Strongman Gabriel Peña Does 600Lb Hatfield Squat, Builds Crazy Strength
Gabriel Peña recently hefted 600lbs in the Hatfield Squat. The strongman opted to build strength with the safety squat bar movement that marries utilizing both the upper and lower body.
Gabriel Peña opted to build strength in a way that will prevent injuries. Peña recently lifted 600lbs in the Hatfield Squat. While he could easily packed on a few hundred pounds to the bar, Peña decided to utilized a method that puts less stress on his body.
Ideally when a person trains they want to do so in a manner that keeps them from damaging themselves too badly. Sure, some pain is involved in building strength and muscle, but if it’s to a point that you’re too sore to train then it’s defeating the purpose. You want to be able to push yourself in the gym everyday in order to build quality strength and muscle.
Hatfield Squat for Massive Strength
As such Gabriel Peña chose the Hatfield Squat in order to work both his upper and lower body without putting undue stress on himself. The Hatfield Squat is certainly an interesting movement. Peña explained in depth about how he utilized the movement to help him build incredible strength.
Hatfield Squats can be a useful tool.
The unique motion forces a different type of communication between the upper and lower body.
The arms assist with the squat, requiring the lats to flex while the shoulders remain braced to the trunk. Although this particular lift is not in contests, the ability to seamlessly connect all 4 limbs into a full powerdrive is invaluable in Strongman.
Think of your start on a truck pull. Or even the drive from the chest to overhead on a log press (particularly how the lats and upper back behave when transitioning from the front rack brace to the press). It’s the arms and legs generating power at the exact same time.
I love using Hatfield Squats when my shoulders are sore, or my knees are feeling run-down and I still need to squat.
Typically, I’ll vary between explosive speed work (3-5 rep sets) and endurance/hypertrophy work (10-15 reps).
Gabriel Peña is looking strong and if he continues to train like this he could really take his strength to the next level. It will be interesting to see in the coming months if this kind of intelligent training pays big dividends.
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News and Editorial Writer at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.