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legs

Front Squat

A squat with the bar resting on the front of your shoulders. Keeps you more upright than a back squat and works the front of the thighs harder.

advancedbarbellsquat rackplates

Front Squat, start position
START
Front Squat, end position
END
BEFORE YOU START3
  1. Set the hooks at collarbone height and the safety bars low.
  2. Load the same weight on each side and clip the plates on.
  3. Start with an empty bar; the front rack position takes practice.
HOW TO DO IT

Get into position

  1. Step up to the bar so it rests on the front of your shoulders, touching your throat.
  2. Grab the bar just outside your shoulders.
  3. Push your elbows up high so your upper arms are level with the floor.
  4. Stand up to lift the bar off the hooks and take two small steps back.
  5. Set your feet shoulder-width apart with your toes turned slightly out.
  6. Tighten your stomach.

Check: The bar sits on your shoulders held by your high elbows, not by your hands, and you are standing tall.

Sit down

  1. Push your hips back and bend your knees at the same time, as if sitting into a chair.
  2. Keep your chest up and your back straight all the way down.
  3. Keep your knees pointing the same way as your toes.
  4. Keep your elbows high; if they drop the bar rolls forward.
  5. Stop when your thighs are level with the floor.

Check: Your thighs are parallel to the floor, your heels are flat, and your knees point over your toes. Your elbows are still high and your trunk upright.

Stand up

  1. Push the floor away to stand up, driving your elbows up at the same time. Elbows up keeps the bar on your shoulders.
  2. Stand tall at the top.

Check: You are standing tall again in the same spot.

That is one rep. Repeat for your set, then walk forward and lower the bar onto the hooks.

Breathe in and brace before you go down; lower for 2 to 3 seconds; breathe out as you stand up in about 1 second.

MUSCLES WORKED
Front Squat: muscles worked, front view
Front Squat: muscles worked, back view

quadsglutes

Red marks the muscles doing the work; amber the assisting ones. Same body for every exercise, so guides compare at a glance.

COMMON MISTAKES4
  • Knees caving in toward each other. Strains the knee joints. Fix: Push your knees out so they stay in line with your toes.
  • Heels lifting off the floor. Fix: Keep your weight over the middle of your feet; try a slightly wider stance.
  • Rounding the lower back at the bottom. Fix: Stop a little higher until you can go deeper with a straight back.
  • Elbows dropping so the bar rolls forward. The bar can roll off the shoulders. Fix: Drive your elbows up for the whole rep; use a lighter bar.
SAFETY2
  • Always squat inside a rack with the safety bars set.
  • If the grip hurts your wrists, cross your arms over the bar instead.
EQUIPMENT SETTINGS
  • squat rack · hooks: bar at collarbone height · safety bars: just below the lowest point the bar reaches
  • plates Same weight on both sides, clipped on.
RELATED EXERCISES

easier: dumbbell goblet squat, squat

variants: squat

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