I've never really thought about a zerchers as being an easy movement to learn, but now that I think of it, you're 100% right. I'm gonna start to implement it with my younger athletes.
Definitely true from my experience. Because of a lack of hip mobility and tight adductors it was impossible for me to do backsquats, I wasn't even going to parallel. I decided to practice zercher squats and it was like full ROM. They helped me a lot. Now as I worked a lot on mobility to practice some oly weightlifting I can back or front without any problem but at the time zerchers were the heaviest squats I ever trained, even if my backsquat will get heavier soon.
Once it got to the point that I felt tingling in my right hand (specifically my thumb if I remember correctly) hours after doing sets for a zercher lift, I thought to heck with it and bought a pad to put on the bar. Adapting to a zercher lift wasn’t worth damaging nerves and having a tingling feeling in my hand. Same with front squats. During high school, it would hurt the right side of my collarbone and to this day I still don’t do them. Back squat was the only lift I adapted to. At first it hurt my upper back but, eventually I did get used to it and it’s been pain free to put a bar on my upper back ever since. Maybe if I built big enough shoulders and upper chest I could do front squats.
Possibly! My older (and very poorly made) videos were longer. About 3-5 minutes but the analytics showed that most people stop watching after the first 90 seconds so I decided to shorten them down. The shorter ones also force me to get to the point and not talk about unnecessary things that don’t really matter either.
I just tried the Zercher Squat for the first ever and I really like it. It’s more lower back friendly than the front and back squat too since the load is lower and closer into your as well as it’s not on top of your shoulders.
Hey from Australia Will! Came across your Insta and was stoked to see you doing heavy Zerchers. I love them and see almost no one else doing them in the gym. Gets some strange looks from people but the full body engagement, especially in the upper back/traps, is unreal. Their loss I guess. Keep doing you mate!
Nothing like carrying a heavy barbell doing this movement. But yes the front squat creates a big moment arm like high bar. So it's easier to over load the Zercher if desired.
This video is great In that it fires out straight to the “points” It’s like bait on a hook But now I’m hooked I want more , and these points to be expanded in length and expounded in detail I’m a newbie to squatting . I have terrible ankle mobility and long femurs and maybe narrow hip sockets . Not a good combo, but I’m having fun using squat wedges, using wider stances and filming myself to get better form I had my best squat experience this week by using a 20lb garden slab held out in front of me as a counter balance to allow me to have a more upright torso and get close to or below parallel It felt excellent and I felt really stable and in control So for some of I think the safety bar squat , front squat and zercher squat are really interesting and exciting to research and experiment with
I was always afraid of Zercher squats because they looked like they would kill your arms but after seeing you do them in a number of videos I tried them and now I love them.
I tried zerchers yesterday for the first time because I have been dealing with really bad low back/upper butt pain. Right away I noticed that I must've not been bracing incorrectly with traditional low back squats because my abs are extremely sore today, despite doing half the weight I did with back squats. I will also try zercher RDL's, I didn't even think of that.
Zercher squats really hurt my elbows and I couldn’t even extend my elbow for a week. I used padding one time before and it didn’t help. Imma give it another try though because it seems I could squat more if I overcome the pain barrier
Just do 60% capacity as a rehab/prehab autoregulated movement and save your 80% intensity for a more agreeable compound lift. You don't need to kill your arm with the zercher, there's just a max effort zercher lift culture rn which isn't sustainable for a lifter starting that lift in their 20's and continuing regularly for decades to come.
hello. how long do you guys get used to the pain? ive been holding 100 lbs for up to a minute everyday for three weeks now and it still hurts a lot. im kinda getting discouraged.
dude do you have any tips for bruises … i can zuerched deadlift 405 but i want to do like 315 for reps but i always get bruises literally my whole forarms are dead - also knee sleeves and hoodie dosnt work for me
This videos are so informative thank you! When it comes to hitting your minimums and you're doing any sprinting, jumping or power movements with strength work do you find doing the strength work before or after would be more beneficial or is it case by case depending on what you need to improve more?
I don’t think it really matters either way. The text books would say sprint first and I would usually agree with that for most people. But over the course of years and years of training, there wouldn’t be any noticeable difference. I think sprinting can potentiate lifting, and lifting can potentiate sprinting, it’s all dependent on the dose.
