Hack Squat
The hack squat is a machine squat where you stand on an angled platform with pads on your shoulders and squat along a fixed sled. It is a quad builder, with the glutes and hamstrings assisting. The back support and fixed path let you go deep and heavy on the quads.
Muscles worked
The hack squat trains the quadriceps, with glutes, hamstrings helping.
Primary
Helpers
Weekly sets for quadriceps
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for quadriceps, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the hack squat
- 01Step in with your back flat against the pad and shoulders snug under the shoulder pads.
- 02Place your feet shoulder width apart in the middle of the platform, slightly lower for more quads.
- 03Release the safety handles and stand tall with your core braced.
- 04Squat down until your thighs are at least parallel to the platform, letting your knees travel forward.
- 05Drive back up through your whole foot until your knees are almost straight.
- 06Re-engage the safety handles at the end of the set.
Coaching cues
- Back flat on the pad
- Knees forward, sit deep
- Push the platform away
Common mistakes
- Placing your feet too high on the platform shifts work to the glutes, so set them mid to low for quad focus.
- Cutting depth short to move more weight shortchanges the quads, so lower the load and squat deep.
- Letting your heels lift at the bottom loses balance and pressure, so keep your whole foot planted.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers compound lifts toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Hack Squat alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Free programs that use it
Ready-made splits from the Swole.fit library. Pick one and the app runs the progression.
- Leg Specialization4 days a week, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes
- Squat Science4 days a week, quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings
- Leg Destroyer5 days a week, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes
- Arnold Split Plus6 days a week, chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps
- Cardio Hater6 days a week, chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, forearms, traps, lats, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, hip flexors, adductors, abs, obliques, lower back
- Leg Apocalypse6 days a week, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your hack squat free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.