Crushing Weight for Colossal Quads

by: Josh Bryant

Josh pushing Kyle Cavnar on Hatfield Overload Squats.

Back in ’94, I found myself in the heart of Whitehouse, Tennessee, payin’ a visit to my uncle Dennis. Little did I know, I was about to meet some cat they called “Coach,” and let me tell ya, he was a total classic.

Now, Coach, he was a Vietnam Vet, with a flattop higher and tighter than a drumhead, and a reputation for chasin’ skirts that rivaled the fastest race cars in Nashville. I was just a 13-year-old kid, wide-eyed and curious, when I strolled into that weight room.

There stood Coach, perched on a bench, a big ol’ pinch of Copenhagen dip in his mouth, sportin’ the classic football bike shorts that’d make a grown man blush. And what was he doin’? Givin’ a lecture, of all things, to a bunch of bewildered hillbilly dudes.

Coach was preachin’ the good word about dianabol, swearin’ up and down that it was safer than aspirin. Every other word out of his mouth was a cussword, and he muttered somethin’ about the aerobics instructor eyeing’ him like he was a prime cut of Tennessee beef.

It truly was a sight to behold. Coach had a way with words that could make a sailor blush, and he had those boys hangin’ on his every cuss-laden syllable. It was like a Southern-fried Shakespearean drama right there in that YMCA weight room.

So, that’s how I met Coach, the man, the myth, the legend. 

Coach’s legs were ridiculously muscular, no competition. He’d whip out that safety squat bar like it was a magic wand. Veins? More like highways on those bike shorts! And the growling? Sounded like a grizzly bear in the weight room. At 50, he scared off 20 and 30-something bodybuilders. Why? Hatfield Overload Squats, baby! Coach preached it like gospel, with Dr. Fred Hatfield as his deity.

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Hatfield Overload Squat

The Hatfield overload squat is the cadillac of squat variations to maximize thigh development while keeping lower back pain at bay.

This movement was a beloved weapon in the leg training arsenal of Branch Warren, whom many bodybuilding pundits consider having the greatest set of wheels in the history of bodybuilding.

Hatfield overload squats are executed with the safety squat bar, affectionately known as the Hatfield bar due to the endorsement of my late mentor, Dr. Fred Hatfield.

Execution 

When performing Hatfield overload squats, your hands are not holding the bar. Ideally, these are designated handles, but plenty of lifters opt for using an additional barbell on the opposite rack or just grab the rack itself with a show of strength. Strong athletes will have to use massive poundage to get the most out of squats, and sometimes these enormous loads cause “rounding” of the back, which is way too common and places large amounts of unnecessary stress on intervertebral discs.

Hatfield overload squats eliminate this! 

The athlete exerts pressure against the power rack by grasping the handles and thus maintaining a straight back throughout the entire squatting motion. Using the hands to self-spot prevents one from falling forward or backward.

Squats are king!

But even kings have their faults.

Traditional straight bar squatting forces athletes to use a load that they can handle in the weakest position. This results in using an inadequate amount of weight in the strongest position of the squatting motion.

With the safety bar squat, when the “sticking point” is reached, the hands can be used to help pull through it while maintaining optimal form. Furthermore, this will enable one to work with heavier weights in the ranges of movement where one is strongest and it give help in the weakest positions.

Basically, you get the advantage of continuous tension on the muscle throughout the entire range of motion like a cable offers, but while squatting! 

Compounded by the fact that one needn’t use their hands to hold the bar on the shoulders eliminates wrist, shoulder and elbow discomfort, and that’s a good thing.

The pad on the safety bar ads an element of comfort; heavy squatting is not about comfort, but it certainly doesn’t take away from the experience.

Because you can use your hands to regulate body position, your posture under the bar can be adapted to suit your leverages so that you can literally “tailor” your squatting style to afford maximum overload.

Want to take thigh development to the next level?

Try Hatfield squats!

Here is an example of a leg session with hatfield overload squats:

Exercise/Sets/Reps

Hatfield Overload Squats/3/ 4, 6, 8

Bulgarian Dbell Squats/2/12

Romanian Deadlift/3/6

Sissy Squats 3/15

Seated Leg Curls/2/12

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