- Front squats are more quad dominant, bodybuilders like this that are paranoid about getting their butts too big.
- Front squats are easier on your back because your torso is more erect and obviously less weight is being handled.
- If you go forward on a front squat you lose the weight, so it ‘s impossible to lean forward too excessively.
- Front squats are also a good tool to teach someone to back squat with an erect torso.
- Front squats offer great transference to jerks, push presses and Olympic lifts. More core stabilization is required.
5 Front Squat Advantages
Published: August 13, 2010Posted in: Powerlifting, Training
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About the Author
Josh Bryant is one of the fastest rising names in the fitness industry. He works as a speed, strength, and conditioning coach at one of the top high school programs in Texas. Currently Josh is a personal trainer who works successfully with many clients, both in person at Metroflex Gym and via the Internet. By using the Joshstrength Method, he has trained world record setting powerlifters, women fitness competitors, Olympic athletes, professional fighters, NCAA champions, and a host of high school athletes who have received collegiate scholarships.
As an athlete, he won many national and world titles in both powerlifting and strongman, and at 22 years of age was the youngest person in powerlifting history to bench press 600 pounds raw. He squatted 909 pounds in the USPF, officially bench-pressed 620 pounds raw, and officially deadlifted 810 pounds raw. In 2005, he won the Atlantis Strongest Man in America competition.
Along with ISSA certifications in fitness training, nutrition, and conditioning, Josh has been awarded the prestigious title of Master of Fitness Sciences (MFS). He was also recently named the ISSA Director of Applied Strength and Power. In addition to being certified by the NSCA as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and by NASM as a Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES), Josh completed his master of sciences degree in exercise science (July 2010). He has been published in numerous magazines, periodicals and websites.
Josh Bryant is the founder and owner of Joshstrength.com and The Joshstrength Method. To learn more about Josh Bryant or to contact him visit http://www.joshstrength.com
View Josh’s Training Log HERE 
But Front Squats are so painful. Can I replace these with seated leg extensions? I’m looking for an easy way to build thick quads without enduring pain and torture.
Put the bar on your back! I am sick of the bullshit that all left wingers throw out about front squats safer for your back. Show me any real studies that can back that up and I mean REAL Studies, not those bullshit self-promoting studies that you see in on the NSCA and other bullshit websites. Coaches should coach and not take the “easy” way out. If you think that teaching the squat or box squat is hard and un safe than you shouldn’t be coaching at all. Just throw your kids on the leg press and call it all good because it is really easy on the back!
Not saying that Josh is a left winger at all, he is a hard core lifter that does a great job. Just sick of Left wing coaches, so called “strength” coaches affraid to have their athletes squat or box squat because they can’t teach the damn thing so they fall back on the front squat and say it is safe and easy on the back.
With the quad activation front squats can be a great tool to use for athletes to build some acceleration (higher quad recruitment needed for acceleration from a dead start before glutes/hams start to come into a higher role as top speed is approached/reached). By no means should front squats replace back or box squats, simply be another tool in the toolbox. I could give two shits about it being safer for your back (though I suppose there’s some merit and some positives to that) personally. If it can be used to make an athlete bigger, faster and stronger I say use it (providing it’s legal to do so in that association).
I’ve got a bum wrist and can barely do pull-ups, much less front squats. Any slight alterations that make it less brutal on the wrists? Maybe crossing the arms?
Hmmm, another insecure right winger who was probably pushed around in school and now has a chip on his shoulder. Little-people are ANGRY little people, arent they?! LOL!!
Stay away from the darkside,
I don’t think Josh is saying replacing back squats with front squats.
You don’t need research to know that when the weight is held in front or you, it allows the lifter to to “sit back” and keep a more upright posture because the weight is distributed forward of your center of gravity in the sagital plane. It just takes experienced observation.
Putting the bar on your back is great and all athletes should eventually be able to back squat, the problem might not be technique or too much weight, it may be some postural alignment issues or muscular imbalances. The front squat and box squat both help the squat and….
why not incorporate all 3 in your program?
Someone enlighten me. If I vote Independent, how should I be squatting?