@@willratelle8027 You kind of remind me of what I think my son might look like when he is older Age 15 About 6 foot 3 About 17 stone Ankles 11.5 inch Calves 19.0 inch I think he is genetically blessed in the leg department. He sits and plays video games , doesn’t exercise or workout although he has just taken an interest He’s got a fair bit of body fat on him but his calves and ankles are dense and solid , not much fat at all Your calf’s reminded me of his
Your zercher strength is ridiculously impressive,
For real the guy has over 500 lbs on his forearms
Yeah, over 5 plates for reps easy, holy hell
I've never really thought about a zerchers as being an easy movement to learn, but now that I think of it, you're 100% right. I'm gonna start to implement it with my younger athletes.
Front squat are badass but Zercher are the badass version of front squat.
It's a full body workout.
Incorporating zerchers into my training this past year was one of the best things I ever did. Criminally underrated exercise💯💪
Dude is strong as fuck. Also zercher safer if you fall baxkwards lol
Holy fucking shit thats some insane zercher squats.
Gonna add zombie front squat and this cus WHY TF NOT. Gym is a playground for me
Definitely true from my experience. Because of a lack of hip mobility and tight adductors it was impossible for me to do backsquats, I wasn't even going to parallel. I decided to practice zercher squats and it was like full ROM. They helped me a lot. Now as I worked a lot on mobility to practice some oly weightlifting I can back or front without any problem but at the time zerchers were the heaviest squats I ever trained, even if my backsquat will get heavier soon.
Real. I've been doing these for almost a year and they also offer amazing hypertrophy value on top of strength gains - they thicken up the yoke tons!
Zercher is pretty badass imo
My favorite part of this video is the voice crack at the end of it lol!!!
Lol
I don't think I've seen anyone else do this kind of weight with zero padding, happy to see it as someone who just started doing zerchers
Best zercher video on UA-cam.
👊👊
Never thought to use it to teach hinging, brilliant! Love how concise all your videos are. Thank you
Wow I never thought of that for teaching RDLs genius thank you ❤
I'm a huge snowboarding fan and now after seeing your videos its back to the drawing boards as far as training...
Once it got to the point that I felt tingling in my right hand (specifically my thumb if I remember correctly) hours after doing sets for a zercher lift, I thought to heck with it and bought a pad to put on the bar. Adapting to a zercher lift wasn’t worth damaging nerves and having a tingling feeling in my hand. Same with front squats. During high school, it would hurt the right side of my collarbone and to this day I still don’t do them. Back squat was the only lift I adapted to. At first it hurt my upper back but, eventually I did get used to it and it’s been pain free to put a bar on my upper back ever since. Maybe if I built big enough shoulders and upper chest I could do front squats.
Very handy to perform more than twice a week if you’re able to perform pain free. I do recommend wearing a sweatshirt while performing this lift
Remarkable strength! Unfortunately I injured my arm doing these so I now do safety bar squats which are a monster quad killer also.
Damn, 5 and a half plates for your zercher squats??
Would love more and longer zercher content
Great insights as always, man! I have always tought that teaching hinge patterns with zercher is ten times easy.
It gave me inspiration to try some zercher variation, never heard a better zercher good morning argument!
Great video. Definitely a good squat technique for people with an easily inflamed lower back or easy to tweak lower back.
Yo Will! Would you ever make longer content? I’m praying for the day you make longer training and talking head vids man!
Possibly!
My older (and very poorly made) videos were longer. About 3-5 minutes but the analytics showed that most people stop watching after the first 90 seconds so I decided to shorten them down. The shorter ones also force me to get to the point and not talk about unnecessary things that don’t really matter either.
Pretty useful actually. I've always had a really hard time doing front squats. Will try Zerchers.
I just tried the Zercher Squat for the first ever and I really like it. It’s more lower back friendly than the front and back squat too since the load is lower and closer into your as well as it’s not on top of your shoulders.
Hey from Australia Will! Came across your Insta and was stoked to see you doing heavy Zerchers. I love them and see almost no one else doing them in the gym. Gets some strange looks from people but the full body engagement, especially in the upper back/traps, is unreal. Their loss I guess. Keep doing you mate!
Nothing like carrying a heavy barbell doing this movement. But yes the front squat creates a big moment arm like high bar. So it's easier to over load the Zercher if desired.
