For reasons that will become apparent later in this article, the front squat is not as popular as the back squat but many sports strength and conditioning coaches actually prefer it as there is a commonly-held belief that the front squat has a greater performance carryover into athletic activities such as jumping and running. Also, the front squat encourages or, rather, insists on a much more upright torso position which means that your lower back is under much less stress compared to back squats.
Irrespective of why you might choose to perform front squats instead of back squats, placing the bar on the front of your shoulders compared to the back changes the entire feel of the exercise and, for the variation alone, the front squat is a great addition to your training tool box.
Front Squat Muscles Worked
Like the back squat, the front squat is a champion lower body exercise and uses a large number of muscles. The front squat works your:
- Quadriceps – the main target. The upright torso puts a lot of the work on the front of your thighs.
- Glutes – especially as you drive up out of the bottom position.
- Hamstrings – they help stabilize your knees and hips.
- Adductors and abductors – your inner and outer thighs, which keep your knees tracking properly.
- Erector spinae – the muscles along your spine that keep your back straight.
- Core – your abs and obliques work hard to keep your torso upright.
- Upper back – your upper back and shoulders hold the bar in place.
- Calves – they stabilize your ankles, especially in deep squats.
The more upright torso position means that your lower back is less in demand compared to the back squat. Electromyography (EMG) research shows that front squats work your quads about as hard as back squats, even though you use less weight – and with less compressive force on your knees.
A very noticeable difference between front squats and back squats is the amount of upper back involvement. In the back squat, the bar rests in position and will stay there with minimal upper body musculature involvement. In contrast, if you relax your upper body when front squatting, you’ll soon find the bar rolling off your shoulders and heading towards the floor – not good! Consequently, front squats can be considered more of a whole body exercise than back squats although the focus of both of these exercises is the legs.
Benefits of Front Squats
In almost any situation when a person declares that squats are his favorite exercise, you can safely assume that they mean back squats. Even though both are great movements, the back squat gets all the love and attention, while the front squat is the ultimate underdog in the vast world of squat variations. Well, here’s an idea – how about giving your traps a break and including some front squats in your routine the next time you hit the gym? Here are three important reasons why front squats deserve a permanent place in your training program:
1. Easier on Your Back and Knees
Compared to back squats, front squats put less compressive force on your knees and lower back, and they’re a lot easier on the shoulders, too. If you lean too far forward on a front squat, you’ll drop the weight – so you have no choice but to keep your spine upright. That makes front squats a great option if back squats bother your lower back.
2. A Stronger Core
Yes, front squats are hard work. But do you know what that hard work will bring you? A rock-solid core that lets you perform all your other exercises with more power. Holding a heavy bar in front of you forces your abs and upper back to work overtime, and that stability carries over to all the major lifts.
3. Fantastic Quads
The front squat is one of the best exercises for lower body development, especially for your quads and glutes. Because you stay so upright, your quads have to do a bigger share of the work than in a back squat – which is exactly why bodybuilders love front squats for building the front of their thighs.
However, it will take you some practice before you can reap these benefits. Mastering the front squat with proper form is as crucial as with any other compound exercise, so let’s go through everything you need to do it right.
Front Squat Equipment
Unlike the back squat, if you get into trouble while front squatting, you can simply dump the weight off your shoulders so it lands in front of you and so it is less essential to use a squat rack. Olympic lifters often clean the bar up into the front squat position or take it from simple squat stands.
For ease of performance, I suggest using a squat rack or power cage but if you don’t have access to either of these you can still perform this exercise in relative safety – at least while the weights are light. For simplicity though, I’ll describe how to front squat as though you are using a squat rack.
As with back squats and deadlifts; solid, flat shoes are best so as to minimize the amount of wobble at your ankles. If you don’t have suitably firm-soled shoes, I suggest squatting in just your socks – if your gym allows it. Mind your toes though!
Grip is essential in the front squat so make sure you have a towel handy to dry your hands or, alternatively, use some lifting chalk. There are some great grip-enhancing products available such as non-colored chalk substitutes and even liquid chalk which only needs to be applied to your hands once per workout. The beauty of these products and more traditional lifting chalk is your hands stay dry so you don’t have to worry about losing your grip on the bar.
