After reading another article where a contributor raved about doing front squats, I just gotta ask…What benefit am I missing out on doing the same back squats I’ve been doing since high school?
I’ve been alternating my leg day each week between back squats, deadlift, and weighted lunges…but if I were to be convinced to try rotating in some front squats, what are the technical pointers for form that I should be looking out for?
Front squats are more quad intensive and it requires you to balance the weight better. It will work your core and quads more than a back squat.
You can do your current workout, but instead of doing back squats all the time, try to do front squats every other workout. Keep in mind though that you can use less weight, and keep your reps low (I think 6 would be the limit) because front squats tend to deform your upper back if you do too many reps per set.
They’re safer for your back because you’re more upright and you have to use less weight.
Less chance of bending forward and cheating as you’d lose the weight if you did that.
As above poster said, more quad, less glute hamm.
I’ve been getting clients to use about 8 reps, but they’re not exactly pushing maxes.
Theyre a kick arse exercise and everyone should do them.
Anyone else have shoulder pain when front squatting? I’ve tried a clean grip as well, but it feels like the bar is choking me and I can’t breathe properly. Any suggestions?
I have poor wrist flexibility and is extremely painful for me to hold the bar in a clean position while front squatting as well. At school, our coach has us take lifting straps and loop them around the bar and then wrap our hands around them…is slightly akward at first - but has allowed me to progress while focusing on my legs and not the throbbing in my wrists.
[quote]monteitis wrote:
Anyone else have shoulder pain when front squatting? I’ve tried a clean grip as well, but it feels like the bar is choking me and I can’t breathe properly. Any suggestions?[/quote]
That’s exactly what it should feel like if you do it properly: getting choked, otherwise the bar will be too far away from your body and you will be more likely to bend forward and/or dump it.
[quote]greekdawg wrote:
monteitis wrote:
Anyone else have shoulder pain when front squatting? I’ve tried a clean grip as well, but it feels like the bar is choking me and I can’t breathe properly. Any suggestions?
That’s exactly what it should feel like if you do it properly: getting choked, otherwise the bar will be too far away from your body and you will be more likely to bend forward and/or dump it.[/quote]
You will get used to it by shear repetition, I did. Keeping your elbows pointed up and in helps, and stretching the wrists of course.
The wrist flexibility is always an issue, and the problem is that many people get dead set on doing front squats and their wrists need time to accomodate the front squat position. A few things:
1- Do not go heavier than you can do with good form. This may seem obvious but it is very important with front squats.
For many people they will think they are comfortable with the wrists but actually doing the squats still bother the wrists, this is because you need to stick with a weight you can do keeping your torso erect and the weight on your shoulders.
When you start to sense the weight bearing on your wrist more, in my opinion this is soley because your torso started to lean and you are not just sitting back and the bar started coming away from your throat and there is more pressure on the wrists. With a good front squat there is very little forward lean relative to the back squat.
This is the most important point. Just keep working on it and your core strength will come around and you will be able to bear more weight.
Someone mentioned alternating front squat and back squat. Excellent Idea. This gives your posterior chain a rest on front squat days and anterior chain a rest on back squat days. The front squat days will also be lighter, and, at least for a damn good while significantly lighter.
I front squat because I have long legs and for me the back squat is a hamstring exercise.
[quote]monteitis wrote:
Anyone else have shoulder pain when front squatting? I’ve tried a clean grip as well, but it feels like the bar is choking me and I can’t breathe properly. Any suggestions?[/quote]
Are you looking up when front squatting?
Try to look forward. When you look up, it puts more pressure on your throat.
Just a thought.
I love front squating. For me, it’s far more comfortable than back squatting and is significantly easier on my left knee. I like alternating front squat, back squat, and deadlift variations on my lower days.
NOTHING destroys me the way front squats do. Not back squats, not ME deadlifts. I dread my front squats every week.
To be honest I never understood people that complained of sore wrists when doing them - you aren’t supposed to be putting much weight on your hands at all - focus on PUSHING UP your elbows. The bar should be RESTING across your delts and your hands just stabilizing. Use your fingertips if you can’t get your whole hand around them.
