Yes, there is a free weight alternative to a hack squat machine. Is there a free weight alternative to a hack squat machine? If you’ve had knee issues in the past, I’d avoid hack squats almost entirely – certainly heavy ones.Īs I’ve mentioned in previous articles, machines don’t improve athleticism and movement efficiency, so if your goal is to be more athletic, hack squats won’t help you much.įinally, hack squats are part of the squat family, and the benefits of squats are abundant. If you think back to my article on whether Smith Machines are dangerous, one of the issues raised was that Smith Machine squats don’t activate the hamstrings much so can potentially cause knee instability issues. Thus, reducing their overall effectiveness and perhaps making them dangerous for people with knee issues.Īt the risk of getting a little geeky here (but hey, you come here for proper information, so I’m giving it to you), this is important because lower activation of the hamstrings is important for knee stability.Ĭonclusions drawn from this research back up findings from previous research showing that trunk activation in the back squat was greater than the hack squat despite the same relative loads. When a myriad of squat patterns were studied, researchers found that the hack squat had the lowest activation of the erector spinae (back muscle) and semitendinosus (muscle in the hamstrings). In my opinion though, even factoring these benefits in there are better alternative squat patterns. The lack of trunk engagement can help lifters with back issues.There’s little/no technique required because it’s a machine movement.Lifting to failure is OK because it’s machine based and is unlikely to cause any harm.In the interest of fairness and balance, despite my initial criticism of hack squats there are a few benefits I can point towards… There are fans of the hack squat who will disagree with my claim that it’s a reverse leg press, but I’ve studied this extensively and I’m yet to find any evidence, biomechanically or otherwise, that disputes my claim.
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