Will front squats always make my arms hurt?

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sethbrandeis
sethbrandeis Posts: 15 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I do a variation of the front squat where my arms are crossed in front of me, such that the barbell rests across both of them.

See: http://reach-yourpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Front-Squats1.gif

However, as the weight increases, the pressure on my arms increases and eventually causes pain and discomfort. This is just from the weight resting on my arms, rather than due to actually muscle fatigue.

The discomfort will last at least 1-2 days after, so if anything presses against my arms, it does hurt.

If I continue doing front squats, will my arms eventually adapt and no longer be in pain from holding up the barbell? Or is this always going to be a consequence?

Replies

  • Lindseygolding13
    Lindseygolding13 Posts: 6 Member
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    I always find when I do front squats it hurts my arms but it is muscle fatigue and not just actually pain. Maybe you should fix the way you are holding the weight so you don't hurt yourself. I personally don't cross my arms and it doesn't hurt me. Hope this helps
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,652 Member
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    The weight should be on your front delts. If front squats are problematic, then switch to a Zercher or dumbell squat instead.

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  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    When I used to do the crossed arms, my arms went over the bar, not under. Now I do a proper front rack position. In neither case does the bar rest on and hurt my arms, although my chest gets marked up by the bar for an hour or two.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Iron_Miss_Canada wrote: »
    When I used to do the crossed arms, my arms went over the bar, not under. Now I do a proper front rack position. In neither case does the bar rest on and hurt my arms, although my chest gets marked up by the bar for an hour or two.

    Do you have a picture of your over the bar arms. All I can picture is the bar in your armpits and that can't be right :grey_question:
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    i use the zercher beacuse it hurts my arms/shoulders.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    Sounds like your rack position is off. Post a pic of how you're holding the bar and we can see what's up...

    As to a little bit of discomfort? That's normal when you're starting them. If your rack position is solid, you'll get over it and eventually you won't feel it.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    Iron_Miss_Canada wrote: »
    When I used to do the crossed arms, my arms went over the bar, not under. Now I do a proper front rack position. In neither case does the bar rest on and hurt my arms, although my chest gets marked up by the bar for an hour or two.

    Do you have a picture of your over the bar arms. All I can picture is the bar in your armpits and that can't be right :grey_question:

    She means the bar is resting on her delts and then her crossed over arms are on top of the bar.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    The bar shouldn't be resting on your arms...your arms are just there so the bar doesn't roll off...technically, if your form is solid you shouldn't have to use your arms at all, the bar should just rest on your front delts...obviously you wouldn't want to do that for safety reasons, but if your form is solid the bar should just be able to rest on your front delts with no other support.
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    Best I've got. You can see exactly where the bar rests, and the marks fade within an hour or two.

  • ArvinSloane
    ArvinSloane Posts: 80 Member
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    I just added front squats to my programming and have found Bret Contreras's run-down to be extremely helpful--he has some good info about bar positioning and grip options: https://bretcontreras.com/how-to-front-squat/
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    jimmmer wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    Iron_Miss_Canada wrote: »
    When I used to do the crossed arms, my arms went over the bar, not under. Now I do a proper front rack position. In neither case does the bar rest on and hurt my arms, although my chest gets marked up by the bar for an hour or two.

    Do you have a picture of your over the bar arms. All I can picture is the bar in your armpits and that can't be right :grey_question:

    She means the bar is resting on her delts and then her crossed over arms are on top of the bar.

    Lol this makes so much more sense than my "underarm cross grip" imagination lift.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    jimmmer wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    Iron_Miss_Canada wrote: »
    When I used to do the crossed arms, my arms went over the bar, not under. Now I do a proper front rack position. In neither case does the bar rest on and hurt my arms, although my chest gets marked up by the bar for an hour or two.

    Do you have a picture of your over the bar arms. All I can picture is the bar in your armpits and that can't be right :grey_question:

    She means the bar is resting on her delts and then her crossed over arms are on top of the bar.

    Lol this makes so much more sense than my "underarm cross grip" imagination lift.

    Lol!

    That'd be some armpit development right there...
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
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    Do you have a mobility reason that prevents you from using the conventional weightlifting front rack position (not crossover)? The reason I ask is that you may find that as you go heavier, your upper back will not support the front squats as well in the crossover position. I had a cast on this summer and couldn't use my normal front rack and had to use crossover and was constantly tweaking my upper back. It was also really hard to bail the weight (in comparison) if I failed a lift.

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