Interestingly enough, though, I find front squats are substantially harder on my knees than regular ones. But my quads love them, even if I don’t.
There’s a valuable discussion thread on this topic at this URL:
http://coachdos.activeboard.com/index.spark?forumID=112122&p=3&topicID=12627219
[quote]SGDerek wrote:
To be honest I never understood people that complained of sore wrists when doing them - you aren’t supposed to be putting much weight on your hands at all - focus on PUSHING UP your elbows. The bar should be RESTING across your delts and your hands just stabilizing. Use your fingertips if you can’t get your whole hand around them.[/quote]
until you’ve felt the pain of your wrist feeling like the muscles inside are going to unwrap and ping out you won’t understand. i have to use the cross armed grip myself although i do 30 second holds in the clean grip (which is uncomfortable) but i’m hoping this will help get me used to it so i can switch up in future.
[quote]SGDerek wrote:
NOTHING destroys me the way front squats do. Not back squats, not ME deadlifts. I dread my front squats every week.
To be honest I never understood people that complained of sore wrists when doing them - you aren’t supposed to be putting much weight on your hands at all - focus on PUSHING UP your elbows. The bar should be RESTING across your delts and your hands just stabilizing. Use your fingertips if you can’t get your whole hand around them.
Interestingly enough, though, I find front squats are substantially harder on my knees than regular ones. But my quads love them, even if I don’t.[/quote]
I feel like front squats bother my knees more than back squats, not that they usually do, but if I had to pick one that bothered them more it would be front squats. Usually the better an exercise is for the quads the better chance it will bother your knees and this is assuming proper form, because more force is being pushed out of the knee joint.
If you have wrist problems use straps until you increase your ROM at the wrist.
A trick I learn’t of the Inside Out DVD is to load up a bar as if you were going to front squat it. Get in position, stand up and hold the bar for as long as it would take you to complete a set.
Just do what you can and in time you should improve flexibility.
Also work on you thoracic mobility and get your elbows up.
I found front squats very helpful in recovering from my shoulder injury.
TC and Dan John among others have talked about front squatting out of the hole off the pins, then you return to the pins and let them take the weight for a sec and bang out another one. Started alternating these with my back squat days, I do one 2 days a week and the other 1 day a week, alternating which one is done more.
Must say, Absolute killer exercise. Tough but it feels so damn solid to start in the hole and squeeze yourself out of it. I also think it helps keep your form better because you basically have a form check every time you have to get the bar going again.
[quote]Shadowzz4 wrote:
TC and Dan John among others have talked about front squatting out of the hole off the pins, then you return to the pins and let them take the weight for a sec and bang out another one. Started alternating these with my back squat days, I do one 2 days a week and the other 1 day a week, alternating which one is done more.
Must say, Absolute killer exercise. Tough but it feels so damn solid to start in the hole and squeeze yourself out of it. I also think it helps keep your form better because you basically have a form check every time you have to get the bar going again.[/quote]
Sounds fun, I’ll have to give it a try. I’ve done this with Zerchers before, not regularly though.
[quote]dead lead wrote:
until you’ve felt the pain of your wrist feeling like the muscles inside are going to unwrap and ping out you won’t understand. i have to use the cross armed grip myself although i do 30 second holds in the clean grip (which is uncomfortable) but i’m hoping this will help get me used to it so i can switch up in future.
[/quote]
That’s what I don’t understand, though. I could front squat just fine (if I kept the bar stable enough) without holding onto the bar at all. It’s supposed to rest on your delts, not in your hands.
And I’ve NEVER been able to use the crossed-arm grip. Maybe my shoulders aren’t wide enough, or something, but it feels horribly unstable.
I use the crossed arm grip, since I also have poor wrist flexibility.
I’ve only been doing front squats for two weeks now, and both times I’ve done them the spot where the bar rested was very sore for the next day or two.
Will this get better, or am I holding it in the wrong spot? Should the bar be up on my shoulders, almost on my collar bone, or should it be lower, around where the bicep-shoulder meet?