Front Squat Form

distinctlybeautiful

These felt ok, but I wasn't happy when I saw the video. What advice do y'all have for me?

https://youtu.be/B0Ji9UK6IRQ

Chieflrg

I'm not a expert by any means of the front.

First thing I noticed was bar path moving forward on first rep compared to others as well as your left heel lifted and actually moved/adjusted in at least a half inch near the hole. Looks as if you started with you toe pointed forward compared to where your knee was tracking.

Once again I'm not well versed on fronts, but it appears your torso should be a little more upright on the decent which will also help keep your elbows up higher and keep your weight more midfoot where it belongs.

It's really not bad just some tweaks.

ninerbuff

Keep your elbows up. They look like they drop and cause a slight lean forward. Also I notice small lifting of your heels, which means you're pushing from your toes/balls or your feet which increases forward lean. If shoes are the issue, squat barefoot or with minimus shoes.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

giantrobot_powerlifting

I agree with the others. Elbows and chest up, shoes off. Only other recommendation I have is to keep your head neutral and look forward instead of looking up.

canadianlbs

i'm not an expert either, but i have been front squatting a lot as it's often more comfortable for me than back squat. please don't assume that i'm doing anything more educated than spitballing though.

- can you tell what part of your body you're using to hold the bar up? i mean, yeah; it's sitting on your front delts, but where are you creating and keeping most of the tension to try and keep the bar dialed over your centre of gravity? maybe it's just because i look more ahead than you do, but i tried to imagine being in your skin and it felt like it was mostly coming through my back.

idk if i'm doing mine right either, but fwiw, my front squat style feels a lot more ab-centric to me, which i could not 'feel' at all imagining that i was you. especially through my obliques. i sometimes get this extremely clear impression of the bar's weight travelling straight down from my shoulders and through my obliques and then quads to get to the ground. i think i keep my rib cage more down than you do, with a very rigid six-pack (not that i have one, but you know). and then i 'open' (i.e. hold the bar away from the ground) by lifting my shoulders and creating a separation or space. it's like opening a hinge, but the hinge (for me) is almost like it's in my armpits, or around that zone anyway.

i guess it's probably upper back and rhomboids, but it seems to me like you might be relying more on your lats.

eta: when i said 'lifting my shoulders' i didn't mean shrugging them up. it's actually more that i stabilize in the abs and lower/mid back, and then i 'lift' my upper arm bones relative to that 'shelf'y point. idk. could be talking nonsense, i guess.

distinctlybeautiful

Thanks y'all I really appreciate the input. I'm hoping my lifting shoes will be coming in the mail today, so hopefully that will help a bit. I definitely noticed the foot adjustment too now that y'all pointed it out. I'm going to keep this all in mind when I try again.

We actually asked someone knowledgeable at the gym to help us learn this move, and he said looking up helps him come up because his body tends to move where he's looking. I wonder if it's possible to look up this without tilting my head back. Maybe I'll try taking video looking ahead though too to see if my form looks better.

kwtilbury

Your form isn't bad at all. Nice depth.

As others have said, you have a slight lean forward on the upward movement. Also, I wouldn't lock my knees at the top of the movement.

Ideally, your upper arms would be close to parallel to the floor in the rack position, but some of us simply don't have that much flexibility.

distinctlybeautiful

Here are my latest attempts. I didn't have the hubby there to take the video, so it's not exactly the same angle. I got my new weightlifting shoes. I focused on turning my feet out a bit more, engaging my core, and keeping my elbows up - which felt easier since I changed my grip a bit. I'm also trying to look forward, not up, this time.

https://youtu.be/Csjzkw5gqRg

https://youtu.be/gx9lAiaVItw

distinctlybeautiful

Anyone?

TR0berts

They look really good now. It looks like the last rep (side view) had a little forward movement on the ascent, but not much. That's likely just fatigue setting in.

JonDrees

One thing that I don't think anyone has touched on yet is your set up. You are in what I would call an extended position - knees locked, back arched, ribcage up. I would try to pull your chest down, unlock your knees, and tuck your butt under.

When you finish a rep, end with "soft" knees and come forward with your hips.

laurens47

Much better. I would also recommend you paying attention to your breathing technique. Big breath in, brace your core, breathe out when coming up. Repeat. I can't really tell in the video or hear you, but it almost looks like you are holding your breath.

distinctlybeautiful

Thanks! I'll look into the set-up and the breathing. I think I do hold my breath (not intentionally) and just breathe between reps.. on back squats too. I've read that this isn't unusual or necessarily a bad thing, but I'll read some more about it.

Leadfoot_Lewis

OP-I personally think your form looks really good.

JonDrees wrote: »

One thing that I don't think anyone has touched on yet is your set up. You are in what I would call an extended position - knees locked, back arched, ribcage up. I would try to pull your chest down, unlock your knees, and tuck your butt under.

When you finish a rep, end with "soft" knees and come forward with your hips.

Never, EVER put your chest down when Front Squatting. "Big chest" (chest up!) always, especially when you come out of the hole.

JonDrees

Leadfoot_Lewis wrote: »

OP-I personally think your form looks really good.

JonDrees wrote: »

One thing that I don't think anyone has touched on yet is your set up. You are in what I would call an extended position - knees locked, back arched, ribcage up. I would try to pull your chest down, unlock your knees, and tuck your butt under.

When you finish a rep, end with "soft" knees and come forward with your hips.

Never, EVER put your chest down when Front Squatting. "Big chest" (chest up!) always, especially when you come out of the hole.

You're misinterpreting what chest down means.

TR0berts

JonDrees wrote: »

Leadfoot_Lewis wrote: »

OP-I personally think your form looks really good.

JonDrees wrote: »

One thing that I don't think anyone has touched on yet is your set up. You are in what I would call an extended position - knees locked, back arched, ribcage up. I would try to pull your chest down, unlock your knees, and tuck your butt under.

When you finish a rep, end with "soft" knees and come forward with your hips.

Never, EVER put your chest down when Front Squatting. "Big chest" (chest up!) always, especially when you come out of the hole.

You're misinterpreting what chest down means.

So, how about clarifying what you mean, then?

GiddyupTim

^Yes, please.
Chest down makes no sense to me either.

SideSteel

I'd be curious what you mean by the chest (or ribcage) down cue too. I disagree with it, but I'll wait to hear the rationale or clarification.


In the original video the only thing I would consider changing would be getting lifting shoes which you've since done, and additionally you can try to get LESS of your finger-tips in contact with the barbell. With your current grip the bar is a little deep in the fingers and this is fine if you have enough wrist mobility to maintain high elbows but many people don't.

The tendency is for people to get the bar too deep in the fingers, and this makes it harder to drive the elbows up. The further the bar is on the tips of the fingers the more "slack" you can create to allow higher elbows.

But thats a very minor point on my part. Overall it's a good squat, you're definitely on the track.

JonDrees

An over extended back is just as bad as a rounded back. By pulling the ribcage down into a neutral position, OP would be much safer and stronger.

canadianlbs

JonDrees wrote: »

An over extended back is just as bad as a rounded back. By pulling the ribcage down into a neutral position, OP would be much safer and stronger.

i agree with this, though i'm just an armchair person with another opinion. chris duffin either explains it better ormade a sucker-shaped convert of me with this series.

and yes, i found this when i was having all kinds of trouble with my thoracic spine and especially the 'tl junction' zone. a massage therapist who lifts suggested i was not keeping my rib-cage 'integrated' and she was right.