Building a Huge Front squat Without Back Squats

thanks for the advice guys.

I think I will keep back squats in my program, but continue to front squat at least two to three times as often as back. And keep back squats in the higher rep range to keep up work capacity.

Ill see how that works out for me over the next few months or so.

I know that since i increased the volume on the front squats vs back, that my legs have way better shape and muscularity to them in a relatively short period of time. (my knees and back also feel quite a bit better then ever.

Yep, I have front squatted just under 400lbs, whilst never having ever back squatted over 455. Sadly, though, a monster front squat won’t have much carry over to back squat. A monster back squat, however, would really add poundage to your FS. The best way to increase your front squat is to really strengthen your thoracic spine and abductors. The exercise really demands SHIT ton from your physiology. That being said, if you plan on strengthening it, you probably won’t be seeing any muscle hypertrophy gains, as the exercise asks so much from your entire body.

[quote]strongmanvinny wrote:
Yep, I have front squatted just under 400lbs, whilst never having ever back squatted over 455. Sadly, though, a monster front squat won’t have much carry over to back squat. A monster back squat, however, would really add poundage to your FS. The best way to increase your front squat is to really strengthen your thoracic spine and abductors. The exercise really demands SHIT ton from your physiology. That being said, if you plan on strengthening it, you probably won’t be seeing any muscle hypertrophy gains, as the exercise asks so much from your entire body.[/quote]

thanks, thats great in-put! do you always train front squat with lower reps? (1-5) or occasionally higher reps? (highest i have done for more then 1 sets is 7 reps) also, if you don’t mind me asking, how heavy and tall are you?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[quote]tork94 wrote:

[quote]strongmanvinny wrote:
Yep, I have front squatted just under 400lbs, whilst never having ever back squatted over 455. Sadly, though, a monster front squat won’t have much carry over to back squat. A monster back squat, however, would really add poundage to your FS. The best way to increase your front squat is to really strengthen your thoracic spine and abductors. The exercise really demands SHIT ton from your physiology. That being said, if you plan on strengthening it, you probably won’t be seeing any muscle hypertrophy gains, as the exercise asks so much from your entire body.[/quote]

thanks, thats great in-put! do you always train front squat with lower reps? (1-5) or occasionally higher reps? (highest i have done for more then 1 sets is 7 reps) also, if you don’t mind me asking, how heavy and tall are you?

Thanks for sharing your experience. [/quote]

5’9", 229-231 BW

I train it in the 1-5 rep range almost always, but find myself occasionally rep maxing with weights in the 70-90% range.

[quote]tork94 wrote:

[quote]strongmanvinny wrote:
Yep, I have front squatted just under 400lbs, whilst never having ever back squatted over 455. Sadly, though, a monster front squat won’t have much carry over to back squat. A monster back squat, however, would really add poundage to your FS. The best way to increase your front squat is to really strengthen your thoracic spine and abductors. The exercise really demands SHIT ton from your physiology. That being said, if you plan on strengthening it, you probably won’t be seeing any muscle hypertrophy gains, as the exercise asks so much from your entire body.[/quote]

thanks, thats great in-put! do you always train front squat with lower reps? (1-5) or occasionally higher reps? (highest i have done for more then 1 sets is 7 reps) also, if you don’t mind me asking, how heavy and tall are you?

Thanks for sharing your experience. [/quote]

5’9", 229-231 BW

I train it in the 1-5 rep range almost always, but find myself occasionally rep maxing with weights in the 70-90% range.

[quote]strongmanvinny wrote:

[quote]tork94 wrote:

[quote]strongmanvinny wrote:
Yep, I have front squatted just under 400lbs, whilst never having ever back squatted over 455. Sadly, though, a monster front squat won’t have much carry over to back squat. A monster back squat, however, would really add poundage to your FS. The best way to increase your front squat is to really strengthen your thoracic spine and abductors. The exercise really demands SHIT ton from your physiology. That being said, if you plan on strengthening it, you probably won’t be seeing any muscle hypertrophy gains, as the exercise asks so much from your entire body.[/quote]

thanks, thats great in-put! do you always train front squat with lower reps? (1-5) or occasionally higher reps? (highest i have done for more then 1 sets is 7 reps) also, if you don’t mind me asking, how heavy and tall are you?

Thanks for sharing your experience. [/quote]

5’9", 229-231 BW

I train it in the 1-5 rep range almost always, but find myself occasionally rep maxing with weights in the 70-90% range. [/quote]

LOL page spazzed out and I refresh and I posted twice! WOOOO

[quote]strongmanvinny wrote:
Yep, I have front squatted just under 400lbs, whilst never having ever back squatted over 455. Sadly, though, a monster front squat won’t have much carry over to back squat. A monster back squat, however, would really add poundage to your FS. The best way to increase your front squat is to really strengthen your thoracic spine and abductors. The exercise really demands SHIT ton from your physiology. That being said, if you plan on strengthening it, you probably won’t be seeing any muscle hypertrophy gains, as the exercise asks so much from your entire body.[/quote]

I hugely disagree on a couple points:

  1. Most people’s back squat won’t benefit their front squat NEARLY as much as more front squatting would.

  2. I saw some of my fastest quad size gains when front squatting 2-3x a week, in the 1-5 rep range almost exclusively. I don’t see why you don’t think an exercise that relies SO much on your quads won’t help them grow well, in conjecture with a little basic hypertrophy work. I’m not saying front squats by themselves will have you looking like Tom Platz, but they will have your quads looking better than back squats alone for most people.

