The pin squat is a barbell back squat performed in a power rack with the safety pins set at a fixed depth, so the bar dead-stops on the pins before the quads and glutes drive it up. The pins fix the depth of every rep to the same height and kill the elastic rebound, because the bar settles on steel before you push. Unlike abarbell box squat, your body never unloads, only the bar does. Strength lifters program it as a main squat variation early in a lower body session.
What Muscles Does the Pin Squat Work?
- Primary: Quadriceps, gluteus maximus
- Secondary: Adductor magnus, hamstrings, erector spinae
- Tertiary: Rectus abdominis, obliques, upper trapezius (upper back)
How Do You Set Up for the Pin Squat?
Set the safety pins at the height where the bar sits at your chosen depth, usually between a hand's width above parallel and parallel, and set the J-hooks at mid-chest. Load the bar, step under it and set it across your upper back with a grip just outside shoulder width. Unrack, step back one pace, set your feet shoulder width with toes slightly out and brace your trunk.
How Do You Perform the Pin Squat?
- Brace your trunk with a full breath and break at the hips and knees together.
- Lower under control with the bar over the middle of your feet until it touches the pins.
- Let the bar settle on the pins, so the plates stop moving and the rebound dies, without letting your back round.
- Drive up from the dead stop, pushing your upper back into the bar and your feet into the floor at the same time.
- Stand tall with hips and knees extending together until you are fully upright and the bar is still.
- Reset your breath at the top, re-brace and begin the next descent at the same speed.
What Are the Key Form Cues?
- Stay tight on the pins: keep your abs braced and your upper back pulled into the bar while it rests, so the bar stops, not your spine.
- Push the floor away: drive your feet through the platform so hips and shoulders rise at the same rate off the pins.
- Lower the bar onto the pins the way you would set a glass on a table.
- Push your knees out over your toes so you land on the pins in the same position every rep.
- Keep your chest up as you touch down so the bar stays put.
What Are the Most Common Mistakes?
- Loading the bar like a normal squat: without the rebound, the same weight stalls off the bottom, so start well under your usual squat load.
- Bouncing the bar off the pins: the crash unloads your legs and shifts the work to the steel, so lower slowly and let the bar settle before you push.
- Relaxing while the bar sits on the pins: the lower back rounds under the load and the lumbar discs take the shear as you drive up, so stay braced the whole time.
- Hips shooting up first from the dead stop: the torso folds forward and the bar path drifts, so lead with the chest and hips together.
- Changing the pin height each session: you cannot compare loads, so log the pin number and keep it fixed for a block.
What Are the Best Pin Squat Variations?
- High pin squat: pins set above parallel for a heavier overload of the top half.
- Below-parallel pin squat: pins set below parallel, a harder version that trains the deepest position from a stop.
- Front rack pin squat: the bar held in the front rack shifts more load to the quads and upper back.
- Anderson squat: start from the pins at the bottom rather than lowering to them, with no eccentric.
- Barbell box squat: sit back onto a box instead of a pin, unloading the body rather than the bar.
How Do You Progress the Pin Squat?
- Add 5 to 10 pounds to the bar once every set moves off the pins with no stall and no back rounding.
- Add one rep per set each week, working from 3 up to 5 reps at a fixed load.
- Add one set per session, up to 5, before adding weight again.
- Lower the pins one hole once the current depth is strong, or hold the bar on the pins for two seconds before driving.
How Should You Program the Pin Squat?
Program the pin squat as the first lower body lift of the session, in place of the regular back squat rather than after it, since it needs fresh legs. Use it once per week in a strength block for 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps, resting 2 to 3 minutes between sets. Follow it with a Romanian deadlift or a leg press to add volume the low reps leave out.