Zottman Squats for Targeting Quad Strength. Front squats down, back squats up.

Опубликовано: 04 Июль 2026
на канале: Nick Nilsson - the Mad Scientist of Muscle
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This combination exercise is going to work your legs big time...primarily targeting the quads.

I like to refer to this as the legs version of the Zottman Curl. If you're not familiar with that exercise, it's a combination exercise where you do a regular dumbbell curl on the way up (the stronger of the two exercises), then rotate your forearms around and do a reverse curl negative on the way down (the weaker of the two exercises).

The purpose of this is to overload the flexors of your upper arm (biceps and brachialis) within the same exercise. Because the reverse curl is a "weaker" movement, the weight you can do for a regular is generally good for a negative-focused rep on the reverse curl.

This is a squat version of this concept. I like to refer to it as a "Zottman" Squat because the concept is essentially the same, just applied to squatting.

You'll need a power rack to perform this combination exercise.

You're doing to do Front Squat negatives, setting the bar on the rails at the bottom, then ducking under and doing an Anderson Squat off the rails to get the bar back to the top position.

The back squat in this method is primarily used to quick and easily return the bar back to the hooks to reset for the front squat negative (which is the primary focus). The weight you're using for front squat negatives will not be enough to really challenge the lower body on back squats, since the load is distributed over more muscles.

It's a very simple concept that is going to hit your quads in a very targeted way.

Aim for 4-6 reps of this in total. If you can do more than 6 reps, you're not using enough weight. Repeat for 2-3 sets in total with at least 2 minutes rest in between sets.

This one is very simple to set up and perform and extremely effective for building strength and mass in the legs.

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Discover Arnold's "squatting in the woods" trick for monster thighs... (best squat workout you'll ever do)
https://www.fitstep.com/2/time-volume...

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