar and drill just the shoulder-forward standing position in a mirror before adding the squat.
Fault: The torso tipping forward on the way down into depth
Fix: Reduce the depth and drill facing a wall, keeping the chest up and eyes fixed on a spot at eye level.
Fault: The arms drooping or bending instead of staying straight at shoulder height
Fix: Rehearse with no bar first, holding just the arms straight at shoulder height through a bodyweight squat to build the habit.
Fault: Grabbing for the bar the moment it starts sliding off the shoulders
Fix: Let the arms stay down and let the bar fall forward to the floor right away; you are standing outside the rack with no pins to catch it, so do not try to save it by hand.

Equipment

barbell, squat_rack

Muscle groups

legs, core, calves, glutes