I’m ashamed to admit I have slept on the life and teachings of St Louis strongman, Ed Zercher, for far too long.
His training style was brutal. Allegedly, the man’s gym looked more like a scrapyard than anything else, littered with anvils, chains, and random pieces of machinery and metal.
It was here he invented the famous “Zercher squat”, an on and off feature of my training since at least the early 10s (but also regrettably the ONLY tool of Zercher’s that I have called upon).
As an aside, I reckon my semi-regular use of Zercher squats is the reason why I am such a competent squatter, despite being a total klutz with the athletic potential of a snail. An opinion I share with the late, great powerlifter, proprietor of Westside Barbell, and coach responsible for more 1000lb+ squatters, benchers, and deadlifters than any other as far as I am aware, Louis Simmons:
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“It teaches you exactly how to squat. It teaches you to push your knees apart. Push your chest up. Push your buttocks out. The whole nine yards.”
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So if you struggle with the squat, you’d likely do well to give Zercher squats a whirl… if you’re tough enough.
And if you’re not?
I’d get to fixing that pronto, if I was you.
But I digress. We were talking about Ed Zercher.
Unlike a lot of strongmen of his day and now, Ed was not fat OR unhealthy.
He competed at an airy 156lbs bodyweight, achieving the following at the 5th Annual Western AAU Weight Lifting Championships which I think took place sometime back in the 1930s:
* One Hand Snatch, 120 lbs.
* One Hand Clean & Jerk, 130 lbs.
* Two Hand Military Press, 170 lbs.
* Two Hand Snatch, 145 lbs.
* Two Hand Clean & Jerk, 200 lbs
He also deadlifted 536lbs at 155lbs bodyweight… performed 10 reps of unsupported leg press (a leg press with a barbell resting on the soles of your feet) of 600lbs at the age of 55… and… was still competing in weightlifting competitions when he was in his 80s – in one of which he Zercher squatted 160lbs!
Truly, there is a lot to be said for his methodologies that build just as much toughness as they do strength.
And so it is that I am incorporating a lot of what Ed used to teach and do into my own schedule.
For example, as of this writing, I am mostly sticking to odd lifting with a barbell because it’s what I am accustomed to, but I am slowly beginning to gather random “odds and ends” for my modest home gym (that’s actually in my mum’s garage, but whatever) to do grip work with, put over my head, and so on, and so on.
Anyway.
Do with all of this what you will.
But if you’d like to start with Zercher Squats, they work perfectly inside my back to basics system “Barbell”.
Read all about it here:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/barbell
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman