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Anderson Squat

Unlike a pin squat, an Anderson squat starts every rep from the bottom: the bar sits on the pins, you get set underneath it, and your very first move is to stand up with no eccentric and no stored energy. That trains raw concentric power from the hardest position and is brilliant for lifters who stall coming out of the hole. Set the pins at your true sticking depth to attack the exact spot that fails.

Equipment
Barbell
Body part
Quads
Type
Strength
Browse by movement
Squat
Muscles worked
Target
Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis
Secondary
Gluteus Maximus, Adductor Magnus, Erector Spinae
Tertiary
Biceps Femoris, Upper Rectus Abdominals

How to do it

  1. 1

    Set the safety pins in the rack so the bar sits at your target squat depth.

  2. 2

    Set your feet in a shoulder-width stance on a marked spot, then duck under the bar and set it across the traps.

  3. 3

    Sink into position under the bar and build full tension while it rests on the pins.

  4. 4

    Take a big breath, brace hard, and drive straight up from the dead stop to standing.

  5. 5

    Lower back down under control until the bar settles fully onto the pins.

  6. 6

    Let it rest and rebuild tension before pressing up into the next rep.

Tips

  • Start the rep from a genuine dead stop; do not rock or bounce the bar off the pins.
  • Get maximally braced before the first drive, since there is no eccentric to help you tighten up.
  • Position the pins at the exact height you struggle with rather than defaulting to parallel.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • The stance gets set after ducking under the bar, so the feet end up staggered and there is no walkout in which to fix them. Mark the spot and step into it before the bar touches your back.
  • Pins get set below the depth you can actually reach, and the first inch becomes a range you have never trained. Put them at your true bottom or a touch above it.
  • The bar gets stood up first out of habit, which makes this a normal squat with a pin finish rather than a lift that starts from the bottom.
  • Loading it from your best squat, when a start with no eccentric behind it usually costs ten to twenty percent. If the bar has not moved in the first second, it is not going to.
  • The bar sits off-center across the traps because there is no walkout in which to notice, and one side lifts before the other. Check the knurl marks every time it comes back down.

Frequently asked

How should I program the Anderson squat, and what should I be able to do first?
Squat comfortably to depth and be able to build a hard brace on command first, because there is no eccentric here to tighten you up. Then work in the three to five rep range for four or five sets at roughly 80 percent of what you would squat for the same reps, once a week, resting three minutes. Rebuild the brace on the pins between every rep instead of rolling into the next one. Run it for three or four weeks against one sticking point, then take the pins away and retest.
What can I do instead of the Anderson squat if my rack has no pins?
Safety arms or straps set at the same height do the same job. Without either, a box squat where you settle fully onto the box and relax the hips before standing is the closest match. A paused squat with a three-second stop at the bottom trains a similar dead position, though it keeps some of the stretch reflex that the Anderson removes. On machines, a leg press with a full stop at the bottom of each rep gets you a comparable dead start.
What is the Anderson squat for, and who is not ready for it?
Every rep starts from a dead stop at the bottom, so it trains raw drive out of the hole with no bounce to hide behind, which is what a lifter who stalls down there needs, and the pin height lets you attack one position at a time. It is a poor choice for a beginner: the setup is fiddly, the brace has to be right before the first inch moves, and there is no eccentric to tell you where you are. It is not a size builder either, since the reps are few and half of each rep is missing.

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