I saw Josh at Metroflex today. Josh said he was by no means saying eliminate back squats he prefers them if he had to choose, but likes both since he doesn’t have to. Left Wing, have you met Josh? I would venture to say he makes Newt Gingrich look like a liberal.
@Will-Cross your arms!
Front squats are an excellent way to teach clients how to back squat properly. Like Josh said, you HAVE to stay upright when front squatting, something most people struggle to do when a bar is placed on their back.
As a personal trainer, Ive found the front squat to be preferential over the back squat when training overweight and non athletic clients. Most people are intimidated by putting a bar on their back, especially women, and there are just way too many corrections you have to make for them to do it properly.
Front squats I can do with less weight and I can immediately take the bar away if they feel its too heavy, plus they can watch me demonstrate and I can do it with them as they squat down .
If I had to pick Front squat over back squat I’d go with back squat, but front squats are a very useful tool and should be utilized
@Will You can also either just use some straps and set them up the bar to hold it in a similar fashion.
Once your healed,, simply get used to it, takes a bit of time but after a while it’s far mon comfortable, at least that’s how it is for me
Holding the bar in place with any real weight is hard on the shoulders. I also reject the notion that they are easier to teach to women and the non athletic. That is unless your referring to the Smith machine version, which is the cop out most trainers use. Women are intimidated by most free barbell work, squats no matter which version makes little difference to them.
An if your so worried about back safety, just do hacks hits the same muscles minus the bruises on your front delts.
Yes they have a great carry over to the Olympic lifts but the rest of these points are bunk. Plenty of guys have totalled elite with very little front squat work if any at all
I’ve done front squats with a Front Squat Harness and a Sting Ray with good experiences on both. Personally, I prefer the Sting Ray, and it is also cheaper. Moreso than with the Front Squat Harness, you traps might give out sooner when using the Sting Ray when using heavy weight a lot of reps since you do most of the holding up. Nothing that added trap, upper back, and deltoid work couldn’t fix.
So long as you don’t substitute front squats for back squats for so long that your regular squats take a hit, things should be fine. Do them and measure the progress on both squats to see what they do for you.
Squat. Simple. Front squat. Zercher squat, box squat, belt squat, free squat, safety bar squat, camber bar squat, wide stance, narrow stance.
Just squat.
I love doing front squats because I just think that they are fun. I also love back squats, although my numbers are still far from where I want them to be.
Dark side – Bill Starr once wrote that for athletic development, front squats are more advantageous than back squats. He didn’t say take back squats out, just that there was more transference to athletic movements in the front squat. That gives me plenty of reason for doing them.
Will – one thing you might want to look into is triceps and lat flexibility. If your tris and lats are tight, they pull your arm down from the rack position, putting your wrist in a bad place. Also, how are you holding the bar? You don’t need to wrap your whole hand around the bar, since the shoulders are the primary holders in the movement. Sometimes I hit front squats with only a finger or two lightly contacting the bar.
Major – it depends on how far back the bar is on the shoulders. When I front squat, I’ve got the bar resting against my throat, taking a lot of the load off of the shoulders.
I’ll keep front squatting AND back squatting both since they both help me get stronger and more athletic.
Wow, I’ve didn’t think there was that much hate for front squats. They aren’t painful if you have some delts to rest the bar on. I do strongman and I find them to have a great benefit for loading events and overhead pressing. Obviously, if you do PL, front squats won’t be as important as back squatting. They do have a place in a routine as assistance. It’s not like Josh wrote an article about leg extensions or something. Front squats are a solid lift.
@Adam from Japan – Thank you for mentioning Bill Starr! If you want to know the truth about front squats, look up Bill Starr. An amazing coach and lifter. Also, Pyrros Dimas from Greece was known to front squat upwards of 700lbs, according to Ironmind’s Milo Journal.
Also, a weak back is a weak back. Front or back squat.
Correction on my earlier post – Sorry, Pyrros Dimas from Greece is credited with a 280kg (roughly 616lb) front squat. Not quite 700lbs. And 3 straight Olympic golds!
Also, Olympic coach Jim Schmitz says the back squat is the “single best exercise to develop great strength.” He loves both squats.
All the advantages Josh outlines here, Jim outlined in his Nov 2000 article in Milo “The Front Squat.” I guess if two great coaches like that tell me there are advantages I might want to listen.
