Front squats

[Donny]

I have been doing front squats in the last while. A superset with leg extensions. I know Back squats are the Big boy of mass builders but i find i get great quad isolation and i love it!! Pre-Exhaust. Comments please.

[Meso_z]

I have been doing front squats in the last while. A superset with leg extensions. I know Back squats are the Big boy of mass builders but i find i get great quad isolation and i love it!! Pre-Exhaust. Comments please.

I love them

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=344035.msg4828111;topicseen#msg4828111

[local hero]

i used to love them,,,, but im pretty sure thats how i ended up injuring my ac joint

[Yev33]

Front squats are awesome, definetely worth the effort of learning how to do them. I cycle front squats and back squats every 10 to 12 weeks.

[wes]

That`s a great pre-exhaust  super-set ....................have used it before in the past.

Very fucking painful also!!

[jpm101]

Three sets of front squats followed by three sets of regular squats hit's it pretty good for me. Usually warmup with 50 to 100 Hindu squats before any leg work. With front squats I have the heels on a 2X4. Good luck.

[Hulkotron]

Yes front squats are great.  I much prefer them to back squats.  Doing deadlifts and back squats in the same workout cycle is just too much on my lower back.

[Donny]

well for me itīs about feeling the Ex. with back squats i donīt feel it the same plus my glutes get enough work from deadlits. front squats are not nice to do and the weight is less but a great ex. my quads are a lot better now.

[chaos]

How do you guys deal with the bruising and pain in your delts and clavicles?

[jpm101]

Truthfully I don't see how anyone would get bruising & pain in the front delts and clavicles from doing front squats.  The bar should rest (almost like in a cradle) on the fingers and the anterior delts without any problem once the exercise has gotten use to.

Only problem might be if the person hasn't got any muscle mass, to speak of, on the delts or upper chest. Or if the elbows are not raised high enough to set the bar in. Of course some guy's will cross the hands or even hold the hands out in front of them when doing front squats. All with no pain or bruising. Good Luck.

[chaos]

Truthfully I don't see how anyone would get bruising & pain in the front delts and clavicles from doing front squats.  The bar should rest (almost like in a cradle) on the fingers and the anterior delts without any problem once the exercise has gotten use to.

Only problem might be if the person hasn't got any muscle mass, to speak of, on the delts or upper chest. Or if the elbows are not raised high enough to set the bar in. Of course some guy's will cross the hands or even hold the hands out in front of them when doing front squats. All with no pain or bruising. Good Luck.

I can't get that whole fingers under the bar thing down, just not comfortable and actually painful on the wrists.

Crossing the arms and arms straight out both leave me bruised/sore for days. I've constantly been told I have to "adjust" to it, but at 315 and above my shoulders are sore for days. So obviously I don't do them often and usually 225 max and after regular back squats.

Oh and I even tried to wrap a towel around the bar for each hand and use that like handles.

[Hulkotron]

I'm also not flexible enough to get my hands under the bar (like with palms facing out).  I grab it in front of me with my palms facing in and have the bar sit squarely on my delts and pushing against my clavicles.  Never really had any pain from it although I use like 12-rep weight so not real heavy.

[jpm101]

If you have trouble with front squats, than you have trouble with front squats. But usually this can be overcome.

Most guy's will have a problem with this lift until it's explained that the grip is only one of the factors,  the tips of the fingers are also another. because that is where most of the bar will partly rest.

The higher the elbows are rises the more the bar is set solid on the shoulders. The triceps stretch/flexibility  have a strong influence on how high the elbows can be raised in this exercise. Work a few triceps stretch as a general warmup before front squats. Include shoulder stretches.

When a wider grip/finger tip  is taken, some find this will work better for them. Flair out the elbows a bit and see what happens. I've seen short armed lifters adapt to front cleans and squats very well. Cleans, from the floor, seems to set up the shoulders well when doing front squats.

Most Olympic lifters will do hundreds of reps, in the squat clean with just the bar, when getting to learn this movement. Getting the bio-mechanics of the exercise as second nature to them. Don't expect BB'ers to do that, but most exercises need a learning period on some exercises. As; squats, DL's and even benches. Good Luck.

[AngrySOB]

How do you guys deal with the bruising and pain in your delts and clavicles?

I've been incorporating these for about a year... Just took a little while to get used to it. Kinda like the pain in the traps when we first started doing back squats.  For the quality blasting it gives my quads though, I'll take the pain...

[Meso_z]

How do you guys deal with the bruising and pain in your delts and clavicles?

I consider them war scars...and move on. 

[Yev33]

I get some minor bruising on my delts  but never get any pain. I use a hands crossed with the finger tips over the bar grip. I think its pretty normal to get a little bruising once the weights get heavier. Its funny because it feels perfectly normal during the workout, no pain and the bar feels comfortable. Then you take your shirt off afterwards and your like "wtf, how did that happen?".