How to squat heavy without a squat rack ...

[Dreamliner]

Enter the Zercher Squat:



If you can deal with the elbow discomfort (varies from person to person, can be alleviated with padding, supposedly you get used to it), it offers these distinct advantages over the barbell squat:

(1) Less spinal compression since weight is not on shoulders.

(2) With weight low and in front, you can maintain a more upright posture.

(3) You can squat lower, really down into the hole.

It's what I would call a self-limiting exercise. You're constrained by a number of factors including how much you can deadlift, how much pressure your elbows can endure and how heavy you can go and still rise from a rock-bottom, dead-stop position.

I consider self-limiting a good thing. It means that in theory, at least, it is harder to hurt yourself.

[Dreamliner]

BTW, tried these with a mere 115 yesterday ... and my quads are quite sore for the first time in many months. I did each rep from a dead-stop.

[Allanon]

We did these the other night but the dumbbells we have were very hard to hold with our elbows so we just held it to our chest with our hands.

[Dreamliner]

Sounds like the old dumbbell curl squat. No, you can't hold much. But it's great for the core and preparatory for heavier squatting.