Reverse Hack Squat
By turning around to face the machine, your torso stays braced against the pad while you squat along the fixed track, letting you push heavy without balancing the load. Facing in lets the knees travel freely for strong quad recruitment and gives the glutes a big stretch at depth. It's a great machine option when free squats aggravate the lower back.
- Equipment
- Machine
- Type
- Strength
- Browse by muscle
- Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis
- Browse by movement
- Squat
- Target
- Rectus Femoris, Vastus Lateralis
- Secondary
- Gluteus Maximus, Adductor Magnus
- Tertiary
- Erector Spinae
How to do it
- 1
Load the sled and step in facing the back pad, chest and hips against the support.
- 2
Set your feet shoulder-width on the platform with toes slightly out and shoulders under the pads.
- 3
Release the safety handles and brace your trunk against the pad.
- 4
Bend the knees and hips to lower the sled under control until the thighs reach at least parallel.
- 5
Keep the whole foot in contact with the platform throughout.
- 6
Drive back up through the midfoot without locking the knees hard at the top.
Tips
- Press your chest into the pad so your lower back stays supported the entire set.
- Push the knees out in line with the toes as you descend to keep tension even.
- Control the lowering phase, the fixed track tempts people to drop fast and bounce.
Variations
Common mistakes
- Hands grab the safety handles during the set, and a knock against a catch mid-rep locks the sled where you least want it; hold the frame instead.
- The feet get set where they sit facing outward, but turning around changes the shin angle; walk them a few inches higher until the knees track over the toes with the heels flat.
- The pelvis rocks under at the bottom as you chase a deeper stretch; end the descent an inch above the point where the hips start to curl.
- Stepping out mid-set is much harder facing the pad, so practice racking the sled on the catches with a light load before you go heavy.
Frequently asked
- How many sets and reps of the reverse hack squat should I do?
- Three sets of ten to fifteen with a slow descent suit this better than heavy triples, because the value sits in the loaded stretch at the bottom rather than the top-end weight. Expect to use less than you do facing outward, since the range is longer and the hips travel further. Rest 90 seconds to two minutes and end each set two reps before your chest starts leaving the pad.
- What can I use instead of a reverse hack squat machine?
- A leg press with a high foot placement gives a similar glute stretch with the back supported. A deep goblet squat, or a Smith machine squat with the feet set forward, also lets the hips travel without balance being the limit. At home, a heels-elevated squat holding a weight at the chest with a pause at the bottom is the nearest thing, though nothing fully replaces having the torso braced on a pad.
- What is the reverse hack squat good for?
- It trains the quads and gives the glutes a big stretch under load while the pad carries your torso, so it is a useful leg builder for people whose lower backs object to free squats. It is a poor choice if the machine's pads do not fit your proportions, since a chest on the pad with the hips off it leaves the low back unsupported, and deep knee flexion under load is the wrong place to be if your knees hurt at the bottom of a squat.
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