Front squatting demands much more torso control than back squatting. Your abs hold up the weight, not your back. The front squat trains the core in a way that directly transfers into other movements.
1. Bar should be set collar bone height. Walk directly into it.
Don’t stop short and lean.
Feet underneath you.
2. Slightly dip and set the bar on the shoulders.
Hook one shoulder at a time.
Bar should be set closer to the neck than the AC joint.
The bar should be resting on your body, very close to the neck. HANDS SHOULD NOT SUPPORT ANY WEIGHT.
3. Select grip.
If you have the wrist mobility, take a two finger hook grip. Imagine gouging someone’s eyes out. Rotate elbows up.
If the hook grip gives you trouble, try the cross grip. Fingers rest on the bar. Hand of last shoulder under goes on top.
Keep elbows up throughout the entire squat. You’ll want to drop them as you descend.
4. Round upper back around bar and posteriorly tilt pelvis.
The torso on the left is ready for weight. Torso looks like “(“.
The torso on the right will struggle. The anterior pelvic tilt and sunken upper back will make it hard for the abdominals to bear weight. Weak point is the lower back. Torso looks like “)”.
Drive elbows together as weight gets heavy to encourage upper back flare. (Round wide as well as deep).
Check the posterior tilt and thoracic spine posts for troubleshooting spinal and pelvic positioning.
5. Stand tall, step back back to bench, barely touch, and stand upright.
6. Return the bar as you started, walking into rack. Don’t stop short and lean.
Steps 1-6 in real time, from the top.
A tutorial clearing up hip issues and goblet squat regressions can be found here.
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