Front Squat As Primary Squat

Absolutely not

Alright, but if something goes wrong, there will be blood on your hands.

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It was a joke. If you are putting yourself in danger by performing a certain exercise and then you get injured, thatā€™s your fault. Everyone has their limits

You obviously didnā€™t read the thread. The whole thing was a piss takeā€¦

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^ Yeah what he said lol.

I skimmed it. The only people who I feel like I can tell when theyā€™re joking are @losthog and @duketheslaya hahaha

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Hey thatā€™s good companyā€¦he may be a kid but he is funny as hell.

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Utter disrespectā€¦ how could you :frowning_with_open_mouth:
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Front squat only?..ok. Go for it. Want to do belt squats. Sure. Go for it. Hack squats, zercher squatā€¦just do something. High bar, low bar, buffalo bar, titty bar, snickers barā€¦

Just squat!

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Iā€™d smack for a couple sets

Chuck in a bit of hip thrusts in there and youā€™re all set

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I donā€™t do back squats cuz of my back problems. I only did hack squats on machine and sumo squats with heavy dumbbells. But Iā€™ve recently started doing front squats with a belt and it doesnā€™t hurt my lower back. So Iā€™ll keep doing it. More quads involvement on front squats too, which I love.

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Vastly underrated benefit by most people I think

The problem with front squats is that you are limited by back strength and ability to stay upright more than your legs. With a back squat you can lean forward and still push through and finish the rep, with a front squat you will just dump the bar. However, if you arenā€™t a powerlifter or weightlifter, or perhaps a strongman competitor and preparing for a comp. that includes back squatting then you donā€™t necessarily need to do any back squats at all. If you are just squatting for general fitness and strength then a safety squat bar is likely a better option than either front or back squats. The leverages are closer to a front squat but you wonā€™t fail if you lean forward, which allows you to lift more weight and do more reps. A harder exercise that is more limited by technique such as the front squat wonā€™t overload the muscles as much, if you are after hypertrophy then it is questionable whether front squats are a good choice.

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If it is just leg strength you desire box step-up with a loaded barbell will get it done. Requires incredible leg strength and core stabilization. High reps would be very productive in stimulating growth triggerā€¦

ā€œThe front squat was as effective as the back squat in terms of overall muscle recruitment, with significantly less compressive forces and extensor moments. The results suggest that front squats may be advantageous compared with back squats for individuals with knee problems such as meniscus tears, and for long-term joint health.ā€

Found this research paper. More reason to do front squats

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They used 70% of 1RM which equated to 61.8Ā±18.6kg for back squat and 48.5Ā±14.1kg for front squats which is probably why higher compressive forces were found in the back squat.

There wasnā€™t any glute muscle activity recorded in the study either.

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I switched because my knees are awesome, but my back is shit.

That is, I have mild scoliosis, probably a slight herniation or bulge in one or more discs, and can send my lower back muscles into spasm for three weeks by just considering doing regular squats.

Since Iā€™d already come to the conclusion that Iā€™m never going to be more than mildly strong at squats for the aforementioned reasons, front squats seemed like a decent alternative.

The wrist flexibility took forever to gain, and I still mostly just lift with two fingers on the bar. The additional core work was a benefit too.

I know that front squats donā€™t work my hips and glutes the same way as heavy squats did, but recently Iā€™ve been doing a set of seated good mornings on the corner of the bed every day when I wake up, and in so doing, Iā€™ve stretched out my adductors, and have noticed that I can open my hips more when front squatting, and thatā€™s allowing me to engage my hips more, so I might be able to get more hips and glute work than I have been getting. Of course, Iā€™ve only been doing front squats for about three years now, so maybe donā€™t be an idiot like me. :slight_smile:

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Iā€™m on board with alot of people here. It feels way better for my back, helps my mobility, works my quads, and I feel like its been a factor in my back development.

Iā€™m not competing anytime soon, so I see it as a good chance to work my front squat. Iā€™m trying to get my front squat to 85% of my Squat. Iā€™m pretty far off to be honest, 235 for 5s (but still progressing by adding weight each week) and my back squat is 380.

Iā€™m running a DUPish program where I do Front Squat 5x5 or 8x3 one day, belt squat or high bar squat another day for 10s, and then I do my low bar squat with chains for a 5RM and progress each week by adding weight and working towards a 2RM.

Iā€™m considering swapping out with low bar so Iā€™m doing low bar 5x5 or 8x3, and then doing front squat with chains for a 5/2RM