Thread: front squats malfuction

Do it bodybuilder style then and cross your arms....

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...rontSquat.html

Mine hurt when I first did them, now they are fine. Just suck it up and stretch your wrists if need be.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

Mine hurt when I first did them, now they are fine. Just suck it up and stretch your wrists if need be.

Yep, stretch your wrists to begin with, do them regularly, and you'll get used to it.

Did you read my last post in your journal? If you want, start out by doing it BB style because it is easier to control the bar and stabilize yourself and let your delts get used to the pressure. Once you are comfortable with that, switch over to olympic style.

Look toward the sky. That helps take some of the pressure off your neck. Take a second in between repetition to re-focus on getting your elbows up high so that the bar is resting on your shoulders and not forcing your wrists to bear the weight.

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Look toward the sky. That helps take some of the pressure off your neck. Take a second in between repetition to re-focus on getting your elbows up high so that the bar is resting on your shoulders and not forcing your wrists to bear the weight.

Thanks

What Cowpimp said. You should be able to let go of the bar anywhere in the ROM and not have it fall off your shoulders. Most guys I've seen just starting out with fronts lean too far forward because they're used to doing that on back squats. Keep your back more upright. Don't worry about falling over backwards, the weight of the bar in in front of you now so it will prevent that from happening.

i also tried them yesterday, i had no problems what so eve, maybe cos i did powercleans and snatches before so my wrists were used to it. One thing i found weird is that i cant go all the way down, my elbows hit against the quads when im pretty low (like 6 inches off the floor) and it wont allow me to go down further.

Originally Posted by LexusGS

i also tried them yesterday, i had no problems what so eve, maybe cos i did powercleans and snatches before so my wrists were used to it. One thing i found weird is that i cant go all the way down, my elbows hit against the quads when im pretty low (like 6 inches off the floor) and it wont allow me to go down further.

I think that means you're leaning forward, and you need to keep your elbows higher up as well.

Originally Posted by shiznit2169

Did you read my last post in your journal? If you want, start out by doing it BB style because it is easier to control the bar and stabilize yourself and let your delts get used to the pressure. Once you are comfortable with that, switch over to olympic style.

I wanna stick with the weightlifting style. I gotta keep at it.

To echo everyone else, I had the same problem when I started. I simply stretched my wrists and made sure to keep the focus on form and keep my head up. Just take it slow when adding weight with this exercise - it's easy to get up into the 250 range and then realize you're leaning forward at the bottom of the movement. It's not fun to start over again.

I also just did front squats for the first time today. Instinctually crossed my forearms and it felt totally natural throughout the full ROM; it was a refreshing experience squatting like this, as opposed to the forward lean of back squats.

Do back squats require more activation of your core musculature?

Originally Posted by kcoleman

I also just did front squats for the first time today. Instinctually crossed my forearms and it felt totally natural throughout the full ROM; it was a refreshing experience squatting like this, as opposed to the forward lean of back squats.

Do back squats require more activation of your core musculature?

If you use the rack position, front squats, I think, involve the core 100 times more than back squats. I haven't tried the BB style of front squats, though.

Given also that you can most likely use more weight for back squats, thus supporting more isometrically, but for a given weight, front squats involve more stabilization and thus activation of core musculature.