straddlyPendulum Squat
Muscles worked
Main muscles
- Rectus Femoris
- Vastus Intermedius
- Vastus Lateralis
- Vastus Medialis
Also working
- Adductor Magnus
- Gluteus Maximus
What it is
A machine squat where the back pad swings on an arc, keeping the torso upright and the knees traveling forward. It hammers the quads with a deep range and little lower-back stress. Go as deep as you can control.
Technique tips
- Set the feet mid-platform
- Let the knees travel forward
- Sink as deep as you can control
- Drive up without locking out hard
How to track your progress
Log the weight and reps of each set. Straddly turns every set into an estimated one-rep max, so a heavier single and a strong set of eight both count as progress, and it flags a personal record the moment you beat your best.