Darkside,
A cross over study from the University of Florida Dept of Kinesiology compared front squats and back squats. The study showed that, and I quote,
“The back squat resulted in significantly higher compressive forces and knee extensor moments than the front squat. Shear forces at the knee were small in magnitude, posteriorly directed, and did not vary between the squat variations. Although bar position did not influence muscle activity, muscle activation during the ascending phase was significantly greater than during the descending phase. The front squat was as effective as the back squat in terms of overall muscle recruitment, with significantly less compressive forces and extensor moments. The results suggest that front squats may be advantageous compared with back squats for individuals with knee problems such as meniscus tears, and for long-term joint health.”
Therefore front squats and back squats are equally effective and front squats show decreased back compression due the the spinal positioning (incase you had trouble following darkside)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19002072
Just an FYI
1. The majority of PT clients (desk jockey’s) don’t need quad dominant exercises, they need posterior chain recruitment. Back squatting is a far better choice. An athlete, however, assuming s/he has good motor patterns could benefit from adding Front Squats given that their chosen sport is does not require high levels of agility or lateral movements.
And the only reason bodybuilders don’t want big butts is b/c they want to take their bf’s deep from behind…snap! Bodybuilding is gay.
2. My issues with front squats are that they require your knees to drive forward in the bottom of the lift which can lead to shear forces on the knee. I think it is evident in the ratio of competitive (and effective) powerlifters to competitive oly-lifters older than 50. What I mean is, how many oly-lifters are there that are hitting elite poundages at 50 yrs old? None, their knees (and wrists) won’t let them.
So to say that FS are better for your back neglects the idea that they are indeed worse for your knees.
3. Depending on your squatting style will FS’s actually help your squat in a significant manner. Using a low-bar style like a PLer creates a shorter lever-arm and a back angle that produces a significantly different motor recruitment pattern and load on the posterior chain than a hi-bar squat. A hi-bar squat like a bodybuilder or Oly-lifter moves the load into a position closer to where a front squat (assuming your front squat looks better than the one in the pic above, more on that later) and would carry the load. I’m not a fan of hi bar squats for the same reasons of Front squats.
So to say that teaching a front squat helps teach a back squat is right only in teaching the basic principles (flat back, heels down, etc) but not really for developing any and all squats.
4. Saying that FS’s are safer for the back and require more core stabilization are conflicting statements. Requiring more core stabilization implies a greater instance of instability in the movement. If the core fails, the lift may fail; but if the core fails and the lift does fail then the compensatory patterns have taken over leaving the core in dysfunction and thus at greater risk of trauma.
5. Whoever is demonstrating that front squat in the photo is either doing it wrong or is on the last rep of a set. The bar is far too forward off the shoulder girdle, the elbows are too low, and the finger tips are too deep in to the bar. It hurts my wrist just looking at it.
Agreed with Adam, the bar ought to be on your throat. i use the cue pf driving the elbows up since this helps keep the bar on the ‘shelf’ and over your midline. Front squatting correctly is all about tight abs and high elbows.
Just move somehting heavy up and down who really cares were you have it. Just lift, F$#&.
@Major-I believe Josh is talking about as a general exercise what adavantages front squats have not a guide to total elite.
Thanks to Darkside for making me laugh with your ignorant rant.
I knew I remeber seeing this article on muscle activations, someone wanted to see some research in regards to something or other.
http://www.t-nation.com/testosterone-magazine-623#inside-the-muscles
Front squats always bust my abs up more than anything it feels like. However, I don’t have imperical data to back that up.
@Major
Hack squats eliminate stabilization. One is a machine one is a free weight, you can’t just swap one for the other and expect the same results.
@SSG K
Same here, if front squats make me sore, it’s defenetly my “abs” that get hit. And I’m saying “abs” because it’s kinda wierd to explain. I only feel the soreness as I expend my stomach. Wierd, but I like it
I’m glad the research posted showed that muscle activation was the same in both types of squats. I always wondered how front squats recruited more quad than the back squat, especially since the movement is exactly same. Posture and bar placement being the only major differences.
