ok so it turns out that doing paused reps on the front squat is quite good. i was doing paused reps at 70-85% of my max last week because i was feeling down and this week my fs went up 5kgs/11lbs. its easier to hold it up if i tense up my shoulders and abs.
another problem rears its ugly head. im using the clean grip with two fingers around the bar. i use a bit of arm strength to hold up the bar and that is making my elbows hurt. should i switch over to the bodybuilding cross arm grip?
[quote]mbag012 wrote:
ok so it turns out that doing paused reps on the front squat is quite good. i was doing paused reps at 70-85% of my max last week because i was feeling down and this week my fs went up 5kgs/11lbs. its easier to hold it up if i tense up my shoulders and abs.
another problem rears its ugly head. im using the clean grip with two fingers around the bar. i use a bit of arm strength to hold up the bar and that is making my elbows hurt. should i switch over to the bodybuilding cross arm grip? [/quote]
Mobility is your friend. Work on it. Shoulder, wrists.
Doing paused has helped you as it helps your mobility.
Just keep your elbows up high. I 3 finger the bar now instead of gripping with all of my fingers like I use to.
I’d do hypers extensions at the end of your training to help make your trunk stronger.
Koing
[quote]mbag012 wrote:
ok so it turns out that doing paused reps on the front squat is quite good. i was doing paused reps at 70-85% of my max last week because i was feeling down and this week my fs went up 5kgs/11lbs. its easier to hold it up if i tense up my shoulders and abs.
another problem rears its ugly head. im using the clean grip with two fingers around the bar. i use a bit of arm strength to hold up the bar and that is making my elbows hurt. should i switch over to the bodybuilding cross arm grip? [/quote]
What Koing and Ape said. And don’t take this personally but…why the FUCK aren’t you tensing your shoulders (I assume you mean upper back and shoulders) and abs?! Every rep, every set. Every day you squat. Every. Single. Time. That shit should be squeezed as tight as humanly possible before you even pick the weight off the stands/rack. This is fundamental lifting 101 man!
I couldn’t squat for shit if I tried to front squat without tensing my damn abs or my shoulders.
[quote]Aragorn wrote:
[quote]mbag012 wrote:
ok so it turns out that doing paused reps on the front squat is quite good. i was doing paused reps at 70-85% of my max last week because i was feeling down and this week my fs went up 5kgs/11lbs. its easier to hold it up if i tense up my shoulders and abs.
another problem rears its ugly head. im using the clean grip with two fingers around the bar. i use a bit of arm strength to hold up the bar and that is making my elbows hurt. should i switch over to the bodybuilding cross arm grip? [/quote]
What Koing and Ape said. And don’t take this personally but…why the FUCK aren’t you tensing your shoulders (I assume you mean upper back and shoulders) and abs?! Every rep, every set. Every day you squat. Every. Single. Time. That shit should be squeezed as tight as humanly possible before you even pick the weight off the stands/rack. This is fundamental lifting 101 man!
I couldn’t squat for shit if I tried to front squat without tensing my damn abs or my shoulders. [/quote]
Tight trunk!
Koing
Never you mind, google was my friend
Your problem is probably not in the upper body, even though that is where the issue seems to be. Everyone I have seen have big trouble front squatting can’t keep a vertical torso while doing so. You probably lean forward quite a bit while backsquatting, and your body wants to do something similar while front squatting, hence the problem. You need to work on your hip strength. The better your hip strength the more tolerant your body is going to be of sinking into what would seem to be a very quad dominant position with a vertical torso. The reason this requires more hip strength is because the strong hips can dominate a movement even when you are in a very deep “quaddy” position.
yeah i learned how to tense my shoulders. it was a matter of lack of experience in front squatting. what i do now is tense my front shoulders and upper chest as hard as possible, then when i rise outta the hole i pull my neck back and that usually lets me complete the rep
Heavy front squat holds seem to be good for engraining tension in the shoulders/t-spine. They also help you get used to the feeling of heavier weights.
I personally use weight releasers everytime I front squat now. Weight releasers are basically hooks that are suspended from the bar, on which you can put weights on. When the bottom of the device hits the floor, they unhook from the bar. So that way you can put 50-80lbs more on the bar during the eccentric portion of the lift.
The benefits as I see it are:
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I personally use weight releasers everytime I front squat now. Weight releasers are basically hooks that are suspended from the bar, on which you can put weights on. When the bottom of the device hits the floor, they unhook from the bar. So that way you can put 50-80lbs more on the bar during the eccentric portion of the lift.
The benefits as I see it are:
CT you mentioned in another thread that you are front squatting ~6x a week currently. Are you going to heavy triples or singles every time you front squat, ALL with weight releasers now? Or are you periodizing some lighter sessions into the week or sessions without releasers?
