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Barbell hack squat: the version without the machine

Also called: hack squat barbell, behind-the-back deadlift squat. All one movement, one page.

By

We compute it and we cite it. We do not test gear. How we know this.

Short answer

The old-school one. Bar on the floor BEHIND your heels, you squat down, grab it, and stand up. No machine required.

Pattern
Squat
Equipment
Barbell · Plates
Usual bar
45 lb / 20.4 kgOhio Power Bar, 45 lb

The kit this lift needs

Straight from this movement’s own equipment list. The spec pages below compare published figures across every model we have verified — no prices, no ratings, nothing we claim to have tested.

Gear for this lift

One verified model per piece of kit the barbell hack squat needs

One representative model per category, picked from the listings we have verified. Specs are the seller's published figures, read on the date printed on each card. We have not tested any of it, and there is no rating on this page because there is nothing to rate it against.

BarWeight is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure.

Barbells

Cap Pro Series 7 ft Olympic Barbell

B006R4EOWI
BarbellsCAP Barbell7 ft
Length
7 ft
Sleeve
2 in Olympic

Best for: A general-purpose 7 ft bar for a rack-and-plate home gym.

Skip if: You want a specific knurl or tensile rating — the listing does not publish those figures.

Check these yourself before ordering

  • — The actual bar weight, which the listing title does not state
  • — Shaft diameter and whether there is a centre knurl
  • — Loadable sleeve length against how many plates you own
View on Amazon

Specs read from the listing on 2026-07-24. Listings change — confirm the current spec and option before you order.

Plates

Amazon Basics 2-Inch Olympic Grip Weight Plates

B0DNS4B576
PlatesAmazon Basics2 in Olympic
Bore
2 in Olympic
Material
Cast iron

Best for: Iron plates for a rack-and-bar gym where nothing gets dropped.

Skip if: You deadlift on a floor you care about. Iron is not a bumper.

Check these yourself before ordering

  • — Which weights the option you selected actually contains
  • — Whether they are sold singly or in pairs
  • — Plate thickness against your sleeve length — see the bar data on this site
View on Amazon

Specs read from the listing on 2026-07-24. Listings change — confirm the current spec and option before you order.

Comparing the whole field before you buy is the better move. Each guide below picks for a named job and states the published spec that put it there:

Barbell hack squat setup

  1. 01Bar on the floor directly behind your heels.
  2. 02Feet hip to shoulder width, toes forward or slightly out.
  3. 03Squat down and grab the bar behind you, palms facing back, arms straight.
  4. 04Chest up, arms stay straight the whole time — they are hooks, nothing else.

How to do a barbell hack squat

  1. 01Brace and drive through your heels and mid-foot.
  2. 02Stand up, keeping the bar close to the back of your legs.
  3. 03Lock out, then sit back down under control until the plates touch.

How to load the bar for the barbell hack squat

Before the barbell hack squat is a rep, it is a number on the bar. Plates go on in pairs, one per sleeve, and the bar itself is part of the total — a 45 lb bar with a 45 on each side is 135 lb, not 90. This animation walks the three loads you will meet most often.

Our own render, modelled to the IPF bar spec and the published plate spec table.An original 3D animation showing how the three most common barbell loads are built. A 45 lb bar starts empty; a 45 lb plate slides onto each sleeve to make 135 lb, a second pair makes 225 lb, and a third pair makes 315 lb. The running total and the plates-per-side count are shown throughout. This is an illustration of a class of equipment, not footage of a specific product.Original animation by BarWeight — an illustration of this class of equipment, not footage of a specific product, and not a demonstration of how to perform a lift.

Need a different number? Run it through the plate math calculator.

Barbell hack squat video demonstration

Reading the steps only gets you so far, and a render cannot show you what a human body does under a bar. This is the barbell hack squat demonstrated by a coach, not by us — we did not make this video, we do not host it, and we do not earn anything from it.

Demonstration

How to Perform Barbell Hack Squats - Big Quads Exercise

Buff Dudes

How to Perform Barbell Hack Squats - Big Quads Exercise — Buff Dudes. Embedded from YouTube; this site did not produce the video.Long-running strength/bodybuilding coaching channel (Brothers Hodgin) with a large back catalog of exercise-specific how-to demonstrations; used here because no verified video from a top-tier powerlifting/weightlifting channel covering this less-common movement was found.

Common barbell hack squat errors

  • Bending the arms and trying to row it up.
  • Letting the bar drift away from your legs, which pitches you forward.
  • Going too heavy too early — grip usually gives out first.

Barbell hack squat: muscles worked

Primary

  • Quadriceps

Secondary

  • Gluteus maximus
  • Erector spinae
  • Forearm flexors (grip)

How we know: Standard functional anatomy — which joints move and which muscles cross them. Convention and reasoning, not a measured EMG result.

Barbell hack squat: what the evidence does and does not say

This is a genuine gap, and we would rather say so than fill it in. No EMG study of the BARBELL hack squat was located. Almost all hack squat research uses the machine, which is a mechanically different movement with a fixed path and a back pad. The muscle list here is standard functional anatomy only. Anybody quoting you precise activation percentages for this specific lift is quoting machine data.

How to program the barbell hack squat

Training convention: a quad-focused accessory, typically 3-4 sets of 8-12. Rarely a main lift. Grip is usually the limiter, so straps are common.

Rep ranges are training convention. They are what most lifters and coaches do, not a measured result, and nothing on this page is medical advice.

Run the numbers

Knowing the lift is half of it. The other half is loading the bar correctly.

Questions people actually ask

▶Is the barbell hack squat the same as the machine version?

No. The machine fixes the bar path and supports your back; the barbell version is free, loaded behind your heels, and demands balance and grip. Research on the machine does not transfer cleanly to the barbell.

▶Where does the bar go for a barbell hack squat?

On the floor directly behind your heels. You squat down, grab it with palms facing back and arms straight, then stand up keeping it close to the back of your legs.

▶Why does my grip give out on hack squats?

Because your arms are just hooks holding a heavy bar behind you with no help from the rest of the body. Grip is usually the limiter before your legs are, which is why straps are common on this lift.

Same pattern, different lift

All barbell exercises

Sources

No study is cited for this movement because none was verified for it. The description above is mechanical instruction and standard functional anatomy. We would rather tell you the shelf is empty than put something on it.

How this page is built and what we will and will not claim: read the methodology.