The pendulum squat runs on an arc rather than a straight rail, so the sled swings through a curve that keeps the resistance steady across the whole rep instead of spiking at the bottom. It sits between a hack squat and a free squat: your feet stay flat and your hips travel like a real squat, but the machine still holds the path for you.
How to do it
- The arc keeps you in balance, so you can focus on depth rather than staying upright.
- Control the descent — the machine will happily drop you faster than you want.
Common mistakes
- Treating the guided path as permission to add weight faster than your knees adapt.
What it trains
- Quads
- extend the knees through a long, evenly loaded range — the prime mover
- Glutes
- extend the hips out of the bottom, more so the deeper the arc takes you
- Hamstrings
- assist at the hip and control the descent
- Abs
- brace against the back pad through the turnaround
Variations and alternatives
Common questions
What is the difference between a pendulum squat and a hack squat?
The path. A hack squat runs on a straight angled rail, so the hardest point is deep in the hole; a pendulum swings on an arc, which evens the resistance out and usually feels better at the bottom. Loads are not comparable between the two.
Why does the weight feel lighter than on a hack squat?
Because the arc changes the leverage — the plates on a pendulum are usually further from the pivot, so a given number on the machine is not the same as the same number on a hack squat or a leg press. Keep it as a separate exercise in StackUp and let it progress on its own numbers.
How deep should I go on a pendulum squat?
As deep as you can while your heels stay down and your lower back stays against the pad. The arc lets most people go deeper here than on a hack squat, which is much of the reason the machine exists.
In StackUp. Logged as weight and reps per set, and your heaviest working set decides whether the weight goes up next time. Get the app.
Legs
