Hack Squat Positioning

by Atomic Athletic on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 5:10pm

Did you try the Hack Lift last night? If so, then if you didn't know it before, you do now. The Hack Lift is very different from both the standard deadlift and the clean pull.

Let's look at body types first. All of my tips are based on personal experience. I am a life long natural lifter who is 40 years old. While I am a short guy, I have a fairly normal skeletal structure for limb length ratios. Which is actually somewhat unusual, but great for commenting on lifting technique. If you are one of those ape arm guys, you have a serious advantage in the Hack Lift and most of this Atomic Athletic Bomb Proof Bulletin won't apply to you. Now, the rest of the world can keep reading.

I have found the most important concept for the Hack Lift is arm length. Since we can't increase the length of our arms, we can maximize what god gave us. You want to grab the bar with a hand placement that is at a genuine shoulder width. For most lifters, this is actually a little narrower than the grip you use for a power clean. This also leads to a narrower foot position with almost parallel feet.

Technique Benefit

Many lifters engage the biceps during a deadlift, clean or power clean. Also, as you lift, don't pull with the biceps. In fact, you will find it very difficult to pull with the biceps in a Hack Lift. When I am teaching the power clean, I will sometimes have the lifter do a complex like this, Hack Lift, Power Clean, Power Clean before moving into full cleans or heavy clean pulls.

Try that complex in your next workout and you might find that actually have a much easier time staying over the bar in your cleans and power cleans.

Enjoy,

Roger LaPointe

“Today is a good day to lift.”