V-Squat Machine
The V-squat is a plate-loaded squat machine: you stand with your back and shoulders against pads and squat along a curved, guided path. It is a heavily loadable, quad-focused squat, with the glutes and adductors working too, and the machine takes balance out of the lift.
Also called: V Squat, Angled Hack Squat, Converging Hack Squat · Equipment: machine · Pattern: squat
Step by step
- Load the machine and set the shoulder pads so they sit firmly on top of your shoulders when you stand under them with your back against the pad.
- Step onto the platform with your feet about shoulder-width apart in the middle of the platform, toes turned out slightly.
- Stand up to take the weight, release the safety handles, and brace your trunk with your back flat against the pad.
- Bend your knees and hips to sink down under control, with your knees tracking in line with your toes.
- Go as deep as you can while your hips and back stay flat against the pad.
- Drive through your whole foot to stand back up, finishing with your knees straight but not snapped back.
- Breathe at the top if you need to, and re-brace before the next rep. After the last rep, re-engage the safety handles before stepping off the platform.
- Back and hips pinned to the pad
- Knees in line with your toes
- Sink deep under control
- Drive through your whole foot
- Big breath and brace before every rep
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Quadriceps: vastus lateralis | Prime mover | C |
| Quadriceps: vastus medialis | Prime mover | C |
| Quadriceps: rectus femoris | Secondary | C |
| Gluteus maximus | Secondary | C |
| Adductors | Secondary | C |
| Erector spinae | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Hips peeling off the pad at the bottom
Fix: Sink as deep as you can while your hips stay against the pad.
Knees caving inward
Fix: Push your knees out in line with your toes as you sink and as you drive up.
Heels lifting
Fix: Keep your whole foot flat, or set your feet a little higher on the platform.
Cutting the depth short
Fix: Sink to the deepest point you can reach with your hips on the pad, every rep.
Bouncing out of the bottom
Fix: Control the descent and drive up from a steady bottom position.
Foot position changing between sets
Fix: Note where your feet sit on the platform and set them there every time.
What the research says
Muscle growth · first choiceGeneral fitness · first choiceStrengthRehab & prehabEnduranceFat loss & conditioning
- Depth — A 10-week trial found full-depth squats grew the glutes and adductors more than half squats, while quad growth was similar with both depths.
- Range of motion — Reviews find full range of motion produces more leg muscle growth, and greater strength gains, than partial range.
- Load and effort — Research finds muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are taken close to failure, and sets that finish a few reps short of failure capture most of that benefit.
- Volume and frequency — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns. Training a muscle about twice a week is a common way to spread that volume.
- Rest — In trained lifters, rests of about 3 minutes between sets have produced greater strength and size gains than 1-minute rests.
- Machine and free-weight squats — An EMG study found a free-weight squat produced about 43% more overall muscle activity than a Smith machine squat at the same relative load. EMG measures activation, not growth, and no study compares the V-squat with a free squat.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the v-squat machine in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.