Quads exercise
Pendulum Squat (Machine)How to do it, with form in numbers
How to do it
How do you do the Pendulum Squat?
- Step in with your shoulders under the pads and back on the pad.
- Place your feet shoulder-width apart in the middle of the platform.
- Stand up, release the safety stop and bend your knees slowly.
- Lower until your thighs are about level with the floor.
- Push through your whole foot until your legs are almost straight.
Cues
- Keep your back on the pad.
- Knees in line with your toes.
- Soft knees at the top.
Common mistakes
- Letting your heels lift as the knees travel forward.
- Dropping fast into the bottom.
- Locking your knees straight at the top.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
The foot platform at the front is tilted toes-up by about 15°. Step in under the yoke, shoulders under the pads and upper back flat on the back pad. Feet in the middle of the platform, hip- to shoulder-width apart, toes turned out a little, whole foot flat. Stand up to lift the arm off the safety stop, release the stop and hold the yoke handles beside the shoulders.
The movement
Bend the knees and let the yoke ride down its arc. The shoulders travel almost straight down with a slight drift forward, so the knees travel well forward over the toes while the trunk stays fairly upright and the back stays on the pad. Knees stay in line with the feet. Lower until the hips are about level with the knees or a little below. Pause briefly, then push through the whole foot, heel and forefoot together, and drive the yoke back up the arc until the knees are nearly straight.
End position
Bottom: knees bent about 120°, thighs level or a little below, heels down, back on the pad. A 120° knee then puts the hip joint about 25 cm behind the ankle and 43 cm high, level with the knee, and a trunk 20° forward puts the shoulders about 90 cm up and 8 cm behind the ankle. Standing (knees 10°, trunk 10° back on the pad) the shoulders sit about 141 cm up and 15 cm behind the ankle.
Tempo
2 s down, 0.3 s pause at the bottom, 1.5 s up, 0.5 s at the top. The lowering matches the 2–3 s that NFPT asks for on the hack squat [1].
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foot platform tilt, toes up | 15° | 0–30° (machine) | |
| Stance, heel to heel | 1.0 × shoulder width | hip width to 1.2 × shoulder width | [1] |
| Toe-out, each foot | 10° | 0–20° | [2] |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 120° | 100–135° | [1] |
| Trunk lean back from vertical at the top | 10° | 5–15° (on the pad) | |
| Knee flexion at the top | 10° (soft knee) | 5–15° | [1] |
| Heel lift off the platform | 0 cm | 0 cm | [1][2] |
| Back lift off the pad | 0 cm | 0 cm | [1] |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Pendulum Squat is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- NFPT, How to Do Hack Squats
- Myer et al. 2014, Strength Cond J, "The back squat: a proposed assessment of functional deficits and technical factors that limit performance"
- Hobson 2004, US patent 6,802,800 B1, "Variable resistance squat exercise machine" (Pendulum Fitness, now Rogers Athletic)
- Primal Strength, Pendulum Squat (PSSS0123), product specification