As for clothing, front squats tend to be deep squats so make sure your leg wear is up to the challenge – there is nothing worse than descending into a deep squat only to be greeted by a ripping sound coming from the back of your shorts.
How to Do Front Squats: Technique
In many ways, the front squat and back squat are very similar in that you push your hips back, bend your knees and lower your butt down towards the floor. There is no need to over think this action – you have probably done dozens of squats today already! The hard part about both types of squat is doing them while supporting a potentially heavy weight on your shoulders. And, as with all exercises, if you are going to perform the exercise properly, you need to make sure your initial set up is correct.
Set the barbell in the squat rack so that it is mid-chest height. Reach out and grab the bar with an overhand shoulder-width grip. You may find that a thumb-less grip is more comfortable than a thumb-around grip and, in this instance, that’s quite acceptable.
Walk forwards and push your elbows down and under so that the bar is resting across the fronts of your shoulders. Push your elbows forwards so that your upper arms are as close to parallel with the floor as possible. This is the hard part! If you let your arms drop, you’re likely to lose the bar as it rolls off your shoulders. You MUST keep your arms up. Try to point the tips of your elbows forwards at all times but do not lean back to achieve this.
Straighten your legs and take a couple of steps back out of the squat rack. Inhale, lift your chest and remember push your elbows up up UP! You may feel the bar pressing against your throat – this uncomfortable phenomenon is normal. If, however, you feel like the breath is being choked out of you, I suggest re-racking the bar and starting again.
Position your feet so they are around shoulder width apart with your toes turned very slightly outwards. Re-check your elbow position and prepare for descent.
With your chest up and your lungs full of air, brace your abs and then push your hips back slightly. Bend your knees and, keeping your torso upright, descend until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
As you descend, push your knees outwards. Imagine you are trying to spread the floor with your feet.
Because of the upright torso, it is not uncommon to see front squatters go very deep – to the point where the hamstrings actually touch the calves. Squat as deeply as you feel comfortable but don’t feel you have to go “ass to grass” as the expression goes. Parallel is just fine.
Make sure your lower back does not become rounded and keep driving your elbows up to keep your arms level. Your weight should be slightly more on your heel and your toes should be free to wiggle inside your shoes.
Drive down through your feet, keep your chest and elbows up and stand up, exhaling as you do so. Keep pushing your knees outward to ensure your thighs don’t fall inwards as you come up. Reset your core, check your elbow position and then inhale and repeat.
On completion of your set, walk forwards into the squat rack and deposit the bar back from whence it came. Give your arms a well deserved shake and then start thinking about your next set.
Front Squat Alternative Arm Position
The arm position described above is commonly called the Olympic front squat technique. It’s hard on the wrists and requires decent upper body flexibility to get into the right position. Because of this, there is an alternative arm position, commonly called the bodybuilder position, which may be more comfortable for some lifters. While this alternative technique, with your arms crossed in front of you, does take the pressure off your wrists, it means that you won’t actually be holding the bar and if it starts to get away from you, you are much more likely to drop it.
For this reason, I am not a fan of the bodybuilder technique but for bigger and less mobile/flexible lifters, it may be a viable option but should only be used in a power rack with catching bars in place.
Common Front Squat Mistakes
Ugly squats are not safe or effective squats so it pays to make sure you squat with the best technique you can muster. Here are a few of the most common faults and how to remedy them…
- Rounded lower back at the bottom of the squat – chances are you have tight hamstrings, a weak core, have not set your upper body strongly enough or are letting your elbows drop. Possibly a combination of all these factors. If you notice your lower back is rounding out at the bottom of the squat, I suggest you reduce the weight and also your squat depth. Work on your hamstring flexibility and also strengthen your lower and upper back and your core. Finally, remember that your elbows must stay up.
