The front squat is a challenging and highly beneficial move that differs dramatically from back squats and overhead squats. The front end can help improve a weightlifter's technique, build leg muscle and strength, and produce more power.
How to do the front squat? Proper technique
Proper front squat placement
Assume a proper front squat position by placing the bar high on your shoulders, making sure the bar is resting on your shoulders and upper chest (above your breastbone). The posture should be high with the elbows up and the trunk tight.
Work to maintain a full grip on the bar, rather than allowing your fingers and wrists to bend backwards (hyperextension).
Go down to the squat
With the bar resting in the front rack position, lower into a squat keeping your pelvis neutral and your chest up. Minimize the forward lean of the torso, which will force a greater load on the quadriceps.
Make sure you sit down instead of pushing your hips back.
stand up
Once you've reached the bottom position in the front squat, push off with your full foot and lift yourself up, keeping your torso, chest, and elbows upright.
Keep your knees out and forward on your toes, allowing your torso to remain vertical rather than allowing your hips to push back excessively. This will help keep your torso vertical and your quads engaged.
Benefits of the front squat
More quadruple mass
This move can add quality amounts of lean muscle mass to the quadriceps and improve overall leg development and performance. The front squat can be used to increase quadriceps development and strength by limiting the ability to squat with a more horizontal back angle. Simply put, the front squat forces you to stand tall, forcing your quads to work harder.
Greater stability of the knee joint
Lack of quadriceps strength and control can impede knee flexion and mobility, creating a cascade of counterbalanced motion imbalances in the hips, spine, and ankles.
Application to sports specific movements
The front squat has high transferability to Olympic weightlifting movements, competition and functional fitness training, combat sports, and even manual work. By integrating this front-loading squat into your training programs, you can build the strength needed for more demanding tasks and promote strong movement mechanics to decrease injury and improve overall performance.
What muscles do you work?
The front squat differs slightly from the back squat due to the location of the bar at the front position of the rack. In doing so, the load is shifted in front of the midline, requiring a stronger upper back and quadriceps to ensure an upright torso and positioning.
Quadriceps
When you front squat, the load is placed in front of the lifter. This forces them to maintain a more upright torso position that creates a more vertical squat pattern.
Upper back
Front load movements force the lifter to maintain an upright position and therefore help to strengthen the upper back. The front squat requires a vertical positioning of the torso for proper execution of the lift.
Erectors
The erectors spinae (lumbar muscles) must work isometrically to maintain a rigid and upright torso position in the front squat. That said, the front one allows for a more vertical torso position than a back squat, making this variation a good option if you are looking to decrease shear forces on the lumbar spine compared to a low bar or high bar squat. (assuming you have done it correctly).
ABS
Because the lifter holds the bar in front of him, he needs to contract his abs more forcefully to stand up. And the core must remain contracted throughout the lift.
Sets, repetitions and programming recommendations
To build muscle
The front squat can be performed with higher training volumes to build muscle mass and core strength. Incorporating more advanced time under tension training protocols may promote the hypertrophic effects of front squat training. To start, do three to five sets of six to twelve reps with moderate to heavy loads. Tempos, pauses, and eccentrics can be performed throughout the range of motion to induce additional muscle damage and hypertrophy.
To improve strength
To develop leg and back strength, most athletes can use the front squat. This exercise can be trained with high loads and low rep ranges if maximum strength is the goal. It is important to adhere to proper technique under heavy loads. Begin by doing four to six sets of one to five reps with a challenging load.
To develop muscular endurance
The front squat can be a great way to build muscular endurance in your back, quadriceps, and core muscles. Many lifters may be limited by upper back and core strength during higher rep training. If the goal is quadriceps development and endurance, lifters may want to switch to other less limiting exercises that can put more stress on the quadriceps without being limited by upper back and core resistance. Aim for two to four sets of 15-20 reps.
It is important to note that the limiting factor during higher rep based front squats is the strength and endurance of the upper back and core.
Front squat variations
Zombie Front Squat
The Zombie Front Squat is essentially a no-hands squat. To do this, place your hands like a zombie, with the bar balanced on the front delts.
This is a great variation to reinforce an active upper body and torso (vertical) position for lifters who may lean excessively forward in the front squat and / or rely too heavily on their arms and wrists to support the load.
Squat with pause
This is done in a similar way to most pause movements. You have to perform a full front squat and stop at the bottom of the front squat, briefly holding the proper position and center tension.
This is a great variation for lifters struggling to hold position at the bottom of the front squat and / or those who have limited leg strength to stand from the bottom of the squat.
1 ¼ front squat
This is a variation that increases the training volume of the squat, often in the weakest range of motion. To do this, you have to descend into a full front squat, stand up a few inches, lower yourself back down, and then come all the way up to the standing position. This combination of a full and a ¼ (bottom of the squat) increases the load on the quadriceps.
Front squat with double pause
The double pause squat is a squat with an additional pause in place of range of motion. However, this may vary depending on the individual and the objective.
Front squat with tempo
Adding a tempo to the squat is a great way to increase movement coordination and positional strength. This can help people struggling to lose position at the bottom or add extra emphasis to the leg drive in the front squat.
Alternatives to front squats
Goblet squat
This is a returned version of the barbell front squat that can be done to help beginners develop a proper front load squat position. Additionally, this exercise can be used with heavy loads to increase back, trunk, and quadriceps strength, similar to the front squat.
Zercher squat
It is similar to a front squat in that it challenges postural strength, core stability, and shifts the load to the front of the body. In this move, you place the barbell in the crook of your elbows instead of on the front rack.
Split squat
Although not traditionally done with a front rack position (it can be, however), the split squat is a great one-sided exercise for building quadriceps strength and muscle mass. This exercise can be used as an accessory movement to increase frontal and lower body performance.
Hack Squat
The hack squat machine is a great alternative to the front squat as it helps emphasize quadriceps growth through increased knee flexion. This is ideal for lifters who need additional quadriceps development, but may be limited by mobility, upper back strength, or a combination of the two. The hack squat can be done using tempos, pauses, and double pauses, just like the front squats, to really maximize growth.
Kettlebell squat
Double front rack kettlebell squats are a great alternative to barbell front squats for those who don't have access to a barbell or are looking to attack unilateral stability and upper back strength. By using two kettlebells, the lifter is forced to stabilize each kettlebell independently of one another, which can help address any asymmetry in upper back strength or oblique / core stability that might not otherwise be seen. in the barbell front squat.
