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Front squats Vs Back squats.

Riccardo

By Riccardo
in Bodybuilding & aesthetics

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Riccardo Senior member

Riccardo

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Personally I cycle between both. I prefer the front squats for quad development and mass, I find that because I'm around 6' tall and have longish femurs that front squats allow me to hit the quads a bit harder. Back squats I find hit the glutes and hams more so than quads and that my upper body pitches foward so Im doing a lot more back extension. I also notice that an oly lifter mates of mine do heaps of front squatting and have very impressive quad development. However if a powerlifting meet is on the horizon I Focus more on the back squats.

Interested to see if others alternate or strictly do one over the other.

Interesting study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1900 ... d_RVDocSum

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PeterDolan Veteran member

PeterDolan

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EMG tests were done (can't remember the study) that showed no difference in quadricep recruitment between the front squat and squat. Just an interesting fact I thought I'd share. Then again (from memory) it didn't say how tall these people were, which could change muscle recruitment.

Personally I love the front squat, technique was a motherfucker the first couple of times I did it but now I can get 140 for 8 reps on a strong day.

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Riccardo Senior member

Riccardo

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Impressive Peter! They did EMG studies in the article I posted. Here is a summary of their results:

Bar position did not influence muscle activity in the current study. Similarly, Stuart et al. found that muscle activity was equivalent during both lifts (29)...
Although more mass was lifted during the traditional back squat, bar position did not influence muscle activity. Because the muscles tested were equally active during the front squat while lifting less mass, it is presumable that the same workout can be achieved with less compressive forces on the knee. It seems the extra load lifted during the back squat (the average 1RM for the back squat was 88.3 kg [ranging from 52.3 to 125 kg], compared with 69.2 kg [ranging from 45.5 to 102.3 kg] for the front squat) is what accounts for the increased compressive forces and extensor moments observed during these lifts...

also a little gem I found in the same paper:

Interestingly, Andrews et al. (2) (who calculated knee shear forces using subjects experienced in both the barbell and machine squat) concluded that shear forces were 30-40% higher during the machine squat. Consequently, potential harm to the cruciate ligaments may be increased while performing the machine squat as compared with the barbell squat.
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teamfatboy Veteran member

teamfatboy

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I try to split my squats about half each way.

Choking yourself out and blacking out at the bottom is just part of the fun with fronts :lol:

Thank goodness, I thought it was just MY bad form :grin:
Personally I love the front squat, technique was a motherfucker the first couple of times I did it but now I can get 140 for 8 reps on a strong day.

Jeez PD, that's one helluva set for fronts. :notworthy:

also a little gem I found in the same paper:
Interestingly, Andrews et al. (2) (who calculated knee shear forces using subjects experienced in both the barbell and machine squat) concluded that shear forces were 30-40% higher during the machine squat. Consequently, potential harm to the cruciate ligaments may be increased while performing the machine squat as compared with the barbell squat.

Interesting - free bar for the win!

I have had a love-hate attitude to fronts... took me a long time to nail basic form but I do believe they're a good part of a training plan, as much for the additional work they require of upper body strength.

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michaelk Senior member

michaelk

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Interestingly, Andrews et al. (2) (who calculated knee shear forces using subjects experienced in both the barbell and machine squat) concluded that shear forces were 30-40% higher during the machine squat. Consequently, potential harm to the cruciate ligaments may be increased while performing the machine squat as compared with the barbell squat.

I'm assuming the machine was a smith or similar therefore the knee shearing effect would be altered depending on the foot position ie further forward or back.

The benefit of front squatting is that done well can reduce loading on the lower back, glutes and hams. Done before back squatting can then lead to better overload on the quads as the hams, glutes and lower back won't give out before the quads. Makes for a fun superset.

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PeterDolan Veteran member

PeterDolan

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I can get 140 for 8 reps on a strong day.

smith machine?????

Deep??

free barbell ATG I call bullshit PD :pfft: wanna bet :pfft:

Free weight, I can't do them Smith, too uncomfortable, I struggle with 2 wheels a side on the Smith

I get to parallel. Well I won't be doing them now haha won't be back to that weight for a few months now

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chaos Junior member

chaos

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How do your shoulders feel the next day? I rarely do fronts cause my shoulders are sore for days after.

I find it's my biceps from holding the bar in place and stopping it from rolling forward

WTF where do you place the bar? It shouldn't come close to your biceps.

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nate225 Veteran member

nate225

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I used to do the crossed arm set up, but always ended up rolling down and bruising shit out of my delts. Told myself I wasn't flexible enough to use an Oly setup for about 20 years.

Earlier this year I changed - took about 6 weeks to do without the tendons in my hands & wrists screaming at me - but definately gets the bar sitting better and prevents rounding out dumping bar forward. Put over 20kg on my best front squat in a short period. (then the quad tendon tear! :grin: ).

I'm back into them again but much lighter. Great exercise for Strongman in particular for stonelifting.

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PeterDolan Veteran member

PeterDolan

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How do your shoulders feel the next day? I rarely do fronts cause my shoulders are sore for days after.

I find it's my biceps from holding the bar in place and stopping it from rolling forward

WTF where do you place the bar? It shouldn't come close to your biceps.

Across my throat, like normal, just my arms do alot of work holding it on my heaviest sets

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Jigga Senior member

Jigga

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I find it's my biceps from holding the bar in place and stopping it from rolling forward

WTF where do you place the bar? It shouldn't come close to your biceps.

Across my throat, like normal, just my arms do alot of work holding it on my heaviest sets

just need to work on keeping your elbows up higher it sounds like. the bar sits in there nicely if you don't let the bar pull your body forward as you push up at the bottom.

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Elite121 Member

Elite121

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Thought this link may interest some:

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/resea ... ack-squats.

Personally I prefer front squats, in my situation it doesn't aggravate my LB injury.... but also think an assessment of thoracic mobility is warranted when getting someone to front squat....may not only be just a technique issue getting the elbows higher but a functional limitation as-well.

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