What Makes the Front Squat Different?
By Michael Sadler, Seattle Mariners
A few primary factors differentiate a front squat from a traditional back squat.
- The bar is positioned on the front of the shoulder girdle rather than on the upper back. In the process, an athlete is given a counterbalance to allow for a better posterior weight shift, which improves squat depth. If you need proof, perform a body weight squat, and then retest it while holding a ten-pound plate out at arm’s length; most of you will improve substantially.
- Because the arms are elevated, the lats are lengthened. This is in contrast to the back squat, where the lats can be used to aggressively pull the bar down into the upper back and help create core stability. The lack of lat involvement is what accounts for the significant differences in loads one can handle in the front squat compared to the back squat.
- The positioning of the bar in the front makes the front squat much more shoulder friendly than the back squat. In the back squat, the externally rotated “rack” position poses problems for athletes with poor upper body mobility, and it actually reproduces injury mechanisms at the shoulder and elbow in overhead athletes.
- The upright torso angle of the front squat reduces shear stress on the spine. More forward lean equates to more shear stress, as the resistance is moved further away from the axis of rotation. Moving the load further out also increases risk of going into excessive lumbar flexion under compressive load. The front squat, even under heavier loads, keeps a lifter more upright, or else they will simply dump the bar. This is somewhat of a self-limiting strength exercise.
- Because the load is positioned further forward than in a back squat, there isn’t as much of a pre-stretch for the posterior chain, so the front squat will be more quad dominant than the back squat, which will engage more glutes and hamstrings.
- In the overwhelming majority of lifters, because of the upright torso angle and increased recruitment of quads relative to posterior chain, most lifters will use significantly less weight on the front squat than the back squat. All things considered, if you can achieve a comparable training effect with less external loading, you’re dealing with what would generally be considered a safer exercise.
- Regarding sets and reps, I recommend staying away from doing high-rep front squats. Sets of six should be the maximum you do, as muscles involved in maintaining the “rack” position may fatigue early and compromise the safety of the exercise.
Michael Sadler, M.S., CSCS, RSCC, USAW is a minor league strength and conditioning coach for the Seattle Mariners.
