Hex Bar a Stand-alone Lower Body Exercise?

I’ve seen you use the hex bar dead-squat in programs. Do you consider it to be a potential life time core lift that can stand alone for lower body strength development for athletes as long as they are not specializing in the powerlifts?

If I do Hex bar dead-squats I tend to loose my hip strength deep in the hole on a squat, but that is kind of powerlifting specialized and anyway the dead-squat is a little better bomechanically for me so I was just wondering do you consider it to be a good stand alone leg builder? Maybe to clarify, is it important to do an exercise like a squat where you lower the weight and reverse from a non “dead” stop, but with a loaded reversal?

[quote]mertdawg wrote:
I’ve seen you use the hex bar dead-squat in programs. Do you consider it to be a potential life time core lift that can stand alone for lower body strength development for athletes as long as they are not specializing in the powerlifts?

If I do Hex bar dead-squats I tend to loose my hip strength deep in the hole on a squat, but that is kind of powerlifting specialized and anyway the dead-squat is a little better bomechanically for me so I was just wondering do you consider it to be a good stand alone leg builder? Maybe to clarify, is it important to do an exercise like a squat where you lower the weight and reverse from a non “dead” stop, but with a loaded reversal?[/quote]

For someone who is “aesthetically” inclined, sure. If you want more “deep squat-like” strength, do them from a deficit (standing on a 2-4" block).