Front Squats

As far as form goes, we ALWAYS use the "clean" grip, meaning the arms are not crossed, and palms face up. Many of our athletes have a problem with this grip, whether from wrist pain or something else. So we use a little trick to help them out, and others may find this useful as well.

We put two wrist straps on the bar, just as you would put them on your wrist. Then tighten them up so that the free end sticks straight up. When you prepare to unrack the bar, you position the bar on you upper chest/shoulders, and grab the straps with your palms facing each other, thumbs down. This gives you a secure "grip" on the bar without putting strain on the wrists. Our athletes have been very comfortable with this adaptation. Just a suggestion for those who have had problems trying to front squat!

Ingrid
Strength and conditioning coach
College of William and Mary

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In doing my leg workout this morning, I had a conversation with one of the trainers at the gym, Steve K. A couple of things about front squats came up...I haven't been doing them that long (only a few months now, since Rosemary talked me into trying them); I don't have very good form yet and am not very strong at them. I use a Sting Ray, which is a plastic brace/guide, that I like a lot, and that has helped me get started with this terrific exercise. With the Sting Ray, you use the overhand grip, crossing your wrists over the bar. Steve is of the other camp - deviceless and underhand, in the Olympic lifting fashion. We both agreed that it wasn't fair of either of us to judge the opposing method without learning both, so I proceeded with two sets overhand with the Sting Ray, two sets underhand without. I'm afraid it will be a LONG time before I'm proficient enough with either method to give any advice, as it's a hard movement to master - I encourage anyone who's able but not doing front squats to get them in their program.

Laree

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I've been on other lists where a real controversy raged about proper grip. Unless you have very flexible wrists you are probably not going to be able to bend your wrists back far enough to get an adequate grip on the bar. You may be able to develop this grip with practice as some folks have said they have done.

However that wouldn't make much difference to me because I can't abide the weight of the bar on my shoulders. This is true for lots of people and the reason the Sting Ray was invented in the first place. I use the Sting Ray and the crossed grip and see no reason to do this any differently. I'm not about to rake over my wrists by trying to stretch them to the point of holding on to the bar. I use my hands to earn a living and if I don't earn a living I can't buy all those supplements and devices like Sting Rays! Frankly I see the grip as a moot point; do what is comfortable and what keeps the bar in place. If it slips you will have more to worry about than your grip.

Front squats are a whole different move and require less of a load and a bit of practice. The first time I did them, my delts nearly killed me just from holding the bar in position. But you will get used to that. Start with an empty bar and add weight very slowly, like a pound or two. This is where plateates come in handy; you can just stick them on the end of the bar.

Form is a bit different. You are much more upright and I found I could actually get lower than with back squats.

If you think front squats are tough, try overhead squats. You take dumbells or a bar and hold them overhead at arms length, in the lockout position of a shoulder press. Then squat. Easier said than done, I can tell you. You will have to leave your ego in the garbage can because the load will be much less than even with front squats. This is doubly hard for women because they don't have the upper body strength of men. My best front squat load for reps is 55#. If I want to be able to keep my arms up high (and I have long arms), the most I can manage so far are holding 2, 8# bells. Are we having fun yet?

Rosemary

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I love both of them. I use the Sting Ray (front squats) far more often than the Manta Ray (back squats), by the way. Louie Simmons, the Westside Powerlifing guru also incorporates them in his training. They are a great way to squat.

Whitney

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