This video is great In that it fires out straight to the “points”
It’s like bait on a hook
But now I’m hooked I want more , and these points to be expanded in length and expounded in detail
I’m a newbie to squatting . I have terrible ankle mobility and long femurs and maybe narrow hip sockets . Not a good combo, but I’m having fun using squat wedges, using wider stances and filming myself to get better form
I had my best squat experience this week by using a 20lb garden slab held out in front of me as a counter balance to allow me to have a more upright torso and get close to or below parallel
It felt excellent and I felt really stable and in control
So for some of I think the safety bar squat , front squat and zercher squat are really interesting and exciting to research and experiment with
I was always afraid of Zercher squats because they looked like they would kill your arms but after seeing you do them in a number of videos I tried them and now I love them.
They make a triangular pad for zercher squatting that really helps.
I tried zerchers yesterday for the first time because I have been dealing with really bad low back/upper butt pain. Right away I noticed that I must've not been bracing incorrectly with traditional low back squats because my abs are extremely sore today, despite doing half the weight I did with back squats. I will also try zercher RDL's, I didn't even think of that.
Helps me in mma and jiujitsu 🎉
This man is very strong
could you make a video talking about mobility either in specific sessions or complements in training or its importance
A side view would also be great to see your depth and back posture/angle
Greetings from Scotland 🏴
I use them mostly as an ab exercise.
Good content bro, heavy lifting too
Your knee tracking seems better on the zerchers than with the front squat
Zercher squats really hurt my elbows and I couldn’t even extend my elbow for a week. I used padding one time before and it didn’t help. Imma give it another try though because it seems I could squat more if I overcome the pain barrier
Just don’t be soft
@@jordanosborne2026 thanks
ITS A MINDSET
@@jordanosborne2026 😭😭😭😭😭😭
Just do 60% capacity as a rehab/prehab autoregulated movement and save your 80% intensity for a more agreeable compound lift. You don't need to kill your arm with the zercher, there's just a max effort zercher lift culture rn which isn't sustainable for a lifter starting that lift in their 20's and continuing regularly for decades to come.
they fucking hurt!!! especially at 405...
i like em but how do you make it hurt less on the elbow 😢 front is way more comfy but i don't have a squat rack
Just deal with it
@@willratelle8027 i mean i can but if i want to perform better that's bad advice
@@musikalniyfanboichik it’s the best advice
Zerchers are fun! Who cares if they are overrated
He said under
I can only front squat 225 max, but I can zercher deadlift 275 from the floor up to the squat rack.
hello. how long do you guys get used to the pain? ive been holding 100 lbs for up to a minute everyday for three weeks now and it still hurts a lot. im kinda getting discouraged.
Just gotta push through it. Having some muscle around that area helps also
dude do you have any tips for bruises … i can zuerched deadlift 405 but i want to do like 315 for reps but i always get bruises literally my whole forarms are dead - also knee sleeves and hoodie dosnt work for me
This videos are so informative thank you!
When it comes to hitting your minimums and you're doing any sprinting, jumping or power movements with strength work do you find doing the strength work before or after would be more beneficial or is it case by case depending on what you need to improve more?
I don’t think it really matters either way. The text books would say sprint first and I would usually agree with that for most people. But over the course of years and years of training, there wouldn’t be any noticeable difference. I think sprinting can potentiate lifting, and lifting can potentiate sprinting, it’s all dependent on the dose.
@@willratelle8027 thank you so much 👍
hi will, any preference on zercher squats vs zercher deads for grappling/mma? thanks legend
I think they are both good. I wouldn’t necessarily prioritize one over the other. Just do both consistently.
Do u have pains in forarms when u do high loads? Its there some way to avoid that or its Just the Thing of getting used on it?
You just have to get used to it
@@willratelle8027 In other words anyway lol!
RAAHHHH
🔥
Nice voice crack bro
Are you able to zercher or back squat more weight?
Back squat. But my Zercher is close
Use soft pads or even the back squat pads on the elbow for protection and comfort 💪
👎
What’s your calf measurement? I’m curious
I have no idea
@@willratelle8027
You kind of remind me of what I think my son might look like when he is older
Age 15
About 6 foot 3
About 17 stone
Ankles 11.5 inch
Calves 19.0 inch
I think he is genetically blessed in the leg department. He sits and plays video games , doesn’t exercise or workout although he has just taken an interest
He’s got a fair bit of body fat on him but his calves and ankles are dense and solid , not much fat at all
Your calf’s reminded me of his
@@ourclarioncall I’m only 5’10 though lol
@@willratelle8027 really ?! You look really tall to me, I would have guessed well over 6 foot
Are you natty
Yes
Lots of false info here.