Sometimes the front squat is more, well, attainable. My usual gym is closed for a month and the one i go to hasnt got a power rack nor a bar stand and so I´m left with a choice of a)not squating free weigt (hacks etc.) or b)trying to front squat from a particulary unsafe position – basicaly lift the bar from a bench press bench… which sucks ass. Still I choose the latter.
Independents obviously do zerchers
Mark Watts’ post FTW.
Also, Brians post was hilarious.
Due to segment lengths and muscle strengths/weaknesses, some people will see great benefits from Front Squats and shit from Back Squats, and others vice versa.
Seriously? Left-wing coaches? Just lift weights, man.
Lol I used the front to teach myself the back squat and still use them for high reps… I’m betting ‘’Dark Side’’ is so self absorbed he did not even read Josh squatted 909 lbs.
Dark I’ll put out a challenge to your right wing militant ass… take 2, 100lb kettle bells hoist them on your upper arms and shoulders and pop off 50 reps rest 60 seconds and do another 50… lol that’s if you can lift them in the first place
Mike H (Moderate)
I’ve been using Wendler’s 5/3/1 and added front squats as support work on back squat day. For front squats I use 60% of the weights I would use for back squats that day. I also do cleans one day a week, working up to a 1RM that is roughly equal to 80% of the top weight I used for front squats that week.
As my back squat goes up, my front squat goes up. As my front squat goes up, my cleans go up. As my front squat and cleans go up, so does my back squat.
Win. Win. Win.
Front squats are a kick in the nuts ! I always have to drop down the weight so i don’t jack myself up.
@dilbert
well you COULD not be a pussy
As always, the guys who argue in favor of more squatting and less talking are correct. I currently specialize in the low bar back squat because I’m training for a meet and I want to move the most weight possible; I don’t care if there is zero transference to other sports. I have played with the front squat and found that it’s the second best core activator behind the King of Them All, the overhead squat. Now tomorrow we’re all going to go do whatever it is we do, but for the guys doing the front squats, it’s true you can get away with two fingers on the bar. My front squat immediately went up 40 pounds when I started using wrist wraps, not straps, but wraps. Wraps make a world of difference for many people I’ve found.
@ Alexander
not taking anything from front squats but unless you’re saying that to correct the habit of leaning forward too much(aka good morninging the squat), people need lean forward. you aren’t supposed to be all upright when you squat, of course it depends on the bar position and torso/legs ratio and shit but you can’t have all of your clients squatting with the exact same stance, same bar grip, same placement, same depth and same angles.
if you didn’t mean it like i thought you meant then sorry.
Squats (back squats): 5/3/1
Front Squats: 5 x 10
Problem solved, stop with the bitching.
Umm… WTF do political views have to do with strength? Front squats are harder to have bad form on, that’s pretty much what the article was saying. What’s the debate?
My only suggestion to those saying a front squat can’t be heavily loaded is to use a Safety Bar. Not the easiest to get under to start, but allows you to load the bar with close to what you would use on a back squat. It will take away some of the stabilization required with the bar on the back, but the extra load added more than makes up for it. I’ve noticed that over the years as my neck had gotten thicker that the bar would completely cut off all oxygen to the brain/ muscles. When I was smaller that never occurred. The Safety Bar changes the displacement making it a little easier to keep the bar comfortably in place during the lift. You now have a big thick pad under your chin keeping your head straight forward. This is my first post ever having been on this site since the beginning so don’t ream me. Just trying to offer a viable solution to the usual approach of using sissy weight when front squatting with a regular bar.
I love heavy squatting but I started making much better progress when I started alternating between Squats, Box squats, Deadlifts, and Sumo Deadlifts and…Front Squats.
I usually pick two of the above, do them for 3-4 weeks, and then alternate the next two in. This not only took some compression off back, I think it helped address some weak points I may not have targeted if I just continued to do back squats and box squats like I did for years. 12 months after adding front squats into my workout I hit a new personal best on the back squat and deadlift, not to mention the front squat–which for me is still far lower than my other lifts.
Then again, I might just be another liberal nutcase trying to spread my front squat propaganda.
I like front squats. It seems to help my deadlift start. But back squats are my primary lift. I use front squats as accesory work ala 5/3/1. The overhead squat I use as part of my warm up. Now for me I use weightlifting shoes. It seems to give me a more stable base.
