I Can't Twist My Wrists for Front Squats

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

i tried front squats today for the first time and i could really feel my quads burning. i have never done them before. i could not do them with decent weight with my hands and wrists twisted back and the bar just on my shoulders, it hurt a bit. so instead i was gripping the bar like i was doing an overhead press but rested the bar on my chest which worked out pretty good. that should be the same things right?

2

You might have troubles with balance and wrist pain as the weights get heavier. There are some common grip variations for people without the wrist flexibility, i believe there a several threads about it in the olympic lifting section.

3

You won’t be able to safely use substantial weight like that, so you need to either get good at the crossed grip, or the oly grip, either one is fine. If you’re set on being able to do them oly style, do your warmup sets like that, then switch to crossed grip for working sets…then gradually work to heavier weights using oly grip, and over time your wrists will get the flexibility required to make it somewhat comfortable.

4


Same problem here. I either do it with crossed grip or with straps.

5

here’s another one.

6

theres nothing there

7

I don’t know what happened. Google crossed grip front squat and click in the images.

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[quote]hungry4more wrote:
You won’t be able to safely use substantial weight like that, so you need to either get good at the crossed grip, or the oly grip, either one is fine. If you’re set on being able to do them oly style, do your warmup sets like that, then switch to crossed grip for working sets…then gradually work to heavier weights using oly grip, and over time your wrists will get the flexibility required to make it somewhat comfortable. [/quote]

What do you consider “substantial” weight?

9

Are there any things you can do to help with the oly grip? I can do fine crossed but my oly grip is so horrible I can’t even attempt to practice it since I can’t get anywhere close to that position. Are some people just not able to do it that way or am I just not doing it right?

10

jskrabac, I’d say around mid 200’s-300’s is decent weight…and around there is where you definitely would have issues holding it with shitty technique. It’s now, when someone is using light weight, that they need to develop good habits.

sufiandy, nothing wrong with just using crossed grip…heaviest I’ve hit like that for front squats is 475, so obviously it can work. Maraudermeat also does heavy front squats with crossed grip…if you wanna develop the flexibility in your wrists to do them, go for it…but it isn’t imperative or anything. Practice with an empty/lightly loaded bar (as in, 25’s on each side maybe), and just practice a LOT.

11

This might help a bit.

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If you don’t have straps I’ve also used two small towels.

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[quote]hungry4more wrote:
jskrabac, I’d say around mid 200’s-300’s is decent weight…and around there is where you definitely would have issues holding it with shitty technique. It’s now, when someone is using light weight, that they need to develop good habits.
[/quote]

Ok. I’m around 215 for 6. I never really thought about this becoming an issue as I move up, since I’ve had no problems so far with oly grip. Would you recommend I start looking into using straps now? Or just progress as long as I can handle the grip first?

14

^ that’s the shit

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[quote]kanew wrote:

This might help a bit. [/quote]

Thanks… I’ll try this!

16

For me I could get into the position but my wrists hurt like hell afterwords. I found that Dan John video posted above in the oly forums, that forearm stretch works like a charm.