Bar on your back, hips back to heels. All glute, no quads.
Drive the hips forward at the top with a hard glute squeeze, don't lean back.
The kneeling squat cuts the knee out of the squat almost entirely, so hip extension, hips sweeping from your heels to fully locked out, becomes the whole exercise, and that job belongs to the glutes. With the barbell across your upper back, the load sits directly over the hips at lockout, making the top squeeze the hardest part of the rep, while the quads only assist in steadying the movement. It's a niche but clever glute builder for lifters who want thrust-style hip work with a barbell on their back.
It isolates hip extension. Kneeling removes nearly all the knee bend of a normal squat, so the glutes drive the entire rep instead of sharing it with the quads. Think of it as a barbell glute drill, not a leg builder.
The pad is non-negotiable, kneel on something thick and the position is comfortable for most. The knees aren't flexing under load like in a squat, they're just the platform you kneel on.
Hips all the way back toward your heels, torso tall, then drive forward to a full lockout with a hard squeeze. The rep finishes with your hips fully open, not with a lean back, as the cue warns.