Even before clicking on this article, I could almost guess the comment reaction and sheer volume. It’s always a little funny to me that the front squat vs. back squat debate tends to take on an almost religious differences kind of feel to it. I prefer back squats for certain, but geez… I cannot imagine turning everything into a stress fest to defend that view.
Front squats seem to hit the posterior chain more noticeably when squatting all the way down, at least in my experience.
I don’t back squat with my back vertical so, I low bar squat rippetoe style. So front squats wont teach me proper form.
I love front squats. I use them as an assistance exercise and sometimes as an ME day.
I am a 78Kg weakling lol
I use front squat because I am hugely quad dominant. I can Squat 150Kg max on back and 145Kg max on front and can 135Kg plyo squat, with being able to 200Kg shrug.
I don’t consider myself weak in any shape or form on any movement including my legs as i am an ex sprinter. The hardest thing for me is holding the bar on a front squat AND THAT is why i can’t go heavier – i can’t pad my fingers enough to take the pressure on them!! I could go heavier (WAY HEAVIER) if my shoulders were like canons like you guys so the bar wouldn’t roll forwards and my fingers didn’t feel like they’re being crushed
Will
Just fkn squat already..
Box squats are gay and for pussies that don’t want to squat deep. End of story.
Will,
How are you holding the bar that your fingers get crushed? I hold the bar so my fingers are just outside my shoulders, keep my elbows way up, and hold the bar where the acromion meets the deltoid. My fingers are only there to stabilize the bar, there’s no strain on the hands or wrists at all. That might not be the “correct” position but when I hold it like that there is no pain at all.
i now use front box squats(parallel) as my main max effort movement. i used front squats when i had injuried my back and fell in love with them. my hips,knees and back feel great. i have better mobility and feel much less compressed. it has translated well into my athletic pursuits(grappling and mma) and my job(security). im able to explode through people, move them where ever i want,and pick people up off the ground. as great as the back squat is, the front squat has done the same for me plus made me more explosive and pain free.i use it as my squat 5/3/1 and its been amazing. as far as weight im 280lbs and have hit 455×1 on my 5/3/1 day. feel like 500 is in site. i still use a clean grip. in the begining it sucks but you will adapt. i wish i had found these when i was still playing football as they are very useful for developing hip drive and moving people to where you want them to go. If you need to see other people who use them look at Nate green, eric cressey, steve morris(convinced me to do box front squats), highland competitor Craig Smith(540lbs front squat), olympic weightlifter Hossein Rezazadeh(617 lbs front squat,)pat Mendes(601 lbs front squat) and strongman warrick bryant?(750 lbs front squat) put the effort into them and youll be amazed
All this arguing of back vs front squats is so stupid and immature. JUST FREAKIN’ SQUAT, AND SQUAT HARD!
The part about being “easier on the back” because a lifeter is more upright needs to be clarified. Front squatting is indeed easier on your erector spinae muscles, but not your spine. Remember that the spine has no means of resisting compression forces, because there are no muscles for that. Thankfully God was nice enough to provide us with a natural curvature to our spine, which allows us to minimize compresses forces in favor of shear forces. The erector spinae muscles are what provide resistence to shear forces.
That said, i like to do front squats AND back squats. Even with a front squat I have to have some forward lean. I doubt that many (any) of you are able to do a front squat without some forward lean.
My point; front squats are good IMO. Josh just needs to clarify that statement.
Did front box squats (first time front squatting with a box) about a week ago as part of Eric Cressy’s Max Strength program…worked up to 315 lbs for 4 sets of 3 and considering that I’ve never front squatted that much for reps, I think I crushed a cutaneous nerve…a bit numb still around the sternum/manubrium, just enough to notice…but who cares?! Did it hurt? Yea. Will I front squat again? Hell YES!! If pain is keeping you from doing front squats, quit lifting and go to see your doctor..you may have an acute case of vaginitis!!
And of course, I do prefer back squats, but doing lifts you are good at or don’t like to do builds character…and mental strength…it’s easy to do what you’re good at…
i’m gonna go do some “left wing front squats” followed by some right wing push presses. hahahaha!
Just phuckin squat.