Zercher Squat

[Leonardo Cavaleiro]

Hello, I recently watched a video of UFC athlete Jon Jones performing Zercher Squats with 435 pounds for 5 reps, while making it sound like it was a really big accomplishment.
Would like to hear your guys opinion on it, and if or when it has a valid place in a strength training program.

Have a nice day!

[AndrewLewis]

Zercher squats do not really have a place in general strength training. I could imagine a strongman wanting to use them for some specific event, but that's not something I'm familiar with.

The fact that Jon Jones uses Zercher squats doesn't mean much. He should still be squatting, pressing, deadlifting, and benching to get stronger.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Phil Anderson at WFAC still holds the world record of 500 at 198, set in 1989, I think. Never trained for it, just squatted, benched, and deadlifted. He did a 500 Steinborn the same day. Tell Jon that Phil says hello.

[Leonardo Cavaleiro]

The description in the post was "Old dog in the yard showing what grown man strength looks like". Context is he is moving up to the heavyweight class of the UFC.. However, as I get to know more about strength training, his numbers don't seem that impressive and I wonder what is the reasoning for not just doing normal low-bar squats with proper form instead of this specific form.

[AndrewLewis]

Seems like a marketing play.

"grown man strength" That's hilarious.

[Satch12879]

I wonder what is the reasoning for not just doing normal low-bar squats with proper form instead of this specific form.

Um, showing off? Isn't that what 99% of UFC is?

[Lost and Found]

I never knew a Zercher squat existed but I did see a skinny guy doing them at the gym. I thought he just made it up because he never did back squats of any kind.

Was the Steinborn invented by someone without a rack?