Why You Should Zurcher Squat

How to Perform a Zercher Squat

The Zercher squat is performed with the barbell held in-between the elbow joint crooks, with the hands either clasped or unclasped. Clasped is easier and more stable, unclasped is harder and requires more bicep strength and stability. 

This position of the arms is very similar to that of a boxer’s traditional high guard with the hands protecting the face.

Benefits of the Zercher Squat

The Zercher squat is one of the best, if not the best, squat variation for combat athletes. Because the bar is held at the front of the body and the movement requires a vertical upright position it doesn’t require a lot of mobility like the low bar squat does, allowing less mobile athletes to hit depth easier. 

There are also few exercises that overload the core more than front squats or Zercher squats due to the upright position throughout the squat, and the challenge to not hinge forwards under the weight. 

Zercher vs Front Squat 

I find the Zercher squat harder than the front squat to maintain good positioning because it requires more brute force and strength in my upper back and biceps to prevent me hinging forward, as opposed to having good mobility and less need for upper back strength and bicep strength in the front squat.

As mentioned, upper back strength is crucial for boxers so they can pull punches back to their guard quickly. Additionally, the rear delts and traps which are worked in the Zercher are shock absorbers when getting hit - strengthening these muscles will prevent the head moving as much on impact therefore reducing the amount the brain is shaken inside the skull, reducing long term damage. 

Because the biceps and upper back are working isometrically in the Zercher squat, the movement won’t promote muscle growth in the upper body, rather muscle strength and density. This is perfect because the biceps will normally take impact when punches are caught on the guard making it is very beneficial for athletes to increase the muscle density and strength in the biceps rather than the size. As most boxers will tell you, having big biceps is highly impractical for boxing as punching power is not produced from the biceps. 

Cons of the Zercher Squat

They can be painful to perform as there is a lot of weight and pressure on the crook of the arms. I would recommend putting a pad or wrap a jumper around the barbell when starting off to get used to the feeling. 

Furthermore, because of the upright position and having the barbell in front of the athlete there is not much use of the hamstrings and even less use of the lower back. It would be worth adding in additional lower back and hamstring exercises such as good mornings or Romanian deadlifts if you chose to do Zerchers as your main squat variation. 

In my opinion these are minor cons for how much you get out of doing Zerchers.