Category: Supplemental and Accessory

Muscles Targeted: Hamstrings and Lower Back

Exercise Description: This exercise helped Matt Dimel increase his squat from the mid-800’s to over 1000 pounds in a two year period. To perform this exercise, grab a barbell with an overhand grip, hands about shoulder-width apart. Pull the bar up to a standing position.


At this point, arch your back and get your abs tight. Keep the back as arched as possible, push the glutes out, and keep the knees slightly bent. Lower the bar by pushing your body weight back onto your heals while pushing your glutes out. Try to lower the barbell to a position just past the knees. At this point you should feel a tremendous stretch in the glutes and hamstrings.

Raise by contracting your glutes first. At the top of the movement, contract the glutes as hard as possible. Perform the exercise in a ballistic fashion. You want to drop to the midpoint position and explode back to the starting position. This is best trained with moderate weight for sets of 15-20 reps.

Training Mistakes

• Going too low. Make sure to keep the tension on the hamstrings.

• Not pushing the hips and glutes back. This is also to keep the stress on the hamstrings.

• Rounding the back. Keep your back arched to help keep the stress on the hamstrings.

• Using a slow tempo. This movement is designed to be trained fast. You'll begin with a slow tempo and build the speed up with each additional repetition.

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Dave Tate