Including the right squat accessory exercise can revolutionise your squat training. They can help you get a bigger squat whilst also broadening the focus of your training programme. They can also be used to vary your training if you’re getting bored!
How to Choose the Right Squat Accessory Exercise
The right assistance exercise for your squat is one that allows you to continue training the squat pattern without detracting too much from your squat training by taking too much time or energy to perform. Depending on your programme, this might mean performing another variation of the squat or it might mean performing a completely distinct accessory exercise. Whichever you opt for, consistently completing your assistance exercises will reward you with a bigger squat long-term.
The key to choosing the right assistance exercises for a bigger squat is to look at your weaknesses. If you’re constantly failing the squat in a particular part of the movement, you may wish to work on that position more. Feeling unbalanced in the squat? You may need to work on your weight distribution and technique. If you just want to add more volume to the legs without a tonne of extra systemic fatigue, you may opt for isolation exercises.
The 1.5 Squat
The 1.5 squat is a brutal, but useful squat variation for building strength in the bottom half of the squat. If your squats fail close to the bottom of the lift, then this might be the best accessory exercise for your squat.
With this exercise you’ll be hitting the bottom of the squat twice for each rep that you do. This means you spend plenty of time on your deep squat strength. You can add pauses here or work on the timing of your bounce. I like to pause the first squat, and bounce on the second. Either way, these will guarantee a tough squat workout.
Best for: accomplished squatters, masochists.
Worst for: novice squatters, or those already performing higher volumes.
The Overhead Squat
The overhead squat is not the perfect fit for everyone. It requires patience, whole body strength and great mobility. It’s more commonly used by Olympic weightlifters, but it has some good utility for regular squat goals too.
Holding the barbell overhead forces you to keep the bar perfectly balanced over your centre of mass. This gives you a very narrow margin of error for your squat positioning. This also caps the weight you can use, which forces you to keep your accessory work conservative. This is a good addition when your main squat day(s) are feeling pretty heavy.
The overhead squat is a stimulating challenge if you’re only used to more traditional barbell movements. However, if you’re someone that needs a 10 minute warm-up just to be able to hit this position, then it’s probably not the best fit for you.
Best for: Olympic weightlifters, mobile novices, people looking for a skill challenge.
Worst for: advanced squatters, people with limited mobility.
Split Squat Variations
I’ve never met anyone who loves split squats, but they are an undeniably great way to build squat strength. They can mimic similar joint angles and ranges of motion, but without loading the body to the same extent. This can spare you the effort of bracing the whole body and loading the lower back as much. My favourite split squat variation is the front-foot elevated split squat.
Elevating the front foot helps you get into a deeper hip position and challenge the glutes more. However, you can also rock forwards into the lunge to push the knee over the toes. This will make the split squat feel harder on the quads. Both have their benefits, and allow you to work around any limitations you may be experiencing.
If you’re so strong in the legs that dumbbell split squats become a grip challenge before anything else, then you can use a barbell instead.
Best for: pretty much anyone.
Worst for: I can’t think of a group of people that should NOT do split squat variations. Sorry!
Isolated Quad Exercises
Training the quads in isolation may help you improve your squat strength without having to put a bar on your back for the third time in the week. The training transfer may not be as direct as they are with the other options here, but that’s actually a good thing. By doing something that is fairly removed from the squat movement, you get a chance to rest some of the supporting muscles and joints and break the monotony. In this instance, you can still train the knee joint while resting the hips and back.
The two obvious exercises that come to mind are leg extensions and reverse Nordics.
Reverse Nordics are a great exercise for training the quads in a deep stretched position. This can feel especially nice if the quads and patellar tendons are feeling cranky from heavy squatting.
Leg extensions are fairly straightforward as a machine exercise. My favourite thing about leg extensions is the ability to train the knee in it’s locked out position – something that doesn’t get trained much in squatting.
Again, neither of these exercises will carry the most direct benefit to the squat, but can be great for preserving your training when the other accessory exercises are a little too much.
Best for: Those who are already doing high-intensity/high volume squat work. People who have only ever squatted and never done isolation work.
Worst for: squatting novices – you probably just need to squat more.
Squat Accessory Exercise Conclusion
These exercises will all contribute to your squat in their own way. Try including one or two of them at a time and rotating them out every 3-6 months.
Note that accessory work isn’t the only way to unlock new squat gains. The way you design your training programme and practice squatting heavy will also have a huge impact. You can learn more about how I improved my squat using these methods.
Want to take your squats to the next level? Get in touch!