What is it about Front Squats vs. Back Squats...

[Madcow2]

hey madcow- question on front squats- what grip are you liking? I always go with a clean grip, but now im going heavier so maybe hands crossed in front over bar would work better???

Stick with the clean grip, it's 10000x easier and more stable. I have no idea how people do the buddha (crossed). I'd just toss in the towel and buy one of those harnesses or some such device. There is no advantage to the crossed whatsoever, it's just a way for people to front squat if they can't hold the bar in the clean.

 

[blut wump]

Odd, I did front squats for the first time yesterday, if you discount odd partials while raising the bar to a higher notch.

I almost lost the bar a couple of times near the end of sets but finally settled on having my forearms crossed and having fingers and thumb to either side of the inner-most knurling. Keeping elbows high obviously helps to maintain bar stability.

Regarding getting fully down, I'd not been having trouble with it with my rear squats but I have found that the wider I spread my feet then the harder it is to go ATF. With front squats it seemed completely natural.

It never occured to me to have elbows forward on MP. I always used more of a snatch-width grip. Something else to look into.

 

[Jim Ouini]

I think for some folks with huge pythons the clean grip is hard - I don't have that problem

 

[Madcow2]

I think for some folks with huge pythons the clean grip is hard - I don't have that problem

At one point I actually stopped all arm training for a few years just to make that rack better. Also it's a combination of arm length (the longer, the more severe the angle required), muscle size (crowds the required angle), and flexability (in wrist and elbows primarily).

 

[Tweakle]

I like fronts but find everytime I do them I hurt my knees.. madcow you have any idea why that is? my knees dont track much further forward than when I backsquat, and there's no wobbling during the lift. But last week I popped my fuckin kneecap so badly it still hurts

 

[MsBeverlyHills]

At one point I actually stopped all arm training for a few years just to make that rack better. Also it's a combination of arm length (the longer, the more severe the angle required), muscle size (crowds the required angle), and flexability (in wrist and elbows primarily).

thanks for clearing that up- I thought by pythons, he meant boobs!! (& yeah mine sometimes get in the way dammit)

 

[Madcow2]

I like fronts but find everytime I do them I hurt my knees.. madcow you have any idea why that is? my knees dont track much further forward than when I backsquat, and there's no wobbling during the lift. But last week I popped my fuckin kneecap so badly it still hurts

I honestly don't know but I can offer some suggestions. Obviously the front squat shifts the emphasis forward and involves more quad even if your knees don't track much further forward.

You have some very solid lifts and my first thought is that you can front squat a lot but aren't used to front squatting (assumption - but this is the feeling I get). So when you go and do this, you can handle a lot of weight but your body is not accustomed to handling weight in this manner. So this may be transfering a lot of stress to your joints and connective tissue (the big movers are all in place and fine but the small ones aren't setup to handle the different leverages so the joint/tissue takes the brunt to leverage your strength in the large muscles).

As an experiment, if I was serious about front squatting - I'd heal up first and then start light and gradually increase week to week. Maybe even start at 135 for reps (yeah I know it's really low but you are not building strength but conditioning your body for the movement as this seems to be the issue). You could add this in at the end of a workout or as a warmup and I doubt it would have much effect on your real lifts. Gradually build it up and I'd bet you'll be handling heavy weights in the movement without problem within 2 months. Try twice a week at first (no failure or anything just work through the range in warmup) and then as it gets more significant you might have to factor its impact into your programming.

Just thoughts anyway but this is kind of the way I'm leaning. Plus if there is an issue, you'll find it with light weight rather than heavy.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Did 5 x 5 w/95lbs fronts today. I really feel like I'm training the rack more than anything else, had to bend my wrists waaay back. That kinda hurt.

And at this weight I didn't really feel anything in my legs, but I will say it's a nice feeling being able to sit down on your ankles.

 

[Mr_Sinister]

I find the front squat uncomfortable in the clean, and unstable with the cross grip. I just dropped it and did regular squats and threw in hack squats.

 

[Madcow2]

Did 5 x 5 w/95lbs fronts today. I really feel like I'm training the rack more than anything else, had to bend my wrists waaay back. That kinda hurt.

And at this weight I didn't really feel anything in my legs, but I will say it's a nice feeling being able to sit down on your ankles.

Stretch your wrists consistently beforehand. Straight arm down, elbow pointed out at 90 degrees, extend wrist back so that it's facing inward accross your body opposite direction from the elbow facing out. Stretch it back by pulling on your fingers. You might also consider taping your wrists or using wrist wraps for some added support. Also, even if you only get some fingers underneath it's still okay. Maybe work on your elbow/shoulder flexability too.

Bottom line is that even for genetically gifted people this movement is a bear. Very few people actually like performing front squats even those who love to squat and pull.