[quote]hungry4more wrote:
I’ve front squatted 475 lbs, but I was also deadlifting and back squatting quite often at the time as well. Definitely builds your quads up well.

If you don’t plan to compete in PL, and front squats get the results you desire better, ditch back squats. [/quote]

Just curious, how long did it take you to reach 475? Were you front squatting 2-3 times a week to build up to that level? Thanks

While there are several pros and cons for using one squat variation over the other, I think what most beginners here (not H4M) don’t understand is how much the EXECUTION of the back squat determines how efficient it is to induce leg (quad) hypertrophy.

There is a lot of discussion (rightfully) here on how to tweak the execution of basic exercises to emphasize a particular muscle group but very rarely on how to squat properly to get bigger legs.

What it comes down to is if you are not happy with leg growth from back squat, than you are using too much of your (lower) back. Squat more like a olympic weightlifter (high bar+deep) and you WILL feel your legs properly if you do high rep work (possibly with keeping continuous tension on the quads - no lock-out).

However, since most people don’t seem to be able to achieve such a proper oly squat on their own, they might be better off with front squats, since it is typically impossible to compensate with the lower back (you will basically fall over).

So long story short, I basically agree with H4M. haha

don’t know what this guy’s other training is, but he’s a strongman competitor.

[quote]Zoro wrote:

don’t know what this guy’s other training is, but he’s a strongman competitor.[/quote]

Recall seeing this before, just absolutely insane.

@ dwade333miami, about 2 years of front squatting anywhere from 1-3x per week. I made my fastest gains front squatting 2-3x per week, rarely more than one working set.

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

[quote]Zoro wrote:

don’t know what this guy’s other training is, but he’s a strongman competitor.[/quote]

Recall seeing this before, just absolutely insane.

@ dwade333miami, about 2 years of front squatting anywhere from 1-3x per week. I made my fastest gains front squatting 2-3x per week, rarely more than one working set. [/quote]

That’s incredible. How close to your max were you working with doing it 2-3 times a week? Also, what weight did you start at?

Thanks

[quote]dwade333miami wrote:

How close to your max were you working with doing it 2-3 times a week? Also, what weight did you start at?

Thanks[/quote]

When I started FSing 2-3x per week, I had a 1rm of about 315. Like I mentioned, I was almost always staying in the 1-5 rep range, mostly just singles, doubles, and triples. Every time was VERY close to 100% effort; at the same time, I did my best to never fail reps. On average, I’d say I failed a rep 1-2 times a month. So basically riding the line, all the time.

Switched a few years ago myself. Feel it had better carryover to everything. Quad development is awesome.

Just started playing around using a box with them hoping to get a good quad overload just above parallel. Want to get into Zercher but man the arms get tore up

max: if your front squats are hard on your collarbones, you are doing something wrong. That shouldn’t happen with proper bar positioning. Just something to look into. Your delt positioning may be off. Are you using a cross-arm grip (bodybuilding style) or a clean grip? I find it easier to maintain proper position with a clean grip. You have to really force your elbows up, and this keeps the bar in the proper place as well. I disagree with your assertion that not using a belt helps for proper bracing, but that’s a discussion I don’t really want to get into.

Zack: don’t bother with incorporating zercher’s regularly. The difference in training effect achieved by zerchers versus other squat varieties is going to be negligible compared to safer, less taxing variations. The limiting factors on zercher are going to be pain tolerance in arms, and ability to hold the bar in general. That’s not ideal for a lift that is meant to develop your legs, lol. And I think you’ll get a better overload on the quads going deeper on squats than just above parallel. That’s been my experience, but if you don’t think you can do it safely, do whatever works for you. I’ve always felt like deep squats are a big part of why my quad and overall leg development is so strong.

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@flipcollar You have convinced me no Zerchers!

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I decided to try them one day last fall, when I was prepping for a strongman comp. A 500 lbs Conan’s wheel was one of the events, so I wanted to see what it felt like to hold a lot of weight in the crook of my arm. Worked up to 405 for a single. The thing I noticed that stuck out to me was that a 225 lbs zercher squat essentially hurts the arms as much as 405 did. Once you cross a certain threshold, it’s just gonna suck no matter what. So there wasn’t a submaximal load I could have used to perform a lot of reps. That’s a problem, and it’s why I would never incorporate the lift regularly.

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Zerchers are amazing if you have knee sleeves to put over your elbows