Why Front Squats are Better for Athletes

If you are an athlete of any sort, you need to be squatting and the type of squats you should be doing is front squats. Yes, I said FRONT SQUATS are better for athletes than back squats and here is why.

1. Front Squats Expose Your Weak Areas

When performing a back squat there are several ways you can "cheat" and hide your weak areas where as front squats do not allow you to do this. The first area is called thoracic extension or the ability to keep your chest up.

Most athletes have very poor posture and from sitting, typing, carrying heavy bags or just pure laziness. The front squat does not allow you to have this weakness. If you do, you'll end up just losing the bar forward.

2. Front Squats Expose Weakness In Your Hips and Lower Back

When you front squat, you are forced to bring your hips under you and tuck everything under. This forces you to have to bend the knees and ankles much more. This helps with your shin angle which can also help with running and sprinting.

3. Front Squats Recruit more Abdominal Muscles

When you front squat and dead-lift properly, your abs should be sore.

Tips For Performing Front Squats

1. Stretch your biceps and forearms
2. Draw your belly in and tuck your butt under

Pros of Front Squats

The front squat is not necessarily as effective for overall muscle growth and recruitment as the back squat simply because you will be working with less weight on front squats. Front squats are also a little harder on the knees since they are in a more forward position. Also, squatting more upright is not necessarily better for your lower back because shear is not an issue on the back squat. That being said, here are some of the benefits of front squats over back squats:

1. Squat Without a Power Rack / Squat Rack
   You can pull the bar from the floor and up on to your shoulders (power clean) and perform front squats. However, you will always be able to front squat more than you can clean so this would only work with light weights. You can indeed lift more and get stronger if you front squat with a power rack. It is also safer
2. Assist with Olympic Lifts
   Front squats are a natural part of the squat clean since after you clean the weight, you must front-squat it up to a standing position. Getting stronger at your front squats will make your squat cleans much easier. This is why Olympic Lifters front squat.
3. Emphasize the Abs and Quads
   Frontal bar loading will work your abdominals and quads. However, again, you can lift more on the back squat and more strength is more muscle.

Cons of Front Squats

Front squats are generally a harder exercise to perform than back squats due to frontal bar loading. Because of this fact, you may want to believe the front squat is more effective, but you are lifting less weight on the front squat and less weight means less strength and thus, less muscle.

1. Less Weight. The Front Squat engages your posterior chain muscles less than the Back Squat. The less muscles work, the less weight you can Squat.

When In Doubt Do Front Squats!

Front squats are typically easier to teach, nearly self-correcting and promote the athlete to perform a deeper squat (lower depth). Athletes who front squat also incur less shear forces and compressive forces. Front squats are also easier on the shoulders in most cases, they facilitate core strength and carry over into many different sports due to position and mechanics.

Tips To Improve Your Front Squats

1. Do More Front Squats - Front squatting is a skill. The more you practice, the better you will get.
2. Squat First - Perform your front squats when you're fresh. Since front squats utilize more than just your legs, you want your entire body to be fresh.
3. Improve mobility of your ankles, hips and thoracic spine
4. Squat Deeper - it's not fun and you can't go quite as heavy, but it will help you in the long run
5. Elbows Up - Keep your elbows up during the entire squat. It will help your torso stay upright and keep you from losing the bar forward.
6. Stretch and engage the lats - tight lats are usually what's to blame for low elbows.
7. Release Your Grip - You should be holding the bar with 2-3 fingers with it resting on your shoulders. You don't need a full-on tight grip.
8. Drive Your Chest Into The Bar - when shit gets heavy we know we'll probably lose it forward. Focus on driving your chest into the bar and picture yourself lifting the bar with your chest.
9. Push Your Knees Out
10. Be Ready Mentally - visualize yourself completing the squat and when you un-rack the bar, be ready to tear it up!
11. Do Pause Squats
12. Weightlifting Shoes - get some weightlifting shoes or a flat-bottomed hybrid like Nike Metcons or Reebok CrossFit Nanos

The Main Benefits of Front Squats

1. Focus on the Quadriceps. The Front Squat directly hits the the quadriceps like no other exercise. This emphasis on the quatriceps is due to the bar being in the frontal loaded position as opposed to the back rack.
2. Less Spinal Compression. The Front Squat is considered to be an advanced movement. To properly perform a front squat, like we said, the bar is placed in front and NOT on your back. This variation will take the hips out of the movement while increasing the difficulity of the exercise. The increased difficulty results in less weight being able to be used and less weight means less spinal compression. The bar position will determine your back angle. Front squatting results in a more vertical torso and back squatting results in more weight being placed on the back and not the quads.
3. Less Spinal Flexion. The upright / vertical stance during the Front Squats, makes it nearly impossible to lean forward. If you do happen to lean forward and break position, you will lose your balance and lose the weight forward which makes it a lower risk for serious injury. By carrying the bar in front, we reduce spinal flexion which makes them a much safer exercise for your back.
4. Less Torque on the Lower back. During a Front Squat, the torso stays nearly vertical which results in less torque being placed on the lower back.
5. Less Chance of Bad Form. When front squatting if your form goes to shit, you pretty much end up having to dump the bar. However, with back squats, it is easier to fight the weight and complete a rep with horrible form. If your torso is not vertical during the front squat, the bar ends up on the floor.
6. Works your Entire Core. Keeping your torso vertical during heavy Front Squats requires a strong core. If you lean forward too much during Back Squats, you are lacking balance, but also probbaly lacking a strong core. Front Squats can help remedy both situations.

How To Front Squat | Perfect Front Squat Form

Since have already discussed the fact that if you have poor form you will probably not be able to front squat effectively or front squat heavy loads, let's breakdown the key components of proper front squat form and learn exactly how to front squat.

Front Squat Grip

The first component of front squat form is your grip. There are two main types of grips that are used when performing front squats and they are an Olympic grip or a cross-arms grip. We prefer the Olympic grip as it promotes external rotation and a more upright torso. You should grip the bar just slightly wider than shoulder width. The bar should rest on your shoulders and you should end up with two to three fingers on the bar - don't use a full grip.

Front Squat Squatting Technique

Front squats are different than back squats as when performing a back squat you typically sit back, but with a front squat, you want to think about sitting down between the knees so your hips and torso travel vertically rather than back and forth.

You want to focus on keeping your chest tall and your lats engaged. Your elbows should be high and knees should travel forward slightly. Focus on getting your butt to your heels while keeping that neutral spine. To stand it up, push through the heel and extend the hips and knees at the same time.

Front Squat Depth

When it comes to getting your ass to the grass in front squats, you want to get down as low as possible while maintaining a neutral spine. Mobility will restrict many lifters from hitting rock bottom. These lifters should focus on limiting their depth until the appropriate amount of mobility and coordination is achieved in order to get to maximal depth.