- Bar position hurts your wrists – this is very common with front squat novices and is usually an indicator of poor wrist flexor flexibility. To fix this, you need to stretch your forearms. This can be done by simply getting into the front squat position and holding the bar in place for an extended period of time or passively bending your wrists back on the edge of a bench, while kneeling on the floor or using one hand to stretch the other. Alternatively, you can loop lifting straps around the bar and hold onto those to take the pressure off your wrists. Be warned, this is not addressing the problem but only provides a way of working around the symptom of overly tight wrists.
- Knees drop inwards – probably caused by overly tight adductors (inner thighs) and/or weak abductors (outer thighs). Remember to push your knees outwards as you descend and ascend to keep your knees from moving in or out. Consider performing your squats with a light resistance band around your knees to help you practice pushing your knees out.
- Weight falls forwards – if the bar has a tendency to fall forwards off your shoulders, you are either dropping your elbows or leaning your torso forwards. Keeping your elbows up is hard if you have tight wrists but we’ve addressed that already. Dropping your arms may be an indicator of weak upper back muscles. Lower the weight and spend a few weeks working on shoulder girdle stability by doing plenty of bent over rows, bench shrugs and other retraction/depression exercises.
Front Squat Variations
There aren’t too many different ways to perform the front squat but, if you want a bit of variety in your workouts, you might want to try the following…
Goblet Squats
The goblet squat is an excellent introduction to front squats. It teaches the qualities required for developing a good front squat but without the need for squat racks or heavy loads. It’s a little easier on the shoulders too!
Hold a dumbbell by the inside plates and then tuck the upper plate under your chin. Push your elbows forwards, adopt the proper squat-stance and then, leading with your hips, bend your knees and perform squats in the normal fashion. Keep your chest up and your lower back tightly arched throughout.
Dumbbell Front Squats
If balancing a barbell in the front squat position isn’t hard enough – try using two dumbbells!! Hold a dumbbell in each hand and then, with your elbows forward and upper arms parallel to the floor, rest the dumbbells on your anterior deltoids. This variation requires good shoulder mobility and stability – not for beginners!
Front Box Squats
Using a box is a common tool in both back and front squats. Many people mistakenly believe that the box is there to tell you that you have squatted to sufficient depth – not true. The box is actually used to break the eccentric/concentric chain and makes you work harder on the ascent than normal.
When you squat, part of the power that drives you up and out of the bottom position comes from elastic energy stored in your muscles and tendons. By pausing for a second or so on the box, you allow some of this elastic energy to dissipate so you have to start from a dead stop which makes the exercise harder.
If you try box squats, be careful not to bounce off the box as this could cause a spinal compression injury. Likewise, do not relax on the box; keep everything tight and imagine you are a coiled spring ready to explode upwards.
Thrusters
Thrusters combine a front squat with another of my favorite exercises, the overhead press. Combining these two exercises into one means you work just about every muscle in your body in one go. Performed for high reps, thrusters are an awesome conditioning tool which rival the mighty burpee whereas when performed with heavy weights, are a superb total body strengthener that teaches you to use your body as a single force-generating unit.
To do thrusters, perform the descent of the front squat as normal but then really drive out of the bottom as powerfully as possible. As you approach the upright position, use the momentum of your legs to assist your arms and heave the weight overhead. Lower the bar back to your shoulders (correct front squat position please!) and repeat.
How to Add Front Squats to Your Routine
Put Them First
Achieving balanced development requires a decent amount of both front and back squats. But if your front squat is much weaker than your back squat, close the gap by doing it more often. If your front squat is lagging far behind, try one session of back squats for every three sessions of front squats, see how it goes, and adjust from there. And do your front squats at the start of your leg workout, when you’re fresh.
Target Your Weaknesses
If your front squat is falling behind, it’s usually because of a lack of strength or mobility somewhere – tight wrists, stiff ankles or hips, a weak upper back or core. Find the weak link and work on it with extra mobility work and assistance exercises. It will improve your front squat and your other major lifts too.
Sets and Reps
- For strength: 4-5 sets of 3-5 reps with a heavy weight.
- For muscle growth: 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps.
- For beginners: start with goblet squats or an empty bar and focus on keeping your elbows up.
Front squats tend to be limited by your upper back and core before your legs give out, so expect to use less weight than on back squats. That